The commission voted to accept a three-part set of policy recommendations on AI provenance and labeling — prioritizing authenticated (human) content labels, principle-based provenance standards, and a platform obligation to persist provenance metadata — and the commission chair declared the recommendations accepted by voice vote.

Dr. Gabriela Waters told the commission that independent verification organizations (IVOs) can help when state buyers or agencies lack in‑house testing capacity; staff recommend limited pilots on high‑risk public procurements to test value, costs and oversight needs.

Steve Wimmer of the Transparency Coalition told the commission some states pulled back from comprehensive AI laws after federal action while others pressed forward; he recommended referencing federal carve-outs, aligning standards and using sandboxes and product-liability levers.

Mike Watson, Virginia's chief information officer, told JLARC he agrees with the report and described VIDA/VITA initiatives: AI task force and summit, procurement recompetes, pilot programs (including Copilot enterprise) and cyber grant work; he committed to follow‑up on small business contract shares.

A JLARC review found VIDA/VITA’s AI requirements lack risk‑based criteria and clear implementation guidance, with one‑third of agencies piloting function‑specific AI and widespread employee use of general‑purpose tools; JLARC recommended standardized risk assessments, clearer standards, and more technology‑law expertise for legislators.

The House Communications subcommittee voted to report HB 713 as amended, a bill from Delegate Thomas that defines developer and deployer liability for artificial intelligence, establishes a special treasury fund for enforcement, and narrows the definition of base AI models to those publicly available in the Commonwealth for commercial use.

The committee reported HB 713 as amended — dubbed the FAIR Act — which would require disclosure by base AI model developers, create a Fair AI Enforcement Fund for enforcement of AI misuse/bias/workforce disruption, and delay the bill’s effective date to July 1, 2027; the committee referred the amended bill to appropriations.

A batch of AI- and technology-related measures were moved by the House committee: HB 310 (agency workforce AI reporting) was reported and referred to Appropriations 13–7; HB 797 (independent verification organizations) and HB 1186 (Board of Education AI guidance) were reported and referred; several forensic and AI bills were carried to 2027 and HB 1170 was laid on the table 21–1.

Chairman Hayes presented a substitute to HB 7 97 directing the Virginia Information Technology Agency (VITA) to authorize a voluntary marketplace of licensed independent verification organizations (IVOs) to evaluate AI products. Supporters called the model market‑driven and voluntary; industry groups warned of duplication and state‑to‑state fragmentation. The substitute was reported and referred to appropriations (recorded vote 6–2).

Lawmakers voted to refer a substitute creating voluntary Independent Verification Organizations (IVOs) to audit AI systems to Finance. Sponsors said the licensing would provide a ‘good‑housekeeping’ seal for AI products; opponents warned of multistate fragmentation and burdens for small developers.