State Del. Marty Martinez has introduced a bill to set limits on the volume of commercial advertisements on video streaming platforms, bringing state standards in line with federal consumer protection regulations, the Virginia State House reports.
The legislation, filed as HB518 on Jan. 14, 2026, during this year’s regular session, is officially titled: “Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices, streaming advertisement volume control.”
Below is our summary, based directly on the bill’s language, with interpretation to clarify certain points.
This measure proposes a new chapter within the Virginia Consumer Protection Act to regulate the loudness of commercial ads on video streaming services. It provides definitions for video streaming services and video programming, but excludes content generated by users and ad-free services. The proposal prohibits platforms serving Virginia customers from airing commercial ads at a higher volume than the main video content, aligning with Federal Communications Commission rules under the CALM Act. Breaches would count as prohibited practices under the state’s consumer protection statute and may lead to enforcement actions and civil penalties.
The bill names Rep. Marty Martinez (Democrat-29th District) and Rep. Adele Y. McClure (Democrat-2nd District) as sponsors.
Since the start of this session, Martinez has sponsored 10 additional pieces of legislation.
Martinez received a BS from Portland State University in 1986.
As a Democrat, Martinez was elected to the Virginia State House in 2024 for the 29th House district, succeeding Bill Wiley.
In Virginia, the legislative process starts with a bill’s introduction in either the House of Delegates or Senate, then moves to committee review, where it can be amended. If endorsed by committee, the bill goes to the floor for debate and votes in both chambers. Passage by both sends it to the governor for signing, veto, or allowance to become law without action. The Virginia General Assembly gathers each year for its regular session starting on the second Monday in January. Legislators bring forth hundreds of bills per session, with only a fraction seeing enactment.
| Legislative Session | Patron(s) | Bill Number | Date Introduced | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Marty Martinez and Adele Y. McClure | HB518 | 01/14/2026 | Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices, streaming advertisement volume control. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez | HB340 | 01/14/2026 | Migrant labor camp permits; removes expiration date. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez, Irene Shin, and David A. Reid | HB341 | 01/14/2026 | Plastic bag tax; distribution to towns. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez | HB342 | 01/14/2026 | Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; magistrates, availability of complaint forms in courthouses. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez, Jackie H. Glass, and Nadarius E. Clark | HB343 | 01/14/2026 | Helmets; wearing whenever riding/carried on skateboard or scooter or nonmotorized scooter. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez, Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker, Marcia S. “Cia” Price, and Rae Cousins | HB373 | 01/14/2026 | Restaurants; food allergy awareness notice required. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez, Katrina Callsen, Michael B. Feggans, Karen R. “Kacey” Carnegie, and Virgil Thornton | HB513 | 01/14/2026 | Suicide fatality review teams, local and regional; established, membership, penalty. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez and Virgil Thornton | HB514 | 01/14/2026 | Benefit awareness & access prog.; establishes, military service members transition to civilian life. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez, Adele Y. McClure, Jackie H. Glass, Marcia S. “Cia” Price, Nadarius E. Clark, and Phil M. Hernandez | HB515 | 01/14/2026 | Sports betting; prohibition on use of credit cards. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez, Kannan Srinivasan, and Holly M. Seibold | HB519 | 01/14/2026 | Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; definition of essential services. |
| 2026 | Marty Martinez | HB1144 | 01/14/2026 | Water and sewer connection fees; first-time homebuyers, affordable housing. |
| 2025 | Marty Martinez, Alfonso H. Lopez, Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker, Kathy K.L. Tran, Katrina Callsen, Mark D. Sickles, and Michael B. Feggans | HB1766 | 01/13/2025 | Unemployment compensation; increases weekly benefit amounts, report. |
| 2025 | Marty Martinez | HB2008 | 01/13/2025 | Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program authority; right of entry. |
| 2025 | Marty Martinez, Irene Shin, and Nadarius E. Clark | HB1764 | 01/08/2025 | Disposable plastic bag tax; distribution to towns. |
| 2025 | Marty Martinez | HB1769 | 01/08/2025 | Chronic student absenteeism; task force to examine its effects on local school divisions, etc. |
| 2025 | Marty Martinez | HB1770 | 01/08/2025 | Uniform Trust Code; adds “electronic” to definitions in Code. |
