VA HJ 3

Status unknown

Constitutional amendment (second reference); marriage between two adult persons; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry.

Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower

Quick answers

Did VA HJ 3 pass?

The current status of VA HJ 3 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-03-31): Signed by Speaker

What is VA HJ 3 about?

Constitutional amendment (second reference); marriage between two adult persons; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two adult persons seeking a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such persons. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two adult persons and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons.

Who sponsors VA HJ 3?

Mark D. Sickles is the primary sponsor of VA HJ 3, joined by 75 cosponsors.

Description

Introduced: 2025-11-17
Latest action: 2026-03-31 — Signed by Speaker
Bill type: constitutional amendment
Last updated: —

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

2025-11-17
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101634D
filing,introduction
2025-11-17
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
referral-committee
2026-01-14
Reported from Privileges and Elections (16-Y 6-N)
committee-passage
2026-01-14
Taken up
2026-01-14
Engrossed by House
2026-01-14
Agreed to by House (67-Y 31-N 0-A)
2026-01-14
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
referral-committee
2026-01-14
Reported from Privileges and Elections (10-Y 3-N)
committee-passage
2026-01-15
Read second time
reading-2
2026-01-16
Read third time
reading-3
2026-01-16
Reading of amendment waived (Voice Vote)
2026-01-16
Senator Jordan, Emily M. Amendment rejected
amendment-failure
2026-01-16
Passed Senate
passage
2026-01-16
Agreed to by Senate
2026-03-30
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ3ER)
passage
2026-03-30
Signed by President
passage
2026-03-31
Signed by Speaker
passage

Versions

IntroducedCompare
Senator Jordan, Emily M. AmendmentCompare
EnrolledCompare

Documents

Votes

H VOTE:
2026-01-14 · pass · 66-31
Member-level votes (99)
- Jessica L. Anderson: yes
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Terry L. Austin: not voting
- Jason S. Ballard: no
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: yes
- David L. 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
- Debra D. Gardner: yes
- Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: yes
- 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
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: no
- Joseph P. McNamara: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- James W. Morefield: no
- Candi Mundon King: yes
- 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
- Don Scott: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: no
- Holly M. Seibold: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Irene Shin: yes
- Mark D. Sickles: 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 Privileges and Elections
2026-01-14 · pass · 16-6
Member-level votes (37)
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr.: yes
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- JJ Singh: yes
- David L. Bulova: yes
- John Chilton McAuliff: yes
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
- Stacey Annie Carroll: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Israel D. O'Quinn: no
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: no
- H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: no
- Mike A. Cherry: no
- Eric Phillips: no
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Adam P. Ebbin: yes
- T. Travis Hackworth: no
- Bill DeSteph: yes
- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
- Tara A. Durant: not voting
- Russet Perry: yes
- J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: no
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- Luther Cifers, III: no
- Emily M. Jordan: not voting
Passage R
2026-01-16 · pass · 26-13
Member-level votes (40)
- Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
- Lamont Bagby: yes
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
- Luther Cifers, III: no
- Christie New Craig: no
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Bill DeSteph: yes
- J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
- Tara A. Durant: yes
- Adam P. Ebbin: yes
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- Timmy French: no
- T. Travis Hackworth: no
- Ghazala F. Hashmi: yes
- Christopher T. Head: no
- Emily M. Jordan: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Ryan T. McDougle: no
- Jeremy S. McPike: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: no
- Mark D. Obenshain: no
- Mark J. Peake: no
- Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
- Todd E. Pillion: not voting
- Bryce E. Reeves: no
- Danica A. Roem: yes
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: no
- Richard H. Stuart: no
- Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: no
- 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

https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HJ3

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changes Status and relationship changes

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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=HJ 3. 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.

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