Rules subcommittee advances scores of study bills; many tabled with letters, several reported

The Rules subcommittee on studies met to consider more than five dozen bills and resolutions, moving dozens through abbreviated testimony and swift procedural action.

Chair opening the session said the subcommittee would be expeditious because many members also had other committees. The panel used a tight testimony format (one minute split among proponents and opponents) and said laying an item on the table is a standard procedural step to request further study or a letter rather than a final defeat.

Among the items the subcommittee reported was HB 860, which directs the board of regional jails to develop lactation policies for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated people; the bill was reported unanimously (5‑0) after supporters, including the bill’s patron, cited health benefits and the need for accommodations. The panel also reported bill and resolution measures intended to study major policy questions, including HJ34 directing the Department of Taxation to evaluate options to repeal Virginia’s personal vehicle tax and identify ways to backfill roughly $4 billion in revenue; that resolution passed out of committee on a 4‑1 vote.

Several measures were tabled with instructions that the speaker write letters to relevant agencies. Examples include HB 499 on asphalt recycling, HB 48 (a suicide‑prevention work group), HB 50 (asking the Virginia High School League to consider cricket), HB 866 (a statewide food‑security survey after the USDA discontinued a federal survey), and HB 945 on geothermal targets for data centers; the committee consistently used letters as the follow‑up mechanism when members wanted agency review but not immediate code changes.

The most contested hearing of the day was HB 1377, which would create a bipartisan task force to review whether the Virginia Military Institute should remain a state‑sponsored public institution. Lieutenant General David Furness, VMI’s superintendent, testified in opposition and described reforms and outcomes he said the institute has achieved; Jeremiah Woods, an online witness and former cadet, testified to racially charged incidents and to unmet legal memorial and scholarship requirements. The committee adopted a substitute and reported it 4‑1.

What happens next: Many of the tabled items were forwarded with letters requesting agency or commission review; reported measures will proceed to the next stages of the General Assembly process. For bills the committee carried over or tabled, staff will coordinate the letters or agency requests the panel specified.