Advocacy Blog January 23, 2026

The General Assembly has completed their first full week of session and Vocal Virginia is monitoring a variety of bills aimed at community-based crisis and continuum of care issues, mental health workforce development and expansion, and the decriminalization of mental health. Vocal Virginia works daily during the General Assembly session and throughout the year to lift peer voices and ensure that those with lived experience of mental health challenges have a seat at the table when it comes to the decisions that impact their wellness and recovery.

The following bills are important because they shift Virginia’s mental health system toward compassion, prevention, and recovery by investing in peer-led supports, strengthening community-based crisis response, and reducing unnecessary criminalization of people experiencing mental health crises. This is a brief summary of a few of the dozens of bills Vocal Virginia is monitoring to ensure the interests of the peer community are represented. First Vocal Virginia strongly supports Item 301 (PP) in the Budget Bill (SB30). This provision allows for $3,302,053 the first year and $3,302,053 the second year from the general fund to be provided for peer wellness stay programs. These programs offer non-clinical, voluntary, and short-term residential support for individuals in mental health or substance use recovery. They provide an opportunity for peer driven support and reduce the need for hospitalization. This bill is currently pending in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

Delegate Simon has introduced HB43, which abolishes the common law crime of suicide in Virginia. Treating suicide as a crime reinforces stigma around mental health crises and treats people in extreme distress as offenders rather than people needing care. Abolishing the common-law crime formally aligns Virginia law with modern understandings of suicide as a public health and mental health issue, not criminal behavior. This bill is currently pending in the House Courts of Justice Committee.

Delegate Willett has introduced HB453, which builds on existing law requiring a statewide comprehensive crisis system and the establishment of a Marcus Alert system. This legislation offers a coordinated response framework for behavioral health emergencies that diverts many calls away from traditional law enforcement where appropriate. This bill has reported out of the House Health and Human Services Committee’s Behavioral Health Subcommittee on a vote of 8-0 and is currently pending before the full Committee.

Delegate Watts has introduced HB246, which provides an affirmative defense to prosecution of a person for assault or assault and battery against certain specified persons for which the enhanced Class 6 felony and six-month mandatory minimum apply if such person proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that at the time of the assault or assault and battery the person's behaviors were a result of mental illness. This bill is currently pending before the House Courts of Justice Committee.

As these bills move quickly through the legislative process, the voices of people with lived experience are more important than ever. Now is the time to speak up. Contact your legislators, share your story, and urge them to support policies that prioritize compassion, peer leadership, and community-based care. Together, we can ensure Virginia’s mental health system reflects dignity, recovery, and hope. Vocal Virginia will continue to show up every day to advocate alongside you, but real change happens when our collective voices are heard. Let’s keep the pressure on and make this session count.

For a list of other bills that Vocal Virginia is tracking please click here.

We encourage each of you to reach out to your legislators on these important topics as well as other issues that you feel strongly about. If you would like your legislators’ contact information, you may visit:  https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/ To research legislation and learn more about where it is in the legislative process, please visit: https://lis.virginia.gov/ If you have any questions, or if you would like to connect with Vocal Virginia, please email network@vocalvirginia.org