Social Services Subcommittee

Thursday, January 29, 2026·1h 29m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Social Services Subcommittee advanced a broad package of Medicaid and social services bills, including measures protecting disability waiver recipients from SSDI income cliffs, extending Medicaid appeal deadlines, and requiring public notice when the state shares benefits data — the last passing over two dissenting votes amid testimony about the undisclosed sharing of 800,000 Virginians' personal information with a federal agency.

Key Actions

·HB 37 – DD Waiver SSDI Income Disregard Sunset RepealPassed

+ 7 more actions

Controversies

HB 879 – Two unnamed members voted against the DSS data disclosure public notice bill

The bill passed 6-2, indicating two members voted against recommending it. However, no named members stated opposition on the record, and the identities of the two dissenting voters are unclear from the transcript.

+ 1 more controversy

Notable Quotes

“The request that affected the 800,000 Virginians receiving SNAP benefits wasn't just for those 800,000 folks currently receiving SNAP benefits, but also for anyone who had applied for or received SNAP benefits for the past five years, including those who had been denied and people who had received benefits temporarily after a Covid related layoff. FOIA requests revealed that the commonwealth agreed to share this information and then notified nobody that this was happening.”
Delegate Irene Shin — Delegate Shin was explaining the August disclosure of personal data that motivated HB 879, which would require public notice when DSS shares records of 25 or more benefits applicants or recipients for non-administrative purposes.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Report HB 879 as amendedPassed

Strike HB 1088 from docketPassed

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TranscriptPreview

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We are going to come to order for the second meeting of the Social Services subcommittee. Thank you so much for joining us. We have a full docket today. We have some administrative action items. All right, here we go. By the request of the patron. Would you, Madam Clerk? Oh, yes. Madam Clerk reminded me we should take attendance. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. We have a quorum. Thank you so much. Oh, wait. All right, here we go. So, our administrative items for today. The following bills were requested by the patron to be passed by. We have House Bill 297, House Bill 838, House Bill 851, and House Bill 1109. So I'm just going to read that for Everybody. House Bill 297 from Delegate Sebold. House Bill 838 from Delegate McClure. House Bill 851 from Delegate Krezik. And House Bill 1109 from Delegate Hodges. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. All right, I think that's a voice vote to pass by for the day. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Wonderful. All right, those are passed by for the day. We have a request to strike a bill from…

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