---
type: "Bill"
title: "FOIA; public higher educational institutions, information related to pledges and donations."
description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; public institutions of higher education; information related to pledges and donations. Provides that no discretionary exclusion in FOIA shall apply to protect information relating to the amount, date, purpose, and terms of a pledge or donation made to a public institution of higher education. The bill provides that the identity of the donor shall be protected only if (i) the donor has requested anonymity in connection with or as a condition of making a pledge or donation and (ii) the pledge or donation does not impose terms or conditions directing academic decision-making. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 510."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 140"
citation: "Virginia SB 140 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard H. Stuart"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 27
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-12-18"
last_action: "2020-03-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7815d7a2-052c-4641-91ad-db3424a47438"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB140"
source_hash: "12ba022552266ce9aba8304c0036965967b2db6b7d9019e0a2a124424f442a53"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 140 (2020) — FOIA; public higher educational institutions, information related to pledges and donations.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; public institutions of higher education; information related to pledges and donations. Provides that no discretionary exclusion in FOIA shall apply to protect information relating to the amount, date, purpose, and terms of a pledge or donation made to a public institution of higher education. The bill provides that the identity of the donor shall be protected only if (i) the donor has requested anonymity in connection with or as a condition of making a pledge or donation and (ii) the pledge or donation does not impose terms or conditions directing academic decision-making. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 510.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0078)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0078)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB140ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB140ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB140E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB140E)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB140)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB140)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendment (13-Y 1-N) — **13–1** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 2-N) — **38–2** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (99-Y 0-N 1-A) — **98–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Richard H. Stuart — primary (person)
- Amanda F. Chase — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-12-18** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100634D `introduction`
- **2019-12-18** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-09** Impact statement from DPB (SB140)
- **2020-01-29** Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendment (13-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-03** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-02-03** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-03** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB140E
- **2020-02-03** Printed as engrossed 20100634D-E
- **2020-02-04** Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 2-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13** Impact statement from DPB (SB140E)
- **2020-02-13** Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-17** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-18** Passed House (99-Y 0-N 1-A) `passage`
- **2020-02-18** VOTE: Passage (99-Y 0-N 1-A)
- **2020-02-20** Enrolled
- **2020-02-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB140ER)
- **2020-02-20** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-21** Signed by President
- **2020-02-25** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 25, 2020
- **2020-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 3, 2020
- **2020-03-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 78 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7815d7a2-052c-4641-91ad-db3424a47438`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).