Be On The Record
BlogSign inSubscribe
HearingsBillsAlerts
← Hearings

Civil Subcommittee

Wednesday, February 18, 2026·1h 36m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Civil Subcommittee advanced six bills, including a contested medical malpractice prejudgment interest measure that passed 7-1 over objections from the Medical Society of Virginia, hospital associations, and the Chamber of Commerce, while unanimously reporting bills on jury service exemptions, self-storage law, consumer debt collection, conservation easement condemnation, and high-volume arbitration reform.

Key Actions

·SB107 – Jury Service Exemptions for CaretakersPassed

+ 5 more actions

Controversies

Whether the medical malpractice prejudgment interest bill effectively raises the cap

Delegate Sullivan argued: 'But you acknowledge that at least in some cases, this would raise the cap, wouldn't you?' and 'Doesn't this just do the same thing? It raises the cap, at least in some cases.' Senator Obenshain/Obenshain [spelling UNCLEAR] countered: 'No, it doesn't raise the cap. It just gives the injured person the time value of the money, which could in certain cases add up to more than $2.7 million,' and described a direct cap increase as 'a major structural change.'

+ 7 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“All this bill does is transfer that interest that the insurance company received, a portion of that interest, frankly, and give it over to the injured party in just a select number of cases. So this is not a watershed moment in this. This is a little bit of fairness in a system that is already inequitable.”

Elliot Buckner, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association — Buckner was testifying in favor of the medical malpractice prejudgment interest bill, which would exempt prejudgment interest from the malpractice damages cap, responding to opponents who characterized the bill as a major systemic change.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Report SB107Passed
Amendment to add 'medical group' after 'medical center' on line 56 of the medical malpractice prejudgment interest billPassed
Report medical malpractice prejudgment interest bill as amendedPassed
Report Virginia Self Storage Act update billPassed
Amendment to SB189 — change 'notion' to 'motion' on line 15Passed
Adopt both amendments to SB189 (typo correction and consumer debt definition from HB 444)Passed
Report SB189 as amendedPassed
Yes (3)Reaser, Thornton, Leftwich
Amendment to conservation easement condemnation bill — separate adjudication of dispute from just compensation to landownerPassed
Report conservation easement condemnation bill as amendedPassed
Report Senate Bill 227Passed
Unlock the full summary

Subscribe to see all key actions, controversies, quotes, and what's next.

Sign in to subscribe
TranscriptPreview
Good afternoon. Let me call this meeting of. Let me wait until it comes online. Looking at the screen. There we go. All right. Welcome to this first post crossover meeting of the House Civil Law Subcommittee. Courts of justice wherever we are. Members will indicate their attendance on the electronic voting board. All right, the clerk will close the roll. A quorum is present. Senator Perkarski, you've got a very difficult, controversial bill. The hardest one. Alrighty, Mr. Chair. Thank you. I don't know if you can hear me, but this is not working. We can hear you. Doesn't have a light on it, but it works. Gotcha. Okay. SB107, this bill just basically deals with jury exemptions, and it adds two new exemptions to the list of who may ask for them. A person with a child under 18 with a serious health condition, including an illness, an injury, mental impairment, or a person, including a familiar caretaker, who is personally responsible for a person with a serious health condition. I think the reasons why are pretty obvious, especially these days as we see more and more people caring for their disabled children, their elderly, parents, et cetera.…
Continue reading

Subscribe to unlock the full transcript, summary, and search across all Virginia committee hearings.

Sign in to subscribe