Virginia House Bill 1972

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: Introduced on January 7 2025 - 25% progression
Action: 2025-01-22 - Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
Text: Latest bill text (Comm Sub) [HTML]

Statewide, unified, universally accessible, public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth; online program. Requires the statewide, unified, public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be universally accessible, defined in the bill as providing each family with a child who is three or four years of age with at least one slot in an early childhood care and education setting, and in the case of certain families, providing such slot at no cost to the family or at a reduced rate based on a sliding scale and an analysis of family means as determined by the Department of Education. The bill requires the Department of Education, in order to assist with making the statewide, unified, public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth universally accessible, to establish and maintain a comprehensive, free, online early childhood education program that is accessible to all families with a child who is three or four years of age, focuses on school readiness, social-emotional development, and language acquisition, and includes a hybrid learning option whereby local community centers or libraries serve as learning hubs for weekly in-person activities. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Early childhood care & education; statewide, unified, universally accessible, public-private system.

Del. Debra Gardner [D]	Del. Bonita Anthony [D]	Del. Alex Askew [D]	Del. Katrina Callsen [D]
Del. Nadarius Clark [D]	Del. Laura Jane Cohen [D]	Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler [D]	Del. Rae Cousins [D]
Del. Michael Feggans [D]	Del. Rozia Henson [D]	Del. Marty Martinez [D]	Del. Sam Rasoul [D]
Del. David Reid [D]	Del. Holly Seibold [D]	Del. Joshua Thomas [D]	Del. Kathy Tran [D]

2025-01-22 - House - Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N) (Y: 5 N: 3 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2025-01-22	House	Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
2025-01-13	House	Assigned Educ sub: Early Childhood
2025-01-07	House	Referred to Committee on Education
2025-01-07	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-13-2025 25104469D

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1972
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1972/text/HB1972
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1972/text/HB1972H1
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB1972/20251/H09003V2510651