# Virginia HB398: Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; created, prohibited practices, penalties.

Virginia HB398, Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; created, prohibited practices, penalties., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Charniele L. Herring (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-13 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0602)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB398-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB398
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; created, prohibited practices, penalties.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-12
- Last action: 2026-04-13, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0602)
- Sponsor: Charniele L. Herring (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 9 (232 yes, 11 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act; prohibited practices; penalties. Creates the Safeguarding American Veteran Empowerment Act to regulate the practices of persons seeking to receive compensation for preparing, presenting, prosecuting, advising, consulting, or assisting any individual regarding any veterans' benefits matter, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. This bill is identical to SB 315.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Fee limits for veterans’ benefits help: benefit, medium. In Virginia, both parties must sign a written fee agreement before paid veterans’ benefits services begin. Fees must depend on a benefit increase and cannot exceed five times the monthly increase awarded. Providers cannot collect initial or nonrefundable fees, and nobody can receive payment for ref…
- Stronger safeguards for veterans’ benefits help: benefit, low. Virginia bans veterans’ benefits helpers from promising success or a particular result. At the start, paid providers must disclose their lack of government or veterans-group affiliation, endorsements, possible free help, and other possible benefits. The disclosure must be easy to find in the agreem…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Charniele L. Herring (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate | pass | 40 | 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 |   |
| 2026-02-25 | Senate | Reported from General Laws and Technology | pass | 14 | 1 |   |
| 2026-02-17 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 88 | 5 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Reported from Appropriations | pass | 19 | 3 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 5 | 2 |   |
| 2026-02-10 | House | Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) and referred to Appropriations | pass | 22 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-05 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) and referring to Appropriations | pass | 7 | 0 |   |

## Actions (33)

- 2026-04-13: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0602) (Governor)
- 2026-04-13: Approved by Governor-Chapter 602 (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)
- 2026-03-05: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB398) (House)
- 2026-03-05: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB398ER) (House)
- 2026-03-05: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-05: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-05: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate (40-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: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB398) (House)
- 2026-02-25: Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 1-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-17: Read third time and passed House (88-Y 5-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-16: Engrossed by House as amended (House)
- 2026-02-16: committee amendments agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-16: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-15: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-13: Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 2-N) (House)
- 2026-02-13: Reported from Appropriations (19-Y 3-N) (House)
- 2026-02-11: Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay (House)
- 2026-02-10: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB398) (House)
- 2026-02-10: Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-05: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-02-05: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-19: Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2 (House)
- 2026-01-12: Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce (House)
- 2026-01-12: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103448D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218985.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218984.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-05: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193759.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193758.PDF)
- Engrossed, 2026-02-16: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1148684.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1148683.PDF)
- Amendment, 2026-02-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1138679.HTML)
- Amendment, 2026-02-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132148.HTML)
- Amendment, 2026-02-05: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1131422.HTML)
- Introduced, 2026-01-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084288.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084287.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/1218985.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218984.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193759.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193758.PDF)
- [Engrossed (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1148684.HTML)
- [Engrossed (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1148683.PDF)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1138679.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132148.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1131422.HTML)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084288.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084287.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-HB398-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).