---
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 SB 85."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 1040"
citation: "Virginia HB 1040 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 32
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2024-01-10"
last_action: "2024-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/724180fb-1e06-491d-b81d-cc753c322c04"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB1040"
source_hash: "87a0f2b4ce3f4405240e3a89053bc1d383e3a5513c45949836209caa55763f00"
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 HB 1040 (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 SB 85.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0610** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0610)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24107743D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1040S1)
3. **HB1040ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1040ER)
4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104336D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1040)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (14-Y 1-N) — **14–1** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 3-N) — **94–3** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with substitute (26-Y 12-N) — **26–12** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — primary (person)
- Adele Y. McClure — cosponsor (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
- Bonita G. Anthony — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104336D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-10** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-22** Assigned GL sub: Procurement/Open Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-22** Impact statement from DPB (HB1040)
- **2024-01-23** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-25** Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-29** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-01-30** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-01-31** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-01-31** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-01** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-01** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-14** Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (14-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-14** Committee substitute printed 24107743D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-19** Impact statement from DPB (HB1040S1)
- **2024-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-19** Reading of substitute waived
- **2024-02-19** Committee substitute agreed to 24107743D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-19** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB1040S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-19** Passed Senate with substitute (26-Y 12-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-21** Senate substitute agreed to by House 24107743D-S1 (95-Y 3-N) `substitution`
- **2024-02-21** VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 3-N)
- **2024-02-27** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-27** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1040ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-27** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-28** Impact statement from DPB (HB1040ER)
- **2024-03-01** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 610 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0610)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/724180fb-1e06-491d-b81d-cc753c322c04`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).