VA HB 263
Status unknownCertified school library specialists; Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in DOE.
Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower
Quick answers
Did VA HB 263 pass?
The current status of VA HB 263 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-02-19): Continued to next session in Education and Health (14-Y 1-N)
What is VA HB 263 about?
Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who shall have several duties enumerated in the bill, including (i) providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders to support student achievement; (ii) directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards; (iii) collaborating on various grants and other initiatives that promote student literacy through school library programs throughout the Commonwealth; (iv) supporting student learning through instructional programs in which students are required to demonstrate information literacy, digital literacy and fluency, and effective use of technology and instructional programs that incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math learning; and (v) providing the Department, the Board of Education, the General Assembly, and school boards with support relating to student learning through the use of school library standards and library resources.
Who sponsors VA HB 263?
Shelly A. Simonds is the primary sponsor of VA HB 263, joined by 2 cosponsors.
Description
Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who shall have several duties enumerated in the bill, including (i) providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders to support student achievement; (ii) directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards; (iii) collaborating on various grants and other initiatives that promote student literacy through school library programs throughout the Commonwealth; (iv) supporting student learning through instructional programs in which students are required to demonstrate information literacy, digital literacy and fluency, and effective use of technology and instructional programs that incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math learning; and (v) providing the Department, the Board of Education, the General Assembly, and school boards with support relating to student learning through the use of school library standards and library resources.
- Introduced
- 2026-01-09
- Latest action
- 2026-02-19 — Continued to next session in Education and Health (14-Y 1-N)
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Shelly A. Simondsprimary
- Nicole Colecosponsor
- Gretchen M. Bulovacosponsor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2026-01-09
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101218D
filing,introduction
2026-01-09
Referred to Committee on Education
referral-committee
2026-01-23
Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
referral-committee
2026-01-27
Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (9-Y 1-N)
2026-01-28
Reported from Education and referred to Appropriations (17-Y 4-N)
committee-passage
2026-01-28
Assigned HAPP sub: Elementary & Secondary Education
referral-committee
2026-01-28
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB263)
2026-01-30
Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N)
2026-02-02
Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-04
Read first time
reading-1
2026-02-05
Read second time and engrossed
reading-2
2026-02-06
Read third time and passed House (74-Y 22-N 0-A)
passage,reading-3
2026-02-09
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-02-09
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
referral-committee
2026-02-19
Continued to next session in Education and Health (14-Y 1-N)
Versions
Documents
Votes
Subcommittee recommends reporting
2026-01-27 · pass · 9-1
Member-level votes (10)
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Jessica L. Anderson: yes
- Lindsey Dougherty: yes
- Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: no
- Anne Ferrell Tata: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
Reported from Education
2026-01-28 · pass · 17-4
Member-level votes (22)
- Sam Rasoul: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Nadarius E. Clark: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Atoosa R. Reaser: not voting
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Jessica L. Anderson: yes
- Lindsey Dougherty: yes
- Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: no
- Anne Ferrell Tata: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: no
- Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: no
- Eric R. Zehr: no
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
- Madison Whittle: yes
Subcommittee recommends reporting
2026-01-30 · pass · 6-0
Member-level votes (7)
- Delores L. McQuinn: not voting
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- Bill Wiley: yes
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: yes
Reported from Appropriations
2026-02-02 · pass · 22-0
Member-level votes (22)
- Luke E. Torian: yes
- Betsy B. Carr: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- Joshua E. Thomas: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- Terry L. Austin: yes
- James W. Morefield: yes
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: yes
- M. Keith Hodges: yes
- Scott A. Wyatt: yes
- Bill Wiley: yes
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: yes
H VOTE:
2026-02-06 · pass · 74-22
Member-level votes (100)
- Jessica L. Anderson: yes
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Terry L. Austin: no
- Jason S. Ballard: no
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: 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: no
- Nadarius E. Clark: yes
- Laura Jane Cohen: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: not voting
- Mitchell Cornett: no
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Will Davis: no
- 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.: no
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Timothy P. Griffin: no
- Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
- Karen Hamilton: no
- 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: no
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
- Karen Keys-Gamarra: not voting
- Terry G. Kilgore: yes
- Barry D. Knight: not voting
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
- Marty Martinez: yes
- John Chilton McAuliff: yes
- 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: no
- Justin Pence: no
- Eric Phillips: no
- Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Sam Rasoul: yes
- Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Chris S. Runion: no
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Don Scott: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: no
- 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.: no
- Wendell S. Walker: no
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
- R. Lee Ware: not voting
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Michael J. Webert: no
- Madison Whittle: no
- Bill Wiley: yes
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Wren M. Williams: no
- Tony O. Wilt: yes
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: no
- Scott A. Wyatt: yes
- Eric R. Zehr: no
Continued to next session in Education and Health
2026-02-19 · pass · 14-1
Member-level votes (15)
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- David R. Suetterlein: no
- 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
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=VA&identifier=HB 263. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
Known limitations
- Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
- Committee referrals are not yet captured.
See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.