---
type: "Bill"
title: "Nonpublic service companies, certain; conveyance of right-of-way usage."
description: "Conveyance of right-of-way usage to certain nonpublic service companies. Allows a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization to obtain a land use permit from the Department of Transportation to use rights-of-way to operate a wholesale open-access fiber network. This bill is identical to HB 1271."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 792"
citation: "Virginia SB 792 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr."]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-04-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4f2bd979-314f-4e5e-a2cf-34b020f2f082"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB792"
source_hash: "2d0ff27d392193d2b7aab9d87e8eda05b77e369ca8eee3e6eac499ce98a64b75"
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 792 (2020) — Nonpublic service companies, certain; conveyance of right-of-way usage.

Conveyance of right-of-way usage to certain nonpublic service companies. Allows a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization to obtain a land use permit from the Department of Transportation to use rights-of-way to operate a wholesale open-access fiber network. This bill is identical to HB 1271.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1027)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1027)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB792ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB792ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (SB792)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB792)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 1-A) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Referred from General Laws — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Communications, Technology and Innovation (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary (8-Y 0-N 1-A) — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103864D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from DPB (SB792)
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Judiciary (8-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-07** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-11** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 1-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-18** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-18** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-18** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Referred from General Laws
- **2020-02-18** Referred to Committee on Communications, Technology and Innovation `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-24** Reported from Communications, Technology and Innovation (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-27** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-27** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-04** Enrolled
- **2020-03-04** Impact statement from DPB (SB792ER)
- **2020-03-05** Signed by President
- **2020-03-05** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1027 (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/4f2bd979-314f-4e5e-a2cf-34b020f2f082`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).