Skip to main content

Virginia Bill: HB 873

Public elementary school students; increases physical activity.

Topics

Children's Health & School Nutrition

Bill Information

MAHA Approved

Summary

Bill Summary

HB 873 raises the minimum required physical activity time for public elementary students from 20 to 30 minutes per day and from 100 to 150 minutes per week. It also bars schools from prohibiting a student from participating in physical activity as a form of discipline, unless participation would pose a health or safety risk to that student.


Why It Matters to the Make America Healthy Again Movement

The MAHA Movement supports this bill because it builds more guaranteed movement into every elementary school day and protects activity time from being taken away as punishment, which aligns with MAHA’s view of daily physical activity as core health infrastructure, not a reward. By pushing Virginia toward 30 minutes of daily activity and 150 minutes per week, HB 873 moves schools closer to MAHA’s goal of making regular movement a non‑negotiable part of childhood rather than something squeezed out by testing and screens.

Introduced

01/13/2026

In Committee

02/03/2026

Passed

Pending

Sponsors

Hillary Pugh Kent

Hillary Pugh Kent

Republican Delegate (VA)

Katrina Callsen

Katrina Callsen

Democratic Delegate (VA)

Activity

01/13/2026

Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102658D

01/13/2026

Referred to Committee on Education

01/23/2026

Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee

01/27/2026

House subcommittee offered

01/28/2026

Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB873)

02/03/2026

Subcommittee recommends continuing to (Voice Vote)

02/04/2026

Continued to next session in Education (Voice Vote)

Questions or suggestions?

Have questions about this bill or our legislative tracker? We'd love to hear from you. Contact us and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.