3 Interesting Bills: Baby Mammals, Forced Labor and Accessible Playgrounds

More than 1,000 bills are filed for General Assembly consideration each year. In this weekly series, the Mercury takes a look at a few of lawmakers’ 2025 proposals that might not otherwise make headlines during the whirlwind legislative session.

Senate Bill 1125: Prohibiting premature separation and hybridization of mammalian wildlife

Sen. Jennifer Boysko’s bill would make it unlawful to prematurely separate any mammal baby from its mother before the natural time of weaning.

The rule would not apply in cases of medical necessity or if the separation is done by accredited zoological facilities or a person operating under a wildlife rehabilitator permit issued by the Department of Wildlife Resources.

The legislation would also prohibit the intentional breeding of two different species, known as hybridization.

Boysko, D-Fairfax, told the Senate Companion Animal subcommittee last month that while Virginia prohibits premature separation for companion animals like cats and dogs, no such law exists to protect wildlife or exotic animals.

Premature separation, “can lead to self-injurious behavior, aggression, immune deficiency and anxiety,” Boysko said. “Despite the clear evidence and scientific studies showing that this is harmful to them, they’re routinely taken away weeks, days, sometimes even hours [after birth] for profit or entertainment.”

Between 2020 and 2023, Boysko said 52 animals — including a 1-week-old tiger, a 9-day-old serval and 13 giraffes aged 2-weeks to 2-months-old — were shipped to other states from Virginia by six different facilities.

Daphna Nachminovitch with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the bill was crafted in consultation with accredited Virginia zoos, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance and other animal advocacy groups with a strict focus on “targeting bad actors who do things strictly for profit.”

Individuals representing farm, agriculture and animal owner groups told the House Agriculture subcommittee this month the bill is unnecessary because many animals have been bottle-fed and raised by humans for centuries in a humane way.

Shirley Johnson, president of Leesburg Animal Park, said she was alarmed because the bill would impact her facility, which is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but isn’t accredited by the Zoological Association of America or the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

She argued the bill is “government overreach,” as her facility staff is fully trained and licensed, regularly works with veterinarians and is compliant with the federal Animal Welfare Act.

Nachminovitch countered that the Animal Welfare Act is poorly enforced, pointing to theVirginia beagle-breeding facility, Envigo, which was shut down in 2022 only after hundreds of dogs and puppies were found to be “in acute distress.”

Boysko emphasized the bill targets wildlife born in captivity, “not cows or squirrels,” and doesn’t impact birds or reptiles.

The legislation passed both chambers on a party-line vote, with Republicans in opposition. Once signed by the head of the House and Senate it will go the governor.

Senate Bill 913: Prohibiting public contracts for goods that use forced or child labor

Legislation from Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, would prohibit public bodies from entering into a contract for goods or services that use forced or indentured child labor.

Stanley told the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology last month his bill expands upon legislation he presented last year, which would have assured the cobalt used in electric vehicles procured by public bodies weren’t sourced from countries using these labor practices, such as in the Congo.

Stanley said his current legislation has bipartisan support and unanimous backing from the state Manufacturing Commission.

“I think it demonstrates that here in the commonwealth of Virginia, we uphold ethical standards in public procurement,” Stanley said.

Under the latest version of the bill, public bodies would be prevented from entering into a contract with businesses selling a product included on a list of goods produced by forced or indentured child labor and maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs. The Department of General Services would enact regulations to enforce the rules no later than Oct. 1.

A Senate committee substitute to the bill made last month, which Stanley said was at the recommendation of the Office of the Attorney General, would apply these requirements only to contracts over $10,000. Additionally, it would require public bodies to explicitly include the prohibition of such labor practices in the contracts made with companies instead of using state regulations to enforce the law.

Lawmakers in a House subcommittee this month amended the bill to its latest form, after voicing concern over the necessity of setting a minimum dollar amount.

“I will fight for the original bill because it’s not limited to $10,000 and above, which is a firm statement,” Stanley said.

Del. Rob Bloxom, R-Accomack, who works in public procurement, argued the $10,000 amount should remain in the bill, so, “we don’t catch small businesses that have no way of checking where we source our product.”

The legislation initially cleared the Senate unanimously with the Senate committee’s substitute and passed the House with opposition from Bloxom and Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan. However, the Senate rejected the version of the legislation amended by the House in favor of the Senate committee’s prior iteration of the bill which set the minimum $10,000 amount.

Lawmakers in both chambers will be discussing the legislation during a conference committee.

House Bill 1800: Requiring accessible public playgrounds 

Public playgrounds would be added to the list of places in Virginia required to be fully accessible for people with disabilities, under legislation from Del. Laura Jane Cohen, D-Fairfax.

While current Virginia code explicitly states public facilities must be fully accessible for people with disabilities, Cohen told a House subcommittee last month some localities and public school systems are not following those practices when building playgrounds.

“It would seem that ‘public facility’ would certainly apply to a public playground, but we have not seen that’s the case in practice,” Cohen said. “This would just make sure that it is crystal clear.”

Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, said he agrees with the bill’s intentions, but cautioned of the “unintended consequences,” saying it could set a precedent of continually listing more specific things in state code each time a problem arises.

“The more we add to the list, the harder it gets to make the argument that the list is not exclusive and is, in fact, expansive,” Simon said.

Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, countered that Virginia has to weigh those unintended consequences because at some point if the list isn’t made longer, “then we’re just going to relegate those with disabilities into boxes in rooms, as has been unfortunately a thing in the past.”

Currently, Cohen said a family’s only recourse is to sue  the public entity that owns the non accessible playground. However, she emphasized not everyone has the means, ability or knowledge to be able to push back.

“That burden on our families with disabilities is already so great that I think we owe it to them to add this into the code,” Cohen said.

Cohen said localities would not have to retrofit existing inaccessible playgrounds, but instead make sure that new or renovated facilities are compatible.

The bill cleared the Senate unanimously and passed the House 61-35 with the majority of the opposition from Republicans. It now heads to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk.

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