2026 Virginia Legislative Update on Disability-Related Bills

What happens when a student needs more support at school? What happens when a person under guardianship wants to vote? What happens when someone with a developmental disability is in crisis or becomes involved in the court system?

These are not just policy questions. They affect whether people with disabilities can learn, vote, live in their communities, and get support when they need it most.

Several bills addressing these issues passed during the 2026 Virginia General Assembly session and have now been signed into law. Here’s what passed — and what didn’t — and what it means for you.

✅ Education Supports

SB 33 / HB 195 – More Flexible Funding for Student Health and Mental Health Supports

This new law gives school divisions more flexibility to use state funding for “at-risk” students to support students’ physical and mental health, including by hiring school nurses.

In plain language: Schools can use this funding for student health and mental health supports, not just academic needs.

For students with disabilities, this matters because health, mental health, and learning are connected. This law gives schools another tool to respond when students need more support to succeed.

✅ Protecting Voting Rights

HB 1014 / SB 34 – Guardianship Doesn’t Automatically Take Away Your Right to Vote

This law makes clear that being found “incapacitated” in a guardianship or conservatorship case does not automatically mean a person loses their right to vote.

Before a court can take away someone’s voting rights, it must make a separate, specific finding — based on clear and convincing evidence — that the person does not have the capacity to understand what voting means.

In plain language: Needing help with decision-making or daily life does not automatically take away your right to vote. Voting is a basic civil right, and people should not lose it simply because they receive support in other parts of their lives.

✅ Protecting DD Waiver Eligibility

HB 37 – Keeping DD Waiver Services Available for People on SSDI

This law permanently protects access to Developmental Disability, or DD, Waiver services for some people who receive Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI.

Here’s how the problem comes up: a person with a developmental disability may receive Social Security based on a parent’s work record. If that parent retires, becomes disabled, or passes away, the person’s SSDI payment can increase. That increase could push their income over the limit for DD Waiver eligibility, even though nothing about their support needs has changed.

This law makes permanent a rule that allows that extra SSDI income to be disregarded when deciding whether someone financially qualifies for DD Waiver services.

In plain language: This helps prevent people from losing DD Waiver services just because their Social Security payment went up due to a parent’s work history.

DD Waiver services help many people with developmental disabilities live in their own homes and communities. Losing access to those services can mean losing housing, daily support, and the ability to stay in the community.

✅ Crisis Response and the Marcus Alert

HB 225 – A Closer Look at the Marcus Alert System

This law creates a task force to review how the Marcus Alert system is working. Marcus Alert is meant to improve how Virginia responds when someone is having a mental health crisis. The task force gives the state a structured way to evaluate whether the system is working as intended.

HB 453 – Improving Virginia’s Crisis Response System

This law addresses Virginia’s broader crisis response system, including the 988 crisis line, mobile crisis teams, crisis stabilization services, community care teams, and crisis supports for people with developmental disabilities.

It also requires the public to have a chance to weigh in before certain changes are made to the state’s crisis response plan.

In plain language: This law looks at the whole system that is supposed to help when someone is in crisis — not just one program or one phone number.

For people with disabilities and their families, how a crisis is handled matters enormously. It can determine whether someone gets care, whether police get involved, and whether a difficult situation gets better or worse.

✅ Criminal Justice and Disability

HB 247 / SB 416 – More Options for People with Autism or Developmental Disabilities in Court

This law expands an existing option called “deferred disposition” for people with autism, intellectual disabilities, or developmental disabilities who are facing criminal charges.

With deferred disposition, a court can pause a case — without entering a guilty judgment — and require the person to complete treatment, services, supervision, or other conditions. If the person completes those requirements, the charge can be dismissed. The law also makes it easier to get those dismissed charges removed from police and court records.

In plain language: This law gives some people with autism or developmental disabilities a path to avoid a conviction, connect with services, and clear the charge from their record afterward.

❌ A Bill That Did Not Pass

HB 246/ SB 335 – Disability-Related Defense or Reduced Penalty

HB 246/ SB 335 was vetoed by The Governor on May 20, 2026 and May 19, 2026 respectively.

This bill was different from HB 247. While HB 247 gives courts an option after charges are filed, HB 246 would have gone further by allowing some people to argue, as part of their defense, that a disability-related condition should affect whether they are convicted or how they are sentenced in certain assault-related cases.

In plain language: HB 246 would have allowed some people to argue that their disability played a role in what happened and should be considered by the court. That option does not currently exist.

Even though this bill did not pass, the issue is not going away. People with disabilities can still face criminal charges for behavior connected to a crisis, communication barriers, or unmet support needs — and advocates will keep pushing on this issue.

What This Means

The 2026 session brought several important wins for the disability community: new protections for students, voters, DD Waiver recipients, and people in the criminal justice system, plus a closer look at how Virginia responds to crises.

But not everything passed. Advocacy is still needed on criminalization, crisis response, home- and community-based services, accessible housing, and funding to make disability services work in people’s day-to-day lives. 

None of these wins happened by accident. They happened because people with disabilities, families, providers, and advocates kept showing up — at hearings, in emails, and in conversations with lawmakers.

Disability rights are strongest when people with disabilities help shape the laws and systems that affect their own lives. Watch for more updates from ECNV about ways to learn more, share your story, and advocate for disability rights here in Virginia.