VA HB 1282
enactedLicensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement, etc.
Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower
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Quick answers
Did VA HB 1282 pass?
Yes. VA HB 1282 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-04-13): Approved by Governor-Chapter 766 (effective 7/1/2026)
What is VA HB 1282 about?
Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement; licensure without examination. Directs the Board of Counseling to establish a pathway to licensure by endorsement as a licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner for applicants who have held certification as a certified substance abuse counselor for at least 10 years without a history of disciplinary action, have completed at least five years of documented supervised experience, hold at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of counseling, and hold a Master Addiction Counselor credential issued by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. The bill provides that such pathway to licensure by endorsement does not require examination.
Who sponsors VA HB 1282?
Joshua G. Cole is the primary sponsor of VA HB 1282, joined by 2 cosponsors.
Description
Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioners; licensure by endorsement; licensure without examination. Directs the Board of Counseling to establish a pathway to licensure by endorsement as a licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner for applicants who have held certification as a certified substance abuse counselor for at least 10 years without a history of disciplinary action, have completed at least five years of documented supervised experience, hold at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of counseling, and hold a Master Addiction Counselor credential issued by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. The bill provides that such pathway to licensure by endorsement does not require examination.
- Introduced
- 2026-01-14
- Latest action
- 2026-04-13 — Approved by Governor-Chapter 766 (effective 7/1/2026)
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Joshua G. Coleprimary
- Rodney T. Willettcosponsor
- Virgil Thorntoncosponsor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2026-04-13
Approved by Governor-Chapter 766 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive-signature
2026-03-25
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
executive-receipt
2026-03-25
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 25, 2026
enrolled,executive-receipt
2026-03-17
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1282)
2026-03-14
Signed by President
passage
2026-03-14
Signed by Speaker
passage
2026-03-14
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1282ER)
passage
2026-03-14
Enrolled
enrolled
2026-03-09
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
passage
2026-03-09
Read third time
reading-3
2026-03-06
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
2026-03-06
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-03-06
Rules suspended
2026-03-05
Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-27
Assigned Education sub: Health Professions
referral-committee
2026-02-18
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
referral-committee
2026-02-18
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-02-17
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A)
passage,reading-3
2026-02-16
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1282)
2026-02-16
Engrossed by House as amended
2026-02-16
committee amendment agreed to
amendment-passage
2026-02-16
Read second time
reading-2
2026-02-15
Read first time
reading-1
2026-02-12
Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) (21-Y 0-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-10
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (10-Y 0-N)
2026-02-09
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1282)
2026-01-23
Assigned sub: Health Professions
referral-committee
2026-01-14
Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services
referral-committee
2026-01-14
Presented and ordered printed 26104275D
introduction
Versions
Documents
Votes
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s)
2026-02-10 · pass · 10-0
Member-level votes (10)
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Mark C. Downey: yes
- Garrett McGuire: yes
- M. Keith Hodges: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: yes
- Wren M. Williams: yes
Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s)
2026-02-12 · pass · 21-0
Member-level votes (22)
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Sam Rasoul: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- Irene Shin: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr.: yes
- Debra D. Gardner: yes
- Laura Jane Cohen: yes
- Mark C. Downey: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Garrett McGuire: yes
- M. Keith Hodges: yes
- Wendell S. Walker: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: yes
- H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: yes
- Mitchell Cornett: yes
- Wren M. Williams: not voting
H VOTE:
2026-02-17 · pass · 96-0
Member-level votes (99)
- Jessica L. Anderson: yes
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Terry L. Austin: yes
- Jason S. Ballard: yes
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: yes
- Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
- Katrina Callsen: yes
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
- Betsy B. Carr: yes
- Stacey Annie Carroll: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: yes
- Nadarius E. Clark: not voting
- Laura Jane Cohen: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
- Mitchell Cornett: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Will Davis: yes
- Karrie K. Delaney: yes
- Lindsey Dougherty: yes
- Mark C. Downey: yes
- Michael B. Feggans: yes
- Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr.: yes
- Lily V. Franklin: yes
- Margaret A. Franklin: yes
- Debra D. Gardner: yes
- Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: yes
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Timothy P. Griffin: yes
- Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
- Karen Hamilton: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Dan I. Helmer: yes
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr.: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- M. Keith Hodges: yes
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
- Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: yes
- Barry D. Knight: not voting
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich: yes
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
- Marty Martinez: yes
- John Chilton McAuliff: not voting
- Adele Y. McClure: yes
- Garrett McGuire: yes
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: yes
- Joseph P. McNamara: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- James W. Morefield: yes
- May Nivar: yes
- Delores Oates: yes
- Israel D. O'Quinn: yes
- Justin Pence: yes
- Eric Phillips: yes
- Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Sam Rasoul: yes
- Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Chris S. Runion: yes
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Don Scott: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: yes
- Holly M. Seibold: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Irene Shin: yes
- Marcus B. Simon: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- JJ Singh: yes
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
- Anne Ferrell Tata: yes
- Joshua E. Thomas: yes
- Virgil Thornton: yes
- Luke E. Torian: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: yes
- Wendell S. Walker: yes
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
- R. Lee Ware: yes
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Michael J. Webert: yes
- Madison Whittle: yes
- Bill Wiley: yes
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Wren M. Williams: yes
- Tony O. Wilt: yes
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: yes
- Scott A. Wyatt: yes
- Eric R. Zehr: yes
Reported from Education and Health
2026-03-05 · pass · 15-0
Member-level votes (15)
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- David R. Suetterlein: yes
- Mark J. Peake: yes
- Todd E. Pillion: yes
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Lamont Bagby: yes
- Christopher T. Head: yes
- Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
- Tara A. Durant: yes
- Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
- Christie New Craig: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading)
2026-03-06 · pass · 39-0
Member-level votes (40)
- Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
- Lamont Bagby: yes
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
- Luther Cifers, III: yes
- Christie New Craig: yes
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Bill DeSteph: yes
- J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
- Tara A. Durant: yes
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- Timmy French: yes
- T. Travis Hackworth: not voting
- Christopher T. Head: yes
- Michael J. Jones: yes
- Emily M. Jordan: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Ryan T. McDougle: yes
- Jeremy S. McPike: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: yes
- Mark J. Peake: yes
- Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
- Todd E. Pillion: yes
- Bryce E. Reeves: yes
- Danica A. Roem: yes
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: yes
- Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: yes
- David R. Suetterlein: yes
- Scott A. Surovell: yes
- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
- Angelia Williams Graves: yes
Passage R
2026-03-09 · pass · 40-0
Member-level votes (40)
- Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
- Lamont Bagby: yes
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
- Luther Cifers, III: yes
- Christie New Craig: yes
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Bill DeSteph: yes
- J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
- Tara A. Durant: yes
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- Timmy French: yes
- T. Travis Hackworth: yes
- Christopher T. Head: yes
- Michael J. Jones: yes
- Emily M. Jordan: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Ryan T. McDougle: yes
- Jeremy S. McPike: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: yes
- Mark J. Peake: yes
- Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
- Todd E. Pillion: yes
- Bryce E. Reeves: yes
- Danica A. Roem: yes
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: yes
- Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: yes
- David R. Suetterlein: yes
- Scott A. Surovell: yes
- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
- Angelia Williams Graves: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z
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