Fabio
80 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
80 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; meetings held by electronic communication means."
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description: "Removes the Freedom of Information Act requirement that the remote locations from which members of a public body participate in meetings through electronic communication means be open to the public. Instead, members of the public must be provided an electronic communication means substantially equivalent to that provided to members of the public body through which the public may witness the meeting. The bill provides that public access to remote locations from which members of the public body participate through electronic communication means shall be encouraged but not required; however, if three or more members are gathered at the same remote location, such remote location must be open to the public. The bill also amends the annual reporting requirements for public bodies that meet by electronic communication means. This bill is a recommendation of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2018"
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identifier: "HB 908"
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citation: "Virginia HB 908 (2018)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: ["Administration of Government", "Computer Services and Uses", "Consumer Protection", "General Assembly"]
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Roxann L. Robinson"]
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version_count: 3
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action_count: 15
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vote_count: 6
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first_action: "2018-01-09"
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last_action: "2018-02-28"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/12caaa14-1c17-4077-8575-e130706fdf49"
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source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+HB908"
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source_hash: "6ad3cf1203bdd380fdb2f7dd784119eda6c3f39689859329092c42198ef72e36"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 908 (2018) — Virginia Freedom of Information Act; meetings held by electronic communication means.
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Removes the Freedom of Information Act requirement that the remote locations from which members of a public body participate in meetings through electronic communication means be open to the public. Instead, members of the public must be provided an electronic communication means substantially equivalent to that provided to members of the public body through which the public may witness the meeting. The bill provides that public access to remote locations from which members of the public body participate through electronic communication means shall be encouraged but not required; however, if three or more members are gathered at the same remote location, such remote location must be open to the public. The bill also amends the annual reporting requirements for public bodies that meet by electronic communication means. This bill is a recommendation of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0056)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+CHAP0056)
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2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB908ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB908ER)
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3. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18100760D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB908)
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## Votes
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- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Reported from General Laws and Technology — **14–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Reported from General Laws — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Read third time and passed House — **97–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **8–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
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## Sponsors
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- Roxann L. Robinson — primary (person)
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- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2018-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18100760D `introduction`
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- **2018-01-09** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
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- **2018-01-19** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #4 `referral-committee`
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- **2018-01-29** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2018-01-30** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2018-01-31** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2018-02-01** Constitutional reading dispensed
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- **2018-02-01** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
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- **2018-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2018-02-19** Enrolled
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- **2018-02-19** Signed by Speaker
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- **2018-02-21** Signed by President
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- **2018-02-22** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/22/18
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- **2018-02-22** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 1, 2018
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- **2018-02-28** Approved by Governor-Chapter 56 (effective 7/1/18) `executive-signature`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/12caaa14-1c17-4077-8575-e130706fdf49`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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