House agrees en bloc to most committee amendments on HB30 budget; 30 amendment items objected to

The Virginia House of Delegates on Feb. 26, 2026 took up House Bill 30, the biennial budget bill that would appropriate funds for fiscal years ending June 2027 and June 2028 and repeal specified tax provisions effective for taxable years starting Jan. 1, 2027. After a brief overview from the clerk, delegates debated committee amendments and objections before agreeing to most amendments en bloc.

Why it matters: HB30 sets statewide spending priorities and revenue provisions for the next two fiscal years. The committee-approval process produced 421 amendments; the clerk announced objections to 30 of those specific amendment items, which the House noted for separate consideration.

What happened: Delegate Tory spoke to the bill, saying the Appropriations Committee sought to reflect priorities for Virginia’s more than 8.4 million residents and emphasized there are no new taxes in the budget as presented (first spoken at the chamber) . The clerk then read that committee amendments total 421 and listed objections to 30 specific items by page and item number; the clerk also said most amendments were offered at the request of Delegate Kilgore (clerk announcement). Delegate Tory moved that the remaining committee amendments for which there was no objection be agreed to en bloc. The motion was put as a recorded vote; the clerk announced Ayes 89, Noes 9 and the amendments were agreed to en bloc.

Details: The clerk read objections to amendment items across multiple pages of the committee amendment book (examples cited by page/item in the chamber record). The objections included page and item references (for example: page 5 item 8(h); page 13 items 50(1)(h), 50(2)(h), 50(3)(h); and many later page/item references through page 235). The clerk also reported that 421 committee amendments were printed for members and the public and are accessible through the legislative information system.

Next steps: The House recorded the en bloc agreement to the unobjected committee amendments and will return to consider the objected amendment items separately according to House rules. The House then recessed until the afternoon.

Quoted from the record: “We have put together a budget where there are no new taxes in this budget,” Delegate Tory said. The clerk repeatedly enumerated the objection list for the official record.

Provenance: Topic introduced at SEG 1205; committee amendment report and en bloc vote concluded at SEG 1347.