republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/hb-1401.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Higher educational institutions; speech on campus.	Prohibits public institutions of higher education from abridging the constitutional freedom of any individual, including enrolled students, faculty and other employees, and invited guests, to speak on campus, except as otherwise permitted by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2017	HB 1401	Virginia HB 1401 (2017)	bill	Education Educational Institutions	enacted	R. Steven Landes	3	24	6	2016-09-02	2017-03-16	openstates	ocd-bill/9971a178-d30b-48eb-8267-d14e7c0e1d87	http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1401	9163275d173d7ccd505f1e815fca8cc8f001ec9917141a88c0cf41745bcec94a	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 1401 (2017) — Higher educational institutions; speech on campus.

Prohibits public institutions of higher education from abridging the constitutional freedom of any individual, including enrolled students, faculty and other employees, and invited guests, to speak on campus, except as otherwise permitted by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Version chain

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

1. Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0506) (committee substitute) — source
2. House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1401ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17100215D (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Passed Senate with amendment — 36–4 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Education — 16–5 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Education and Health with amendment — 15–0 (pass) · legislature
• Read third time and passed House — 76–19 (pass) · legislature
• Constitutional reading dispensed — 39–0 (pass) · legislature
• Senate amendment agreed to by House — 79–16 (pass) · legislature

Sponsors

• R. Steven Landes — primary (person)
• Amanda F. Chase — cosponsor (person)
• Charles D. Poindexter — cosponsor (person)
• Gordon C. Helsel, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
• Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
• J. Randall Minchew — cosponsor (person)
• Jackson H. Miller — cosponsor (person)
• James E. Edmunds, II — cosponsor (person)
• Jason S. Miyares — cosponsor (person)
• Margaret B. Ransone — cosponsor (person)
• Mark L. Cole — cosponsor (person)
• Michael J. Webert — cosponsor (person)
• Nicholas J. Freitas — cosponsor (person)
• R. Lee Ware — cosponsor (person)
• Richard L. Anderson — cosponsor (person)
• Richard P. Bell — cosponsor (person)
• Rick L. Morris — cosponsor (person)
• Ronald A. Villanueva — cosponsor (person)
• Roxann L. Robinson — cosponsor (person)
• Timothy D. Hugo — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2016-09-02 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17100215D introduction
• 2016-09-02 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2017-01-25 Referred from Courts of Justice by voice vote
• 2017-01-25 Referred to Committee on Education referral-committee
• 2017-01-31 Read first time reading-1
• 2017-02-01 Read second time reading-2
• 2017-02-01 Pending question ordered
• 2017-02-01 Engrossed by House
• 2017-02-02 Read third time and passed House (76-Y 19-N) passage, reading-3
• 2017-02-03 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2017-02-03 Referred to Committee on Education and Health referral-committee
• 2017-02-13 Assigned Education sub: Higher Education referral-committee
• 2017-02-20 Read third time reading-3
• 2017-02-20 Reading of amendment waived
• 2017-02-20 Committee amendment agreed to
• 2017-02-20 Engrossed by Senate as amended
• 2017-02-21 Placed on Calendar
• 2017-02-21 Senate amendment agreed to by House (79-Y 16-N)
• 2017-02-24 Enrolled
• 2017-02-24 Signed by Speaker
• 2017-02-24 Signed by President
• 2017-02-28 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/28/17
• 2017-02-28 Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
• 2017-03-16 Approved by Governor-Chapter 506 (effective 7/1/17) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/9971a178-d30b-48eb-8267-d14e7c0e1d87. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).