Virginia 2026 Session Status: Introduced

HB856 — Shelter pets; designating as official state pet.

Last action — Continued from last session

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced January 13, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill designates shelter pets as the official state pet.

This bill aims to recognize shelter pets officially as the state pet. This designation highlights the importance of adopting animals from shelters.

Summary

Shelter pets; designating as official state pet.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read HB856 on the official Virginia source →

Action History

  1. H Continued to next session in Rules (Voice Vote)

  2. H Placed on Rules Agenda

  3. H Subcommittee recommends continuing to (Voice Vote)

  4. H House subcommittee offered

  5. H House subcommittee offered

  6. H Placed on Rules Agenda

  7. H Assigned HRUL sub: Studies Subcommittee

  8. H Referred to Committee on Rules

  9. H Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104249D

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 147 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (147)

147 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 147 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

housing civil-rights
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB856 do?
Shelter pets; designating as official state pet.
Who sponsors HB856?
HB856 is sponsored by Paul E. Krizek.
What is the current status of HB856?
This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced January 13, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB856?
Track HB856 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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