# Virginia HB164: Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership.

Virginia HB164, Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Joshua E. Thomas (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0078)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB164-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB164
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-06
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0078)
- Sponsor: Joshua E. Thomas (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (161 yes, 57 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership and workforce housing alternatives. Eliminates the maximum amount a locality may provide (i) to employees of the locality, employees of the school board, and employees of constitutional officers for homeownership grants to purchase primary residences in the locality and (ii) to school division personnel for residential housing assistance grants to provide affordable workforce housing alternatives. The bill also eliminates the requirement that such grants adhere to the Virginia Housing and Development Authority regional sales price and household income limitation guidelines. Current law imposes a maximum grant amount of $25,000 for individual grants per employee, as well as a maximum lifetime cumulative amount of $25,000 per employee. This bill is identical to SB 328.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Fewer homebuying limits for local employees: benefit, low. Virginia localities may offer homebuying grants by ordinance to local government employees, school board employees, and constitutional officers’ staff. Grants cover purchases of primary homes within the locality and cannot use state funds. The law removes the former $25,000 per-grant and $25,000 li…
- More flexible housing grants for school staff: benefit, low. Virginia localities may offer housing assistance grants by ordinance, working with the local school division. The law removes the former limit tying these grant amounts to the homebuying grant caps. Localities and school divisions may also partner with private groups or make other arrangements for…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Joshua E. Thomas (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-04 | Senate | Passed Senate | pass | 25 | 15 |   |
| 2026-03-03 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-03 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Reported from Local Government | pass | 7 | 6 |   |
| 2026-01-29 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 65 | 32 |   |
| 2026-01-23 | House | Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) | pass | 16 | 4 |   |
| 2026-01-22 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) | pass | 8 | 0 |   |

## Actions (27)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0078) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 78 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-14: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-14: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-12: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-11: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB164ER) (House)
- 2026-03-11: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-11: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Passed Senate (25-Y 15-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-03-03: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-03-03: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-03: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Reported from Local Government (7-Y 6-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-30: Referred to Committee on Local Government (Senate)
- 2026-01-30: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-01-29: Read third time and passed House (65-Y 32-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-01-28: Engrossed by House as amended (House)
- 2026-01-28: committee amendment agreed to (House)
- 2026-01-28: Read second time (House)
- 2026-01-27: Read first time (House)
- 2026-01-23: Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (16-Y 4-N) (House)
- 2026-01-22: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-01-22: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-20: Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #2 (House)
- 2026-01-06: Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns (House)
- 2026-01-06: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102981D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216280.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216279.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-11: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199692.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199691.PDF)
- Engrossed, 2026-01-28: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096117.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096116.PDF)
- Amendment, 2026-01-23: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093367.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1095449.HTML)
- Amendment, 2026-01-22: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093428.HTML)
- Introduced, 2026-01-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082690.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082689.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/1216280.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216279.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199692.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199691.PDF)
- [Engrossed (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096117.HTML)
- [Engrossed (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096116.PDF)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093367.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1095449.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093428.HTML)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082690.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082689.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-HB164-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).