# Virginia SB328: Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership. Virginia SB328, Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership., is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Russet Perry (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0079)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB328-2026 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia SB328 - State: Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-13 - Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0079) - Sponsor: Russet Perry (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Counties, Cities and Towns - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 9 (151 yes, 59 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 2 ## Summary Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership and workforce housing alternatives. Eliminates the maximum amount a locality may provide (i) to employees of the locality, employees of the school board, and employees of constitutional officers for homeownership grants to purchase primary residences in the locality and (ii) to school division personnel for residential housing assistance grants to provide affordable workforce housing alternatives. The bill also eliminates the requirement that such grants adhere to the Virginia Housing and Development Authority regional sales price and household income limitation guidelines. Current law imposes a maximum grant amount of $25,000 for individual grants per employee, as well as a maximum lifetime cumulative amount of $25,000 per employee. This bill is identical to HB 164. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Fewer homebuyer grant limits for local employees: benefit, medium. Local governments may offer homebuyer grants to their employees, school board employees, and employees of constitutional officers. The home must be the employee’s primary residence within the locality. The law removes the former $25,000 per-grant and lifetime caps, plus regional income and home-pri… - More housing help options for school staff: benefit, low. Local governments may authorize housing assistance grants by ordinance while working with their local school division. The law removes the former rule tying these grant amounts to homebuyer grant limits. Local governments may also use public-private partnerships and other arrangements to provide af… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Russet Perry (Democratic), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-04 | House | Passed House | pass | 62 | 35 | | | 2026-02-27 | House | Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns | pass | 15 | 6 | | | 2026-02-27 | House | Reconsidered by Counties, Cities and Towns (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-20 | House | Continued to 2027 in Counties, Cities and Towns (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-05 | Senate | Read third time and passed Senate | pass | 25 | 14 | 1 | | 2026-02-04 | Senate | Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-03 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-03 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-02-02 | Senate | Reported from Local Government | pass | 10 | 4 | 1 | ## Actions (27) - 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0079) (Governor) - 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 79 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor) - 2026-03-14: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor) - 2026-03-14: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB328ER) (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Enrolled (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Signed by President (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2026-03-04: Passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-03-04: Read third time (House) - 2026-03-03: Read second time (House) - 2026-02-27: Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (15-Y 6-N) (House) - 2026-02-27: Reconsidered by Counties, Cities and Towns (Voice Vote) (House) - 2026-02-20: Continued to 2027 in Counties, Cities and Towns (Voice Vote) (House) - 2026-02-10: Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns (House) - 2026-02-10: Read first time (House) - 2026-02-10: Placed on Calendar (House) - 2026-02-05: Read third time and passed Senate (25-Y 14-N 1-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-04: Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-04: Read second time (Senate) - 2026-02-03: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-03: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-03: Passed by for the day (Senate) - 2026-02-03: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-02-02: Reported from Local Government (10-Y 4-N 1-A) (Senate) - 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Local Government (Senate) - 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26105310D (Senate) ## Bill text - Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216288.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216287.PDF) - Enrolled, 2026-03-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1198837.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1198836.PDF) - Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089636.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089635.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/1216288.HTML) - [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216287.PDF) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1198837.HTML) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1198836.PDF) - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089636.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089635.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-SB328-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).