---
type: "Bill"
title: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of 'caregiver,' remote participation in meetings."
description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of \"caregiver\"; remote participation in meetings by persons with disabilities and caregivers; remote voting. Provides that for purposes of determining whether a quorum is physically assembled, an individual member of a public body who is a person with a disability or a caregiver, defined in the bill, and uses remote participation counts toward the quorum as if the individual was physically present. The bill also provides that the participation policy adopted by a public body, as required by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, shall not prohibit or restrict any individual member of a public body who is participating in an all-virtual meeting or who is using remote participation from voting on matters before the public body. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 1040."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 85"
citation: "Virginia SB 85 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barbara A. Favola"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-01"
last_action: "2024-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/49b9f0ae-194f-49c5-b222-0af62b4d5020"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB85"
source_hash: "7a4749cd94760556269f5f1366d6ec38f795998eeb6875885dc23205aadd943e"
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 85 (2024) — Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of 'caregiver,' remote participation in meetings.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definition of "caregiver"; remote participation in meetings by persons with disabilities and caregivers; remote voting. Provides that for purposes of determining whether a quorum is physically assembled, an individual member of a public body who is a person with a disability or a caregiver, defined in the bill, and uses remote participation counts toward the quorum as if the individual was physically present. The bill also provides that the participation policy adopted by a public body, as required by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, shall not prohibit or restrict any individual member of a public body who is participating in an all-virtual meeting or who is using remote participation from voting on matters before the public body. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 1040.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0617** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0617)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101421D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB85)
3. **Printed as engrossed 24101421D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB85E)
4. **SB85ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB85ER)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (95-Y 3-N) — **94–3** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (28-Y 11-N) — **28–11** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barbara A. Favola — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-01** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101421D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-01** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB85)
- **2024-01-17** Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-19** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-22** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-01-22** Reading of amendment waived
- **2024-01-22** Amendment by Senator Favola agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-01-22** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB85E
- **2024-01-22** Printed as engrossed 24101421D-E
- **2024-01-23** Read third time and passed Senate (28-Y 11-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-01-24** Impact statement from DPB (SB85E)
- **2024-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-20** Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-22** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-23** Passed House (95-Y 3-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-23** VOTE: Passage (95-Y 3-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-28** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-28** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB85ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-28** Impact statement from DPB (SB85ER)
- **2024-02-28** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-02** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 617 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0617)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/49b9f0ae-194f-49c5-b222-0af62b4d5020`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).