Virginia bills · 2026 Regular Session
Virginia SB 19
DOE; policies relating to instructional material that contains sexually explicit content.
- Introduced
- In committee
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- To Governor
- Became law
Sponsors
- Mamie E. Locke (Democratic)
Summary
Official abstract published by the Virginia legislature· SUMMARY AS PASSED
Department of Education; policies relating to instructional material that contains sexually explicit content; applicability; construction. Amends current law requiring the Department of Education to develop model policies and each school board to adopt policies consistent with the Department's model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content by (i) defining "instructional material" as any material, regardless of its format, assigned and provided to a student by a public school teacher directly for the completion of an assignment or curricular objective and clarifying that "instructional material" does not include any book or audiovisual material available in a public school library unless specifically required or assigned by a public school teacher directly for completion of an assignment or curricular objective and (ii) providing that nothing in the applicable law or any model policy or amendments thereto adopted by the Department or any policy or amendments thereto adopted by a school board pursuant to the applicable law shall be (a) construed to permit the censoring of books in any public elementary or secondary school or (b) utilized as a rationale or basis for the removal of books from any public elementary or secondary school. This bill is identical to HB 1499.
Text versions
Roll-call votes
State vote data last updated Oct 16, 2026, 12:24 AM.
| Date | Vote | Result | Your legislators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 23, 2026 House | H VOTE: | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Feb 18, 2026 House | Reported from Education | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Jan 27, 2026 Senate | Passage R | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Jan 23, 2026 Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed R | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Jan 22, 2026 Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
Actions
- Apr 6, 2026
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0322) - Apr 6, 2026
Approved by Governor-Chapter 322 (effective 7/1/2026) - Mar 10, 2026
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 - Mar 10, 2026 · Senate
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Signed by President - Feb 24, 2026 · House
Signed by Speaker - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB19) - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB19ER) - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Enrolled - Feb 23, 2026 · House
Passed House (62-Y 34-N 0-A) - Feb 23, 2026 · House
Read third time - Feb 20, 2026 · House
Read second time - Feb 18, 2026 · House
Reported from Education (14-Y 7-N) - Feb 4, 2026 · Senate
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB19) - Feb 3, 2026 · House
Referred to Committee on Education - Feb 3, 2026 · House
Read first time - Feb 3, 2026 · House
Placed on Calendar - Jan 27, 2026 · Senate
Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) - Jan 26, 2026 · Senate
Engrossed by Senate - Jan 26, 2026 · Senate
Read second time - Jan 26, 2026 · Senate
Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote) - Jan 23, 2026 · Senate
Passed by for the day - Jan 23, 2026 · Senate
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote) - Jan 23, 2026 · Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) - Jan 23, 2026 · Senate
Rules suspended - Jan 22, 2026 · Senate
Reported from Education and Health (8-Y 5-N 1-A) - Jan 15, 2026 · Senate
Assigned Education sub: Public Education - Nov 17, 2025 · Senate
Referred to Committee on Education and Health - Nov 17, 2025 · Senate
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100692D