---
type: "Bill"
title: "Unmanned aircraft; exempts an owner from the requirement to register."
description: "Aircraft registration; unmanned aircraft.Exempts an owner of an unmanned aircraft from the requirement toregister aircrafts."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1098"
citation: "Virginia SB 1098 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barbara A. Favola"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-11-18"
last_action: "2021-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/71151edb-4d03-43ba-a0f8-e9122c75ebcd"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1098"
source_hash: "8a41371103599bb2aa102561377653c565cb10ee90d82b257e014e04c9312104"
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 1098 (2021) — Unmanned aircraft; exempts an owner from the requirement to register.

Aircraft registration; unmanned aircraft.Exempts an owner of an unmanned aircraft from the requirement toregister aircrafts.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0046** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0046)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100624D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1098)
3. **SB1098ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1098ER)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (82-Y 15-N) — **81–15** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Communications, Technology and Innovation (19-Y 2-N) — **19–2** (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Communications, Technology and Innovation — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Transportation (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barbara A. Favola — primary (person)
- John A. Cosgrove, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-11-18** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100624D `introduction`
- **2020-11-18** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** Impact statement from DPB (SB1098)
- **2021-01-21** Reported from Transportation (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-25** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-26** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-27** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Communications, Technology and Innovation `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Communications, Technology and Innovation
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Communications, Technology and Innovation (19-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-17** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-18** Passed House (82-Y 15-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-18** VOTE: Passage (82-Y 15-N)
- **2021-02-22** Enrolled
- **2021-02-22** Impact statement from DPB (SB1098ER)
- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
- **2021-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 25, 2021
- **2021-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 46 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/71151edb-4d03-43ba-a0f8-e9122c75ebcd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).