Labor and Commerce

Thursday, January 22, 2026·1h 52m·▶ Watch / Listen

Virginia's Labor and Commerce Committee advanced a sweeping set of labor, energy, and insurance bills, including contested votes on paid sick leave, farm worker minimum wage, railroad crew requirements, and EV rural infrastructure funding, while referring several high-profile bills to Appropriations over fiscal concerns.

Key Actions

·HB5 – Paid Sick Leave for All EmployeesPassed

+ 13 more actions

Controversies

HB5 enforcement structure and double damages for employers

Ethan Betterton (Virginia Chamber of Commerce) argued that the bill's parallel administrative and civil enforcement tracks mean an administrative settlement does not resolve future litigation exposure, and that mandatory remedies — including twice the amount of uncompensated leave, twice actual damages, lost wages with interest, plus attorney fees — apply without regard to intent, good faith, or employer efforts to comply. No named supporter directly rebutted this point on the record.

+ 2 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“I have a deep appreciation and respect for our farmers in Virginia and I support them in various ways. And I believe that it's time, it's past time that we remove the discriminatory farm worker exemption from our Virginia minimum wage law to support and finally include these workers that keep these farms going.”
Adele Y. McClure (bill patron, HB20) — McClure presented HB20, which would remove the farm worker exemption from the Virginia Minimum Wage Act — a provision opponents characterize as a Jim Crow-era exclusion leaving large-farm workers at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Report HB2 (energy efficiency upgrades for low-income residents) with substitutePassed

Report HB25 (railroad safety; minimum two-person freight crew)Passed

Report HB324 (EV Rural Infrastructure Program and Fund) and refer to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB220 (health insurance tobacco surcharge eliminated)Passed

Report HB20 (farm worker minimum wage exemption removal)Passed

Report HB27 (domestic worker overtime protections) with amendmentsPassed

Report HB5 (paid sick leave) with amendments and refer to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB572 (Uninsured Employer's Fund administrative expenses)Passed

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TranscriptPreview

Labor and Commerce committee. We do have a quorum. I'll ask the clerk to open the rows for our attendance. The clerk shall close the roll. We do have a quorum. And we will begin with our subcommittee report. Subcommittee one. The first bill up is House bill number 60. And I will hand the gavel over to the vice chair. This is bill has been heard before. What I will do is present the bill from my seat. If that's okay with you. Of course. That's fine, Madam Chair. Okay. Help. I was a little enthusiastic when I saw that my name was the first one up. So I'm going to ask the subcommittee chair to please give her report. Delegate Maldonado. I apologize. Not a problem. Thank you, Madam Chair. The first bill up is HB60 with us. Patron Chair Ward on life insurance, health insurance. Unfair discrimination. Pre exposure prophylaxis for prevention of human immunodeficiency virus. It prohibits any person from refusing to insure. Refusing to continue to insure, limiting the amount or extent of life insurance or accident and sickness insurance coverage that's available to an individual or charge an individual a different rate for the…

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