# Virginia HB461: Special education; certain educational settings, student age range restriction. Virginia HB461, Special education; certain educational settings, student age range restriction., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Laura Jane Cohen (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-13 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0617)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB461-2026 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia HB461 - State: Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Special education; certain educational settings, student age range restriction. - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-01-12 - Last action: 2026-04-13, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0617) - Sponsor: Laura Jane Cohen (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 9 (234 yes, 87 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 1 ## Summary Special education; student age range restrictions in educational settings. Prohibits any student with a disability in grades kindergarten through six from being regularly assigned to any educational setting, including any specialized educational setting, in which the maximum age range exceeds four years unless the student's individualized education program (IEP) team determines that an exception is appropriate and justifies such exception in the student's IEP. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Age-range limits for K–6 students with disabilities: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2027, schools must follow a four-year age span rule for K–6 students with disabilities. A child cannot be regularly assigned to any setting where the oldest and youngest students are more than four years apart. This includes classrooms and nongeneral education settings. The IEP te… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Laura Jane Cohen (Democratic), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-11 | House | Senate amendment agreed to by House | pass | 71 | 28 | | | 2026-03-10 | Senate | Passed Senate with amendment | pass | 21 | 19 | | | 2026-03-10 | Senate | Education and Health Amendment agreed to | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-05 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health with amendment | pass | 9 | 6 | | | 2026-02-17 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 69 | 28 | | | 2026-02-11 | House | Reported from Education with substitute | pass | 16 | 5 | | | 2026-02-10 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) | pass | 9 | 1 | | ## Actions (38) - 2026-04-13: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0617) (Governor) - 2026-04-13: Approved by Governor - Chapter 617 (effective - 7/1/2027) (Governor) - 2026-03-31: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB461) (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 (HB461ER) (House) - 2026-03-30: Enrolled (House) - 2026-03-30: Signed by President (Senate) - 2026-03-11: Senate amendment agreed to by House (71-Y 28-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-03-10: Passed Senate with amendment (21-Y 19-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Education and Health 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) - 2026-03-05: Reported from Education and Health with amendment (9-Y 6-N) (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate subcommittee offered (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Assigned Education sub: Public Education (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Read third time and passed House (69-Y 28-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-02-16: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House) - 2026-02-16: committee substitute agreed to (House) - 2026-02-16: Read second time (House) - 2026-02-13: Read first time (House) - 2026-02-11: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB461) (House) - 2026-02-11: Committee substitute printed 26107653D-H1 (House) - 2026-02-11: Reported from Education with substitute (16-Y 5-N) (House) - 2026-02-11: House committee offered (House) - 2026-02-10: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (9-Y 1-N) (House) - 2026-02-09: House subcommittee offered (House) - 2026-02-05: Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee (House) - 2026-02-02: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB461) (House) - 2026-01-12: Referred to Committee on Education (House) - 2026-01-12: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101364D (House) ## Bill text - Chaptered, 2026-04-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221494.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221493.PDF) - Enrolled, 2026-03-30: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212304.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212303.PDF) - Amendment, 2026-03-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1203784.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-03-05: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196852.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-02-26: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1184857.HTML) - Substitute, 2026-02-11: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139847.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139423.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139422.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139846.PDF) - Amendment, 2026-02-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1136315.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-02-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1135213.HTML) - Introduced, 2026-01-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084546.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084545.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/1221494.HTML) - [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221493.PDF) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212304.HTML) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1212303.PDF) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1203784.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196852.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1184857.HTML) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139847.HTML) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139423.HTML) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139422.PDF) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139846.PDF) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1136315.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1135213.HTML) - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084546.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1084545.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-HB461-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).