---
type: "Bill"
title: "Game and Inland Fisheries, Department of; name change."
description: "Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; namechange. Renames the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries asthe Department of Wildlife Resources and the Board of Game and InlandFisheries as the Board of Wildlife Resources."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 616"
citation: "Virginia SB 616 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["R. Creigh Deeds"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1714bd60-cfee-4769-847b-a7a63808d76d"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB616"
source_hash: "46ec778848a2ad6a3c500030b6c137e7fb759c62d77cceba7014b8bcc7ec02fe"
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 616 (2020) — Game and Inland Fisheries, Department of; name change.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; namechange. Renames the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries asthe Department of Wildlife Resources and the Board of Game and InlandFisheries as the Board of Wildlife Resources.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0958)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0958)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB616ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB616ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (SB616)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB616)

## Votes

- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (16-Y 6-N) — **16–6** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (60-Y 40-N) — **59–40** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- R. Creigh Deeds — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102183D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB616)
- **2020-01-21** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-23** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-24** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-27** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-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 Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13** Assigned ACNR sub: Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-19** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (16-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed House (60-Y 40-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-24** VOTE: Passage (60-Y 40-N)
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled
- **2020-03-12** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-13** Impact statement from DPB (SB616ER)
- **2020-03-17** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 17, 2020
- **2020-03-17** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 958 (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/1714bd60-cfee-4769-847b-a7a63808d76d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).