---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local governing body meetings; public comment during a regular meeting at least quarterly."
description: "Local governing body meetings; public comment.Requires a governing body to provide members of the general public with the opportunity for public comment during at least half of the regular meetings held each fiscal year."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 977"
citation: "Virginia SB 977 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David R. Suetterlein"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 27
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2020-01-15"
last_action: "2020-04-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/eca1d68d-a291-4425-94c6-fa607a032cd0"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB977"
source_hash: "8ffd0c48e8a43f2275ca02b30b4316037077cf8cec61f44e48eb6ccad6781a8e"
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 977 (2020) — Local governing body meetings; public comment during a regular meeting at least quarterly.

Local governing body meetings; public comment.Requires a governing body to provide members of the general public with the opportunity for public comment during at least half of the regular meetings held each fiscal year.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1144)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1144)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB977ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB977ER)
3. **Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (SB977)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB977)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendments (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- David R. Suetterlein — primary (person)
- Joseph P. McNamara — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-15** Presented and ordered printed 20105104D `introduction`
- **2020-01-15** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-22** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-23** Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (SB977)
- **2020-01-23** Read third time and passed Senate (40-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 Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13** Assigned CC & T sub: Land Use `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-21** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-21** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendments (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-25** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-26** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-26** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2020-02-26** Passed House with amendments BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-26** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-28** House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-05** Enrolled
- **2020-03-06** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-07** Signed by President
- **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
- **2020-04-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1144 (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/eca1d68d-a291-4425-94c6-fa607a032cd0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).