2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26100037D

HOUSE BILL NO. 270

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 9, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact § 10.1-202.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to state parks; access for veterans; free entry and discounted services.

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Patron—Wright

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Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 10.1-202.2 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 10.1-202.2. Veteran's Passport established; free entry into state parks and discounted services.

A. For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means an individual who has served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States and who was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable.

B. The Department shall establish a Disabled Veteran's Passport that entitles the bearer to: (i) enter state parks in the Commonwealth without the payment of a parking or admission fee and (ii) receive a 50 percent discount on camping and swimming fees, picnic shelter rentals, and other Department-provided equipment rentals. The passport Passport shall be issued upon request to a veteran of the armed forces of the United States with a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or from the military service that discharged the veteran, certifying that such veteran has a service-connected disability rating of 100 percent. The passport shall be valid for as long as the determination of the 100 percent service-connected disability by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs remains in effect who provides to the Department one of the following valid forms of identification:

1. A U.S. Department of Defense Identification Card;

2. A Veteran Health Identification Card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs;

3. A Veteran Identification Card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; or

4. A state-issued driver's license or identification card that includes an indicator that the holder is a veteran.

2. That any person who has been issued a Disabled Veteran's Passport by the Department of Conservation and Recreation shall be permitted to use such Passport in perpetuity and shall not be required to request a Veteran's Passport pursuant to § 10.1-202.2 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act, in order to receive free entry into state parks in the Commonwealth and discounted services in such parks pursuant to § 10.1-202.2 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act.