Health Professions Subcommittee

Thursday, February 5, 2026·1h 39m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Health Professions Subcommittee advanced multiple health workforce bills, including contested measures allowing foreign-trained dentists to obtain dental hygienist licensure and authorizing dental assistants to perform supragingival scaling — both drawing sharp opposition from dental hygienist associations — while unanimously passing bills on AED requirements, workplace violence data reporting, and CNA pathways for high schoolers.

Key Actions

·HB 1036 – Foreign-trained dentists; dental hygienist licensureNo Vote

+ 10 more actions

Controversies

HB 1036 – Immigration and American workforce (Delegate Griffin vs. Delegate Tran)

Delegate Griffin argued against HB 1036 on 'America first' grounds, stating the solution to dental workforce shortages is to 'graduate more people from dental school' rather than allow foreign-trained dentists to enter the profession, and drew a slippery slope argument that each foreign-licensure bill adds up across specialties. Delegate Tran countered in closing that 14.5% of Virginia's healthcare workers are immigrants and stated she anticipated 'a battle royale on the floor' with her colleague over the comments made.

+ 4 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“It hasn't added up. I see the numbers every day. I spend more time on health workforce issues than anything else I deal with, and it doesn't add up. We do not have enough professionals providing these services. This is one way to get at that. We have one dental school in Virginia. One and one that actually we need to replace.”
Chairman Willett — Chairman Willett was speaking in support of HB 1036, which would create a pathway for foreign-trained dentists to obtain dental hygienist licensure in Virginia, in the context of a severe dental workforce shortage.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Report HB 1523 (violence prevention professional certification) with amendment to come in full committeePassed

Report HB 1522 (AED requirement for nursing homes and assisted living) with amendmentsPassed

Report HB 1026 (foreign-trained chiropractors; licensure by endorsement) with substitutePassed

Report HB 970 (dental assistants; supragingival scaling certification) with substitutePassed

Report HB 1036 (foreign-trained dentists; dental hygienist licensure) with amendmentsPassed

Unlock the full summary

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

TranscriptPreview

Good morning. I call this meeting of the Health Profession subcommittee to order. If we will please take roll. And a quorum is present. Thank you, Madam Clerk. So first we have an administrative action. If I could entertain a motion to strike House Bill 1416 at this Patron's request. It's been moved and properly seconded that we would strike House Bill 1416 from the docket. If the clerk will please open the rolls. This is a recorded vote. Okay. And that bill is stricken from the docket. Next we will go to Delegate Glass, who has a few in front of us today. Delegate Glass, which one would you like to start with? Actually, Madam Chair, I would like to start with, if we can, because I would ask administrative action on one, and I would like to say why. House Bill 576. Okay. So that is the dietitian compact. Interesting enough, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Madam Chair, doesn't have a dietitian licensure, which also was kind of shocking to me as well, in finding this out. What we're going to do is over the next year, spend some time with stakeholders and learn about how we can get…

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