2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26105200D

HOUSE BILL NO. 472

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 12, 2026

A BILL to establish a resilience hub pilot program to assist vulnerable communities during emergency situations.

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Patrons—Feggans and Hernandez

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Referred to Committee on Public Safety

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The Department of Emergency Management shall initiate a two-year pilot program designed to establish up to three resilience hubs per year in targeted, vulnerable communities, including those with high percentages of low-income or disabled persons, the elderly, and other persons for whom evacuation during an emergency situation is difficult and who may have few alternatives. For purposes of this act, a "resilience hub" is a simple combination of solar panels and batteries that ensures continuous power to a publicly accessible building when severe weather events or other grid disruptions cause an electrical outage.