SB 274 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Hampton University; recognition and restoration of status as a land-grant university.

Summary
Educational and cultural institutions; Recognition and restoration of status of Hampton University as a land-grant university; requirements; task force. Recognizes and restores the status of Hampton University as an 1862 and 1890 land-grant university of the Commonwealth, in accordance with the provisions of applicable federal law, and (i) enumerates the funding and programs Hampton University shall be eligible for as a land-grant university and (ii) provides for the establishment of an evaluation task force by the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committee on appropriations upon federal recognition of Hampton University as an institution eligible to receive federal funding and participate in federal and state programs established under applicable law relating to land-grant universities for the purpose of evaluating the status of Hampton University and the feasibility of recognizing the institution as a land-grant university of the Commonwealth in accordance with the provisions of the bill.
Sub-Topics: Higher Education
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 25, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Resources Subcommittee Substitute → Finance and Appropriations Substitute · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill text underwent significant formatting and layout changes between the Resources Subcommittee version and the Finance and Appropriations Substitute version. The substantive legislative content regarding Hampton University's land-grant status appears unchanged, but the document structure was reorganized with different line breaks, spacing, and formatting conventions. No policy changes were identified in the actual bill provisions.
TECHNICAL

The document formatting changed from a simple line-by-line format to a numbered line format with line numbers (1-49) and different spacing patterns. The header information and bill text content remain substantively identical.

New page header elements were added including a date stamp (2/11/26 14:25) and bill identifier (SB274S1) that were not present in the original version.

The original version's header information was removed and replaced with a restructured layout that includes line numbers and different spacing throughout the document.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 12, 2026

How they voted

39–0
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 12, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
23
Key actions
4
Committee
6
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Assigned HAPP sub: Higher Education
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Appropriations
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 22, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Higher Education
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors