Legislative Update

As a result of the 2025 elections, both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate are controlled by a single party. In the House of Delegates, the Democratic Party holds 64 out of 100 seats, with the Senate having a much leaner lead with 21 out of 40 seats. The Gubernatorial seat has also flipped to Democratic so we anticipate there will be little resistance in passing bills and having them signed into law

The Virginia legislature convened on January 14, 2026, and several bills have been proposed which would affect future Workers’ Compensation claims.

In Virginia, bills must “cross-over” from the chamber they originated in to the other chamber in order to continue in the current legislative session. This year the crossover date is February 18, 2026. Bills that fail to crossover by February 18, 2026, may not be considered further under the rules set by the General Assembly. Several bills have already crossed over and we will apprise you of those that cross-over following the publishing of this article.

HB130

HB130 purports to expand the presumption of compensability for certain cancer causing the death or disability of certain employees to include sheriffs or deputy . A fiscal impact statement of such an addition has been created, approximating the cost of HB130 to be over $98,000.00 per year. On February 2, 2026, the subcommittee voted 5-Y 2-N to lay this bill on the table. This means the bill will be set aside. Technically it can be brought back later but this often acts as a method to kill the measure.

HB426

HB426 is drafted to amend portions of the code relating to the employer’s offset in the event of recovery. This changes the language of the code to ensure that Claimant’s medical and indemnity benefits remain in full force even when there is an offset for recovery. This means that an employer’s credit will be applied as a pro-rata reduction to benefits payable under an existing award until the employer’s required credit exhausted. This will effectively end the employer’s ability to offset medical expenses and has the potential to raise the costs of a medical award by a large amount. In fact, as it is currently drafted, the employer would in fact still be required to reimburse the claimant for medical expenses incurred that would fall under the award. This amounts to a legislative overruling of Goode v. Va. Commonwealth Univ., 2025 Va. App. LEXIS 270 *; 2025 LX 77662; 2025 WL 1373400. This bill has passed unanimously in the House and been referred to the Senate. The Senate has referred this bill to the Committee on Commerce and Labor.

HB406

HB406 purports to require that the spouse of a law enforcement officer who is injured in the line of duty, and a treating health care provider recommends full-time in-home spousal care, shall be paid 66% of their wages for the previous three years, up to 80% of the average weekly wage of the Commonwealth, for up to 12 weeks. This law is particularly notable because these provisions will have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027. This bill was referred to Appropriations after a unanimous vote by the Labor and Commerce committee.

HB572

HB 572 Provides that administrative costs of administering the Uninsured Employer’s Fund are paid out of such fund. This Bill was passed in the House on February 2, 2026, with a unanimous vote. It has been referred to the Senate Committee of Commerce and Labor.

HB865

HB865 Expands the presumption of compensability for certain cancers causing the death or disability of certain employees to include lung cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for individuals diagnosed on or after July 1, 2027. On February 9, 2026, a House subcommittee recommended reporting. On February 9, 2026, this was Reported from the House Appropriation Committee with a unanimous vote. This Bill has been read in the House but has not yet been voted on. I anticipate it will pass ahead of the crossover date.

HB1313

HB1313 Provides that, for purposes of workers’ compensation, for PTSD, anxiety disorder, or depressive disorder incurred by law-enforcement officers of firefighters, exacerbation for a pre-existing disorder is compensable. This bill also amends requirements relating the undergoing a qualifying event. This Bill has the potential to impact certain VRS disability programs and may also result in higher premiums. This Bill has been assigned to the House Appropriation Compensation and Retirement Subcommittee. At this time, this Bill seems to be moving slowly and may not be voted on in the House in time to meet the Crossover deadline.

SB 520

SB 520 provides that, the costs of administering the Uninsured Employer’s Fund, which is administered by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, are paid out of such fund. This bill assesses a 1.5% tax for the purpose of providing funds for compensation benefits against any uninsured or self-insured employer. The bill was amended to ensure that the costs of administering the Uninsured Employer’s Fund, including third-party administrator fees, legal fees, medical audit fees, applicable salaries and benefits, and any other direct expenses necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, are paid out of the Uninsured Employer’s Fund. These funds are not available to the Commission under Virginia Code §65.2-1204.

SB 771

SB 771 increases the amount required to be paid by an employer under workers compensation provisions for burial expenses from $10,000 to $15,000. The bill directs the Commissioner of the Commission to adjust the amount of burial expenses and reasonable transportation expenses required to be paid by an employer by a percentage equivalent to the percentage increase of the Average Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Department of Labor beginning January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter.

SR 17

SR 17 nominates the Honorable Robert Alan Rapaport, of the City of Virginia Beach, as a member of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission for a term of six years commencing February 1, 2026.

Should you have any questions about any matters related to Virginia Workers’ Compensation claims, please do not hesitate to contact this author or any of the other attorneys at Ford Richardson.

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