VirginiaPublic education; early childhood care and education, child care access calculations, report.
What it does
Public education; early childhood care and education; child care access calculations; report. Requires the Department of Education to establish and maintain calculations for the provision of early childhood care and education services based on cost of quality rate per child, actual data from the prior year, an estimate of parental demand and choice preferences based on historic growth trends and current eligibility criteria, and an estimate of the number of slots to be added to support local or regional economic development efforts and public-private partnerships focused on increasing the supply of child care services, giving priority to localities or regions identified as child care deserts, as determined by the Department. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the use and appropriation of funds as applicable to such calculations, including (i) providing that the calculations shall not obligate the General Assembly to a specific appropriation, (ii) requiring the calculations to be used to provide information to guide the General Assembly in making decisions about the proportion of parental demand for and supply of early childhood care and education services to be addressed and level of appropriation required to address such demand, and (iii) providing that the annual overall funding available for slots shall be subject to appropriation as determined by the General Assembly.
More detail
The bill also provides that if waitlists for slots at early childhood care and education sites remain, up to $5 million from prior-year unexpended state general funds appropriated for such purpose in a general appropriation act may be carried forward to the current fiscal year to temporarily provide additional slots during the current fiscal year solely to reduce or eliminate waitlists, unless the general appropriation act authorizes a greater amount to be carried forward and that such prior-year funds shall not be used to increase the base amount of funding required in the subsequent fiscal year and the Department shall monitor program utilization and attrition to ensure that no families will lose access at the end of the current fiscal year. Finally, the bill requires the Department to annually submit to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education and post on its website a report on the data used to calculate the minimum funding and number of slots for the calculations in accordance with the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 134.
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Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Apr 8Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0456)Latest
- Apr 8Approved by Governor Abigail Spanberger-Chapter 456 (effective 7/1/2026)Became Law
- Mar 31Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026To Governor
- Mar 31Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026Minor
- Mar 31Signed by SpeakerMajor
- Mar 31Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208)
- Mar 30Signed by PresidentMajor
- Mar 30Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1208ER)Major
- Mar 30EnrolledMinor
- Mar 14Conference report agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)Minor
- Vote recorded H VOTE:. Result: pass.Lower
- Vote recorded Adopt Conference Committee Report R. Result: pass.Upper
- Mar 14Conference report agreed to by House (76-Y 20-N 0-A)Minor
- Mar 14Conference Report released
- Mar 10House Conferees: Sewell, Askew, Kent
- Mar 10Conferees appointed by House
- Mar 9Senate Conferees: Locke, Favola, Pillion
- Mar 9Conferees appointed by Senate
- Mar 6House acceded to request
- Mar 5Senate requested conference committeeMinor
- Vote recorded Insist & Request R. Result: pass.Upper
- Mar 5Senate insisted on substitute (38-Y 0-N 0-A)Major
- Mar 3Senate substitute rejected by House
- Vote recorded H VOTE:. Result: fail.Lower
- Feb 27Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (37-Y 0-N 0-A)Passed Senate
- Vote recorded Passage R. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 27Engrossed by Senate - committee substituteMajor
- Feb 27Education and Health Substitute agreed to
- Feb 27Read third timeMinor
- Feb 26Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- Vote recorded Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading). Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 26Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- Feb 26Rules suspended
- Feb 25Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)Minor
- Vote recorded Reported from Finance and Appropriations. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 23Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208)
- Feb 19Committee substitute printed 26108243D-S1Major
- Vote recorded Reported from Education and Health with substitute. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 19Senate committee offered
- Feb 19Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)Minor
- Feb 16Referred to Committee on Education and HealthMinor
- Feb 16Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- Feb 13Read third time and passed House (74-Y 22-N 0-A)Passed House
- Vote recorded H VOTE:. Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 12Engrossed by House - committee substituteMajor
- Feb 12committee substitute agreed toMajor
- Feb 12Read second timeMinor
- Feb 11Read first timeMinor
- Feb 9Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208)
- Vote recorded Reported from Education with substitute. Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 9Committee substitute printed 26107408D-H1Major
- Feb 9House committee offered
- Feb 9Reported from Education with substitute (18-Y 3-N)Minor
- Feb 4Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (9-Y 1-N)
- Vote recorded Subcommittee recommends reporting. Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 3Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208)
- Jan 30Assigned HED sub: Early Childhood and InnovationMinor
- Jan 14Referred to Committee on EducationMinor
- Jan 14Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104909DIntroduced