Health and Human Services

Tuesday, January 27, 2026·49m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Virginia House Health and Human Services Committee advanced the majority of bills on its agenda, including measures on EMS board restructuring, behavioral health mail scanning, and multiple interstate healthcare compacts, while sending HB1304 — which drew the most debate over scope and individual rights — to a subcommittee for amendment review.

Key Actions

·HB11 – Emergency Custody Orders; TransportationNo Vote

+ 13 more actions

Controversies

HB1304 – Whether the facility or the individual decides the format of mail delivery

Delegate Hope pressed Angela Torres (DBHDS) on whether it is the individual living at the facility or the facility itself that decides the format of mail delivery. Torres responded, 'Most likely, I think it might. But again, it has to be worked out with the Office of Human Rights.' Hope followed up: 'So just in other words, if the facility decides whether or not to have this format, not the individual.' Torres repeated: 'Most likely, I think it might. But again, it has to be worked out with the Office of Human Rights.'

+ 4 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“There have been instances both of folks who are in these facilities who have had overdoses and there have been staffers who have likewise been subject to these substances. As I understand it, the letters have been soaked with these illicit substances and create a real health hazard.”
Delegate R. Lee Ware (bill patron, HB1304) — Ware was explaining why HB1304 would allow facilities to scan or copy sealed letter mail rather than delivering physical letters directly to individuals in the care of DBHDS.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Continue HB11 to 2027No Vote

Refer HB795 to Labor and CommerceNo Vote

Continue HB917 to 2027No Vote

Report HB727Passed

Take HB1115 by for the weekNo Vote

Report HB1285Passed

Pass HB1304 by for the dayNo Vote

Report HB32Passed

Move amendment for HB453No Vote

Report HB453 as amendedPassed

Report HB103 and refer to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB136 and refer to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB469 without referral to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB525 and refer to AppropriationsPassed

Move substitute for HB794No Vote

Report HB794 with substitute and refer to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB530 and refer to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB574 without referral to AppropriationsPassed

Report HB575Passed

Move amendments for HB579No Vote

Report HB579 as amendedPassed

Report HB712Passed

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TranscriptPreview

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Health and Human Services. Full committee delegate Rodney Willett, your chair. Thanks, everyone. Coming out this morning, we've got pretty full agendas. We're getting into the meat of the matter now with this session. So we're going to start by taking the roll. Excellent. We got a quorum. So we're going to jump right into our first block of bills or bills that we're. We've got a few within that we're going to deal with administratively. And then we have several that are coming straight to full committee because they're fairly straightforward and non controversial. So I thought we'll jump into a couple of these that we're going to need some voice votes on. And the first is HB11, which we're going to continue over until 2027. We have a motion and a second to continue HB11. All in favor say aye. Any opposite. All right. Secondly, One second. Okay. The next step is House Bill 795. And that actually needs to be referred to labor and Commerce. Motion second to refer HB 795 to labor and Commerce. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? And then one more administrative action. My HB917. We're…

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