# Virginia HB849: Public school employees; suspension, notice and opportunity for a hearing.

Virginia HB849, Public school employees; suspension, notice and opportunity for a hearing., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Rae Cousins (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0233)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB849-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB849
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Public school employees; suspension, notice and opportunity for a hearing.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0233)
- Sponsor: Rae Cousins (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (219 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Public school employees; suspension; notice and opportunity for a hearing. Provides that no school board employee shall be suspended without notice and, if applicable, an opportunity to be heard and amends current law to require any individual who has been so suspended, regardless of the length of the suspension, to continue to receive his then applicable salary unless and until the school board, after a hearing, determines otherwise. Under current law, such requirement only applies to any individual who has been suspended for a period in excess of five days.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Stronger hearing rights for school employees: benefit, low. Virginia public school employees get written notice and a chance for a school-board hearing before suspension, except for listed criminal charges. The law removes the former five-day threshold for these protections, using applicable school-board hearing procedures. It covers teachers and other empl…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Rae Cousins (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | 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 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | 15 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 96 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-09 | House | Reported from Education | pass | 21 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (27)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0233) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 233 (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)
- 2026-03-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB849) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB849ER) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate Block Vote (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: Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-19: Assigned Education sub: Public Education (Senate)
- 2026-02-16: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-02-16: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Read third time and passed House Block Vote (96-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-12: Read second time and engrossed (House)
- 2026-02-11: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-09: Reported from Education (21-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-03: Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-02: Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee (House)
- 2026-01-19: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB849) (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Education (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104090D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216902.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216901.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194286.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194285.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086176.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086175.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/1216902.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216901.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194286.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194285.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086176.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086175.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-HB849-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).