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 HB 1208.
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Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- To Governor
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Apr 8Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0457)Latest
- Apr 8Approved by Governor Abigail Spanberger-Chapter 457 (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 (SB134)
- Mar 30Signed by PresidentMajor
- Mar 30Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB134ER)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 (85-Y 12-N 0-A)Minor
- Mar 14Conference Report released
- Mar 10House Conferees: Sewell, Askew, Kent
- Mar 10Conferees appointed by House
- Mar 4Senate Conferees: Locke, Favola, Pillion
- Vote recorded Accede Conference Committee R. Result: pass.Upper
- Mar 4Conferees appointed by Senate
- Mar 4Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- Mar 2House requested conference committeeMinor
- Mar 2House insisted on substituteMajor
- Feb 27House substitute rejected by Senate
- Vote recorded Concur House Substitute R. Result: fail.Upper
- Feb 25Passed House with substitute (93-Y 3-N 0-A)Passed House
- Vote recorded H VOTE:. Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 25Engrossed by House - committee substituteMajor
- Feb 25committee substitute agreed toMajor
- Feb 25Read third timeMinor
- Feb 25Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar
- Feb 24Read second timeMinor
- Feb 23Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB134)
- Feb 20Committee substitute printed 26108283D-H1Major
- Vote recorded Reported from Appropriations with substitute. Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 20Reported from Appropriations with substitute (22-Y 0-N)Minor
- Feb 18Assigned HAPP sub: Elementary & Secondary EducationMinor
- Feb 18Referred to Committee on AppropriationsMinor
- Feb 18Read first timeMinor
- Feb 18Placed on Calendar
- Feb 13Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)Passed Senate
- Vote recorded Passage R. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 12Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote)Major
- Feb 12Finance and Appropriations Substitute agreed to
- Feb 12Education and Health Substitute rejected
- Feb 12Read second timeMinor
- Feb 11Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- Vote recorded Constitutional reading dispensed R. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 11Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- Feb 11Rules suspended
- Feb 11Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB134)
- Feb 11Committee substitute printed 26107527D-S2Major
- Feb 10Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 0-N)Minor
- Vote recorded Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 3Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB134)
- Jan 30Committee substitute printed 26105480D-S1Major
- Jan 22Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)Minor
- Vote recorded Reported from Education and Health with substitute. Result: pass.Upper
- Jan 22Senate committee offered
- Jan 15Senate subcommittee offered
- Jan 15Assigned Education sub: Public EducationMinor
- Jan 6Referred to Committee on Education and HealthMinor
- Jan 6Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102085DIntroduced