# Virginia HB842: Virginia Public Procurement Act; definition of "small business," direct procurement, set-asides.

Virginia HB842, Virginia Public Procurement Act; definition of "small business," direct procurement, set-asides., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Mark C. Downey (Democratic); status in committee, last action 2026-01-29 (Continued to 2027 in General Laws (Voice Vote)) (as of 2026-10-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB842-2026
- As of: 2026-10-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB842
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Virginia Public Procurement Act; definition of "small business," direct procurement, set-asides.
- Status: in committee
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-01-29, Continued to 2027 in General Laws (Voice Vote)
- Sponsor: Mark C. Downey (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Procurement/Open Government
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 2 (0 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; Virginia Public Procurement Act; definition of "small business"; direct procurement; set-asides. Amends the definition of "small business," for purposes of provisions related to the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity and the Virginia Public Procurement Act, to mean a business that is at least 51 percent independently owned and controlled by one or more individuals, or in the case of a cooperative association, is at least 51 percent independently controlled by one or more members, who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens and, together with affiliates, has 50 or fewer employees or average annual gross receipts of $5 million or less averaged over the previous three years and for which the individual owners do not have a combined net worth exceeding $1.5 million. Current law defines a small business as such, but with 250 or fewer employees and average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less averaged over the previous three years, with no limit on the combined net worth of individual owners. The bill allows any public body to directly solicit or award a contract of less than $200,000 to a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business, or to a business identified by a public body as a service disabled veteran-owned or military family-owned business, without engaging in the competitive sealed bidding or competitive negotiation process. The bill also provides that purchases made by a public body for goods, services, and construction up to $100,000 that are not directly awarded shall be set aside for award to small businesses.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Mark C. Downey (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-01-29 | House | Continued to 2027 in General Laws (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-27 | House | Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |

## Actions (5)

- 2026-01-29: Continued to 2027 in General Laws (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-01-27: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-01-26: Assigned HGL sub: Procurement/Open Government (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on General Laws (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104023D (House)

## Bill text

- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086117.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086116.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
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086117.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086116.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)
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- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB842-2026 (as of 2026-10-11).