---
type: "Bill"
title: "Agricultural land; definitions, ownership by foreign adversaries prohibited, report."
description: "Agricultural land; definitions, ownership by foreign adversaries prohibited, report."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 1438"
citation: "Virginia SB 1438 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Stuart"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 44
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2023-01-11"
last_action: "2023-04-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/311dae2c-f19c-4b1e-813a-8cc33305eb51"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+SB1438"
source_hash: "02a702f22dae80891dbcd930d01fb7e58457ced1eb566c99f8729d52495d418e"
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 1438 (2023) — Agricultural land; definitions, ownership by foreign adversaries prohibited, report.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0765** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0765)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23105630D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1438S1)
3. **Governor's substitute printed 23107688D-S2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1438S2)
4. **Presented and ordered printed with emergency clause 23103697D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1438)
5. **SB1438ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1438ER)
6. **SB1438ER2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1438ER2)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (19-Y 3-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitite (10-Y 3-N 2-A) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (23-Y 16-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (67-Y 30-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (24-Y 16-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (64-Y 25-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Pass By (51-Y 48-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Stuart — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-11** Presented and ordered printed with emergency clause 23103697D `introduction`
- **2023-01-11** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-19** Impact statement from DPB (SB1438)
- **2023-01-31** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-31** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitite (10-Y 3-N 2-A) `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-31** Committee substitute printed 23105630D-S1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-02** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (SB1438S1)
- **2023-02-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-03** Reading of substitute waived
- **2023-02-03** Committee substitute agreed to 23105630D-S1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-03** Emergency clause deleted
- **2023-02-03** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1438S1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-06** Read third time and passed Senate (23-Y 16-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-07** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-02-07** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-07** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-08** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (19-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-13** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-02-13** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-13** Motion to pass by amendment by Delegate Helmer agreed to (51-Y 48-N) `amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-13** VOTE: Pass By (51-Y 48-N)
- **2023-02-13** Passed House (67-Y 30-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-13** VOTE: Passage (67-Y 30-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-15** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-02-15** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1438ER) `passage`
- **2023-02-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB1438ER)
- **2023-02-15** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-02-16** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-02-27** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 27, 2023 `enrolled`
- **2023-02-27** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-27** Governor's recommendation received by Senate `executive-veto-line-item`
- **2023-03-27** Governor's substitute printed 23107688D-S2
- **2023-04-12** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (24-Y 16-N)
- **2023-04-12** House concurred in Governor's recommendation (64-Y 25-N)
- **2023-04-12** VOTE: Adoption (64-Y 25-N)
- **2023-04-12** Governor's recommendation adopted `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-12** Reenrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-04-12** Reenrolled bill text (SB1438ER2) `enrolled`
- **2023-04-12** Signed by President as reenrolled `enrolled, passage`
- **2023-04-12** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled `enrolled, passage`
- **2023-04-12** Enacted, Chapter 765 (effective 7/1/23) `became-law`
- **2023-04-12** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0765)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/311dae2c-f19c-4b1e-813a-8cc33305eb51`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).