Committee backs substitute requiring state backstop if federal OSHA or FLSA protections are weakened

Chair Lopez presented HB339's substitute as a statutory backstop empowering the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board and the Department of Labor and Industry to adopt prior federal standards if federal OSHA or other federal labor protections are weakened or rescinded. Sponsor remarks cited recent federal deregulatory actions and argued the measure would preserve stronger protections for Virginia workers.

Unions, labor advocates and occupational safety representatives testified in favor, emphasizing long‑term declines in workplace deaths under OSHA and the need to maintain protections. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce raised a narrow drafting concern about constraining the board's discretion to weigh scientific and feasibility considerations, but that concern was withdrawn after the substitute's language was clarified.

The subcommittee reported the substitute by a 5–2 vote.