Democrats began the 2026 General Assembly Session holding a statewide trifecta - majorities in both chambers and a Democratic governor.  Governor Abigail Spanberger’s “Affordable Virginia Agenda” was the keystone for an ambitious policy agenda focused on lowering health care, housing, and energy costs, strengthening schools, and easing family cost burdens. The 2026 legislative session ended on March 14^, 2026, after 60 days, and the legislature will reconvene on April 22, 2026, to consider Governor Spanberger’s vetoes and amendments to certain bills. Since the House and the Senate have not yet come to a resolution on the biennial state budget, the legislature will need to vote on this at a future date, TBD.

In addition to new administration faces around Capital Square, there are 23 new members of the House. Recent changes to the House of Delegates’ committee structure in 2026 reflect the Democrats’ expanded majority and shifting leadership dynamics. Democrats picked up three additional seats on each committee, strengthening their influence across the legislative process. New chairs were appointed for both the House Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Health and Education Committee, in which legislation most critical to the VDA is typically considered.

An overview of legislation of interest to the dental community is provided below. Two pieces of legislation, critical to expanding patient access to preventative dental care, were successfully passed in both the House and the Senate due to the dedicated advocacy efforts of VDA members. This legislation must still be signed by the Governor to become law, and your lobbying team is hard at work to make sure that happens.

EXPAND ACCESS TO CARE

Dental Hygienist Licensure; Dentists Eligible To Practice In A Foreign Country Or Jurisdiction; SB 282/HB 1036: These bills allow Virginia’s Board of Dentistry to license certain foreign-trained dentists as dental hygienists if they graduated from an overseas dental program the Board deems acceptable. This effectively expands the pool of eligible applicants for dental hygiene licensure by recognizing qualified international dental credentials.

Dental Assistants; Supragingival Scaling and Coronal Polishing, Certification; SB 178/HB 970: This bill updates Virginia law to allow trained and certified dental assistants with sufficient clinical experience to perform supragingival scaling and coronal polishing under indirect supervision, expanding the scope of permitted duties for Dental Assistant I and II positions.

PROVIDE FUNDING FOR A NEW VCU SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY

Funding was provided in the introduced biennial budget to construct a new VCU School of Dentistry.  We will not officially know the outcome of funding until the budget negotiations are complete, as noted above.

INCREASING THE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CAP ON DAMAGES

As has happened in many prior years, bills were introduced to increase the medical malpractice cap. While there will be no increase as a result of these measures, there will be a workgroup formed in the off-season with the directive from House and Senate leadership to come to a consensus on increasing the cap in a meaningful way in future sessions. The VDA will be represented in this workgroup and staff plans to attend all meetings.

PROVIDER, INSURANCE, AND REGULATORY CHANGES

SB 164/HB 484 - Health insurance; ethics and fairness in carrier business practices; downcoded claims: This bill requires health insurance carriers to place their downcoding policies in provider contracts, disclose the software used for automated claim reviews, and give providers detailed explanations whenever downcoding occurs. The goal is to improve transparency in how insurers adjust claim codes and determine reimbursement. PASSED – AWAITING GOV ACTION

HB 1276 - Health care providers; required estimate for nonemergency health care services: Requires health care providers to provide a good faith estimate of the payment amount for which the patient will be responsible for such nonemergency health care service, including any fees or other charges for an item or service the patient may reasonably be expected to receive in connection with the nonemergency health care service. NOT PASSED; CONTINUED (TO BE CONSIDERED IN 2027)

GENERAL WORKFORCE AND BUSINESS ISSUES

HB 1 / SB 1 — Minimum Wage Increase: Increasing the minimum wage has been a priority of the Democratic caucus for many years. The legislation raises the statewide minimum wage incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2028. It would codify the adjusted base wage ($12.77, effective Jan. 1, 2026), then increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15.00 in 2028, with future annual adjustments tied to inflation. PASSED – AWAITING GOV ACTION

HB 5/SB 199 – Paid sick leave: This legislation creates a statewide paid sick leave requirement for most employees, with identical core features—accrual rules, enforcement mechanisms, employee protections, exceptions, and effective dates.  Sick leave requirements are expanded— currently limited — to cover all employees in public and private sectors. Workers would earn paid sick leave (e.g., one hour for every 30 hours worked).  PASSED – AWAITING GOV ACTION

HB 1207/SB 2- Paid Family & Medical Leave: These proposals would create a statewide paid family and medical leave program. Lawmakers have proposed establishing a 12-week paid family and medical leave program administered through the Virginia Employment Commission, funded by payroll contributions from employers and employees.  PASSED – AWAITING GOV ACTION 

BUDGET ITEMS OF INTEREST – ALL STILL TBD

• The cap on the adult Medicaid dental benefit remains at $2,000 from the Introduced budget.  The lobbying team continues working to have this amended to more favorable terms as the budget is worked out.
• Both the House and the Senate added $5.0 million from the general fund each year to support the operating costs of free clinics.
• The House added $30 million (FY26-27) to the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to provide funding to support the expansion of career technical education and workforce development programs; dental hygiene was specifically listed.
• The Senate provided $1million (FY26-27) for the Virginia Health Care Career and Technical Training and Education Fund established in § 2.2-2040.1, Code of Virginia, as matching funds for the Dental Hygienist Funding Pool.