# Virginia HB131: Higher educational institutions, public; reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs, etc.

Virginia HB131, Higher educational institutions, public; reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs, etc., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Marcus B. Simon (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0074)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB131-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB131
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Higher educational institutions, public; reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs, etc.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-03
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0074)
- Sponsor: Marcus B. Simon (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (213 yes, 2 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Public institutions of higher education; reasonable accommodations for the religious beliefs and practices of individual students. Requires each public institution of higher education to provide reasonable accommodations, as defined in the bill, for the religious beliefs and practices of individual students with regard to admissions, class attendance, and the scheduling of examinations and work assignments and to provide and describe in the institution's student handbook or an equivalent document and in the institution's faculty handbook or an equivalent document a grievance procedure for any student to seek redress when the student believes that he has been unreasonably denied such reasonable accommodations for his religious beliefs and practices.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Religious accommodations for public college students: mixed, low. Virginia public colleges must provide reasonable religious accommodations to applicants and students. This covers admissions, class attendance, exam dates, and assignment schedules. An accommodation must let you practice your faith without changing core requirements or causing undue hardship to a d…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Marcus B. Simon (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate | pass | 39 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 37 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | 13 | 0 | 2 |
| 2026-02-03 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 94 | 2 |   |
| 2026-01-28 | House | Reported from Education | pass | 21 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-27 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 9 | 0 |   |

## Actions (28)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0074) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 74 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-06: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB131) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB131ER) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Reported from Education and Health (13-Y 0-N 2-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Assigned Education sub: Higher Education (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: Read third time and passed House (94-Y 2-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-02: Read second time and engrossed (House)
- 2026-02-02: Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar (House)
- 2026-01-30: Read first time (House)
- 2026-01-28: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB131) (House)
- 2026-01-28: Reported from Education (21-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-27: Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-23: Assigned HED sub: Higher Education (House)
- 2026-01-03: Referred to Committee on Education (House)
- 2026-01-03: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104369D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216264.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216263.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193875.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193874.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-03: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082526.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082525.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216264.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216263.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193875.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193874.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082526.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082525.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB131-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).