Virginia Senate Bill 80 (Prefiled Legislation)

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Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 8-1)
Status: Introduced on December 26 2025 - 25% progression
Action: 2026-07-21 - Continued from last session
Pending: Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]

Virginia Fire Personnel and Equipment Grant Program established; report. Establishes the Virginia Fire Personnel and Equipment Grant Program (the Program) for the purpose of awarding grants to localities to hire additional firefighters and to improve their firefighting and emergency medical services. The bill specifies that the Department of Fire Programs (the Department) shall administer the Program and two types of grants shall be made from the Program. The first shall provide grants to localities to increase the number of firefighters. Such grants shall be made for up to three years and shall be used by localities for programs to (i) hire new, additional full-time firefighters; (ii) convert part-time or volunteer firefighters to full-time firefighters; or (iii) recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. The second shall award grants to localities for improving firefighting and emergency medical services, including by acquiring firefighting and emergency medical services vehicles and equipment and modifying facilities. For both grants, the bill provides that funds shall not be used to supplant any funds currently provided by the Commonwealth or by the locality and shall be used to increase the total amount of funds available for the provision of firefighting or emergency medical services. The bill requires the Department to submit a report annually, beginning November 1, 2027, to the Governor and the General Assembly containing a list of grants, the amount of each approved grant, information on the performance assessment system that the bill directs the Department to create, an evaluation of each grant based on such system, and any other criteria deemed relevant by the Department.

Virginia Fire Personnel and Equipment Grant Program; established, report.

Sen. Tammy Brankley Mulchi [R]	Sen. Christie New Craig [R]	Sen. Luther Cifers [R]	Sen. Creigh Deeds [D]
Sen. Danny Diggs [R]	Sen. Travis Hackworth [R]	Sen. Emily Brewer [R]	Sen. Mark Peake [R]
Del. Thomas Wright [R]

Date	Chamber	Action
2026-07-21	Senate	Continued from last session
2026-02-11	Senate	Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N)
2026-02-04	Senate	Reported from General Laws and Technology and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
2026-01-14	Senate	Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB80)
2025-12-26	Senate	Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
2025-12-26	Senate	Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102575D

SB80 (Carry Over) 2026-02-11 - Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N)

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/SB80
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/SB80/text/SB80
Supplement	https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086429.PDF