republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-1309.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Transacting business under assumed name; filing of certificate with clerk of SCC."
description: "Prohibits a person from conducting or transacting business under any assumed or fictitious name unless such person files in the office of the clerk of the State Corporation Commission a certificate of assumed or fictitious name. The measure specifies the requirements for a certificate of assumed or fictitious name. A person who signs a certificate the person knows is false in any material respect with intent that the certificate be delivered to the Commission for filing is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The measure eliminates the existing requirement that a person conducting business under an assumed or fictitious name file a certificate with the clerk of the circuit court where the business is to be conducted. An enactment clause provides that the act shall be applied prospectively only, does not affect the validity of a certificate filed prior to the act's effective date, and does not require any person who was in compliance with applicable laws regarding fictitious or assumed name certificates prior to the act's effective date to take any action to comply with the act's requirements. The measure has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2019."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 1309"
citation: "Virginia SB 1309 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Commissions", "Boards and Institutions Generally", "State Corporation Commission", "Trade and Commerce"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Thomas K. Norment, Jr."]
version_count: 4
action_count: 20
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2017-01-10"
last_action: "2017-03-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dfd6e708-a073-4a92-af09-17acb42cc59c"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1309"
source_hash: "03f7c15bd491063ef8770e20c9bb191a89b47dceacffc2434ef67c5935408aa7"
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 1309 (2017) — Transacting business under assumed name; filing of certificate with clerk of SCC.

Prohibits a person from conducting or transacting business under any assumed or fictitious name unless such person files in the office of the clerk of the State Corporation Commission a certificate of assumed or fictitious name. The measure specifies the requirements for a certificate of assumed or fictitious name. A person who signs a certificate the person knows is false in any material respect with intent that the certificate be delivered to the Commission for filing is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The measure eliminates the existing requirement that a person conducting business under an assumed or fictitious name file a certificate with the clerk of the circuit court where the business is to be conducted. An enactment clause provides that the act shall be applied prospectively only, does not affect the validity of a certificate filed prior to the act's effective date, and does not require any person who was in compliance with applicable laws regarding fictitious or assumed name certificates prior to the act's effective date to take any action to comply with the act's requirements. The measure has a delayed effective date of May 1, 2019.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0594)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0594)
2. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1309ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1309ER)
3. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17105034D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1309S1)
4. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102749D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1309)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute — **13–2** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House with amendment BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendment — **21–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **38–2** (pass) · legislature
- House amendment agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Thomas K. Norment, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102749D `introduction`
- **2017-01-10** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-07** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 17105034D-S1
- **2017-02-07** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1309S1
- **2017-02-09** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-09** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-21** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2017-02-21** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2017-02-21** Passed House with amendment BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2017-03-07** Enrolled
- **2017-03-07** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-03-10** Signed by President
- **2017-03-13** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on 3/13/17
- **2017-03-13** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-16** Approved by Governor-Chapter 594 (effective 5/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dfd6e708-a073-4a92-af09-17acb42cc59c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).