# Virginia HB356: Local housing policy; expands the range of changes that are required. Virginia HB356, Local housing policy; expands the range of changes that are required., 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 (CHAP0121)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB356-2026 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia HB356 - State: Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Local housing policy; expands the range of changes that are required. - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-01-12 - Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0121) - Sponsor: Joshua E. Thomas (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 9 (260 yes, 62 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 1 ## Summary Department of Housing and Community Development; local housing policy; report to Department. Expands the range of local housing policy changes that are required to be submitted annually in a report to the Department of Housing and Community Development by any locality with a population greater than 3,500. This bill is identical to SB 665. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Virginia posts yearly local housing reports: benefit, low. The law requires every Virginia city or county with more than 3,500 people to file a yearly housing report with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Reports are due by September 1 for the prior fiscal year, must use Department forms set with stakeholder input, and the Depar… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Joshua E. Thomas (Democratic), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-11 | House | Senate amendment agreed to by House | pass | 74 | 24 | | | 2026-03-10 | Senate | General Laws and Technology Amendment agreed to | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-10 | Senate | Passed Senate with amendment | pass | 21 | 19 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-03-04 | Senate | Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendment | pass | 9 | 6 | | | 2026-02-02 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 86 | 13 | | | 2026-01-27 | House | Reported from General Laws | pass | 21 | 0 | | | 2026-01-22 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 10 | 0 | | ## Actions (33) - 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0121) (Governor) - 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 121 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor) - 2026-04-01: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB356) (House) - 2026-03-31: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor) - 2026-03-31: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 (House) - 2026-03-31: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2026-03-30: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB356ER) (House) - 2026-03-30: Enrolled (House) - 2026-03-30: Signed by President (Senate) - 2026-03-11: Senate amendment agreed to by House (74-Y 24-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-03-10: Passed Senate with amendment (21-Y 19-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-03-10: General Laws and Technology Amendment agreed to (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Engrossed by Senate as amended (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Read third time (Senate) - 2026-03-09: Passed by for the day (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendment (9-Y 6-N) (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate subcommittee offered (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Assigned GL&T sub: Housing (Senate) - 2026-02-03: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology (Senate) - 2026-02-03: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate) - 2026-02-02: Read third time and passed House (86-Y 13-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-01-30: Read second time and engrossed (House) - 2026-01-30: Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar (House) - 2026-01-29: Read first time (House) - 2026-01-27: Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N) (House) - 2026-01-23: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB356) (House) - 2026-01-22: Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N) (House) - 2026-01-19: Assigned HGL sub: Housing/Consumer Protection (House) - 2026-01-12: Referred to Committee on General Laws (House) - 2026-01-12: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104973D (House) ## Bill text - Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216420.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216419.PDF) - Enrolled, 2026-03-30: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212189.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212188.PDF) - Amendment, 2026-03-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1203768.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-03-05: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196403.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-02-25: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1181933.HTML) - Introduced, 2026-01-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083981.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083980.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/1216420.HTML) - [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216419.PDF) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212189.HTML) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212188.PDF) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1203768.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196403.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1181933.HTML) - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083981.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083980.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-HB356-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).