VA HB 923
deadProtection of employees; stay or pay contracts prohibited, civil penalty.
Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower
Quick answers
Did VA HB 923 pass?
No. VA HB 923 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process (2026-03-09). Latest recorded action (2026-03-09): Failed to report from Commerce and Labor with substitute (6-Y 9-N)
What is VA HB 923 about?
Protection of employees; stay or pay contracts prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a stay or pay contract, as defined in the bill, with any employee, with certain exceptions described. An employer that violates the bill's provisions is subject to a civil penalty of $1,000. The bill allows an employee to bring a civil action against an employer or other person that attempts to enforce a stay or pay contract and to seek appropriate relief, including enjoining the conduct of any person or employer, ordering payment of liquidated damages, and awarding lost compensation, damages, and reasonable attorney fees and costs. The bill provides that if the court finds a violation of the bill's provisions, the plaintiff is entitled to recover reasonable costs, including reasonable fees for expert witnesses, and attorney fees.
Who sponsors VA HB 923?
Alfonso H. Lopez is the primary sponsor of VA HB 923.
Description
Protection of employees; stay or pay contracts prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a stay or pay contract, as defined in the bill, with any employee, with certain exceptions described. An employer that violates the bill's provisions is subject to a civil penalty of $1,000. The bill allows an employee to bring a civil action against an employer or other person that attempts to enforce a stay or pay contract and to seek appropriate relief, including enjoining the conduct of any person or employer, ordering payment of liquidated damages, and awarding lost compensation, damages, and reasonable attorney fees and costs. The bill provides that if the court finds a violation of the bill's provisions, the plaintiff is entitled to recover reasonable costs, including reasonable fees for expert witnesses, and attorney fees.
- Introduced
- 2026-01-13
- Latest action
- 2026-03-09 — Failed to report from Commerce and Labor with substitute (6-Y 9-N)
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Alfonso H. Lopezprimary
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2026-01-13
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102468D
filing,introduction
2026-01-13
Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce
referral-committee
2026-01-22
Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2
referral-committee
2026-01-29
House subcommittee offered
2026-01-29
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (6-Y 1-N)
2026-02-03
Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (16-Y 6-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-05
Read first time
reading-1
2026-02-06
Read second time
reading-2
2026-02-06
committee amendments agreed to
amendment-passage
2026-02-06
Engrossed by House as amended
2026-02-09
Read third time and passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A)
passage,reading-3
2026-02-10
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-02-10
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
referral-committee
2026-02-12
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB923)
2026-03-09
Senate committee offered
2026-03-09
Failed to report from Commerce and Labor with substitute (6-Y 9-N)
committee-failure
Versions
Documents
Votes
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s)
2026-01-29 · pass · 6-1
Member-level votes (8)
- Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
- Dan I. Helmer: not voting
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Michael B. Feggans: yes
- Chris S. Runion: yes
- Jason S. Ballard: no
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s)
2026-02-03 · pass · 16-6
Member-level votes (22)
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
- Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
- Dan I. Helmer: yes
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
- Irene Shin: yes
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Michael B. Feggans: yes
- Nadarius E. Clark: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Laura Jane Cohen: yes
- JJ Singh: yes
- May Nivar: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: no
- Israel D. O'Quinn: no
- Michael J. Webert: no
- Tony O. Wilt: yes
- Chris S. Runion: no
- Jason S. Ballard: no
- Wren M. Williams: no
H VOTE:
2026-02-09 · pass · 63-35
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: not voting
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: no
- 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: yes
- 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.: no
- 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: no
- Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: no
- 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: no
- Joseph P. McNamara: no
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- James W. Morefield: no
- May Nivar: yes
- Delores Oates: no
- 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: no
- 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: no
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Michael J. Webert: no
- Madison Whittle: no
- Bill Wiley: no
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Wren M. Williams: no
- Tony O. Wilt: no
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: no
- Scott A. Wyatt: no
- Eric R. Zehr: no
Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute
2026-03-09 · fail · 6-9
Member-level votes (15)
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: no
- L. Louise Lucas: no
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Scott A. Surovell: no
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: no
- Ryan T. McDougle: no
- Mamie E. Locke: no
- Bill DeSteph: no
- Jeremy S. McPike: yes
- Mark J. Peake: no
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- Lamont Bagby: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: no
- Jennifer B. Boysko: 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 923. 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.