Fabio
128 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
128 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Handheld personal communications devices; holding devices while driving a motor vehicle, penalty."
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description: "Holding handheld personal communications devices while driving a motor vehicle. Prohibits any person from holding a handheld personal communications device while driving a motor vehicle. Current law prohibits (i) the reading of any email or text message and manually entering letters or text in such a device as a means of communicating and (ii) holding a personal communications device while driving in a work zone. The bill expands the exemptions to include handheld personal communications devices that are being held and used (a) as an amateur radio or a citizens band radio or (b) for official Department of Transportation or traffic incident management services. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates SB 136 and SB 944 and is identical to HB 874."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2020"
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identifier: "SB 160"
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citation: "Virginia SB 160 (2020)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Scott A. Surovell"]
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version_count: 5
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action_count: 37
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vote_count: 7
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first_action: "2019-12-19"
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last_action: "2020-03-31"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/29785fb1-0de7-46f5-b930-81cf8212e128"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB160"
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source_hash: "f38784ae63df52086d46b38bd922154d94977893521ec498937b56d8a02b64ec"
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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 SB 160 (2020) — Handheld personal communications devices; holding devices while driving a motor vehicle, penalty.
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Holding handheld personal communications devices while driving a motor vehicle. Prohibits any person from holding a handheld personal communications device while driving a motor vehicle. Current law prohibits (i) the reading of any email or text message and manually entering letters or text in such a device as a means of communicating and (ii) holding a personal communications device while driving in a work zone. The bill expands the exemptions to include handheld personal communications devices that are being held and used (a) as an amateur radio or a citizens band radio or (b) for official Department of Transportation or traffic incident management services. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates SB 136 and SB 944 and is identical to HB 874.
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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. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0543)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0543)
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2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB160ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB160ER)
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3. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB160S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB160S1)
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4. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB160S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB160)
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5. **Impact statement from DPB (SB160H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB160H1)
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## Votes
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- Reported from Transportation with substitute (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper
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- Read third time and passed Senate (33-Y 7-N) — **33–7** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- VOTE: Passage (69-Y 29-N) — **68–29** (pass) · lower
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- House substitute agreed to by Senate (32-Y 8-N) — **32–8** (pass) · upper
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 1-N) — **7–1** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Transportation with substitute (18-Y 4-N) — **18–4** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Scott A. Surovell — primary (person)
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- Adam P. Ebbin — cosponsor (person)
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- Barbara A. Favola — cosponsor (person)
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- David W. Marsden — cosponsor (person)
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- George L. Barker — cosponsor (person)
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- Ghazala F. Hashmi — cosponsor (person)
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- J. Chapman Petersen — cosponsor (person)
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- Janet D. Howell — cosponsor (person)
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- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
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- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
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- Jeremy S. McPike — cosponsor (person)
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- John A. Cosgrove, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
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- John J. Bell — cosponsor (person)
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- John S. Edwards — cosponsor (person)
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- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)
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- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
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- L. Louise Lucas — cosponsor (person)
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- Lionell Spruill, Sr. — cosponsor (person)
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- Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
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- Mamie E. Locke — cosponsor (person)
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- R. Creigh Deeds — cosponsor (person)
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- Richard H. Stuart — cosponsor (person)
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- Richard L. Saslaw — cosponsor (person)
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- T. Montgomery "Monty" Mason — cosponsor (person)
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- William M. Stanley, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2019-12-19** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100741D `introduction`
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- **2019-12-19** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
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- **2020-01-23** Reported from Transportation with substitute (12-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-01-23** Incorporates SB136 (Stuart)
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- **2020-01-23** Incorporates SB944 (Saslaw)
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- **2020-01-23** Committee substitute printed 20106310D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2020-01-27** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-01-28** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2020-01-28** Reading of substitute waived
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- **2020-01-28** Committee substitute agreed to 20106310D-S1
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- **2020-01-28** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB160S1
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- **2020-01-29** Read third time and passed Senate (33-Y 7-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2020-02-03** Placed on Calendar
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- **2020-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2020-02-03** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-11** Assigned Transportation sub: Motor Vehicles `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-17** Impact statement from DPB (SB160S1)
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- **2020-02-17** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 1-N)
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- **2020-02-20** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
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- **2020-02-20** Reported from Transportation with substitute (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-20** Committee substitute printed 20108445D-H1 `substitution`
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- **2020-02-21** Impact statement from DPB (SB160H1)
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- **2020-02-24** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2020-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2020-02-25** Committee substitute agreed to 20108445D-H1
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- **2020-02-25** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB160H1
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- **2020-02-25** Passed House with substitute (69-Y 29-N) `passage`
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- **2020-02-25** VOTE: Passage (69-Y 29-N)
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- **2020-02-26** House substitute agreed to by Senate (32-Y 8-N)
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- **2020-02-26** Title replaced 20108445D-H1
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- **2020-03-03** Enrolled
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- **2020-03-03** Impact statement from DPB (SB160ER)
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- **2020-03-03** Signed by Speaker
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- **2020-03-04** Signed by President
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- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
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- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
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- **2020-03-31** Approved by Governor-Chapter 543 (effective 1/1/21) `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/29785fb1-0de7-46f5-b930-81cf8212e128`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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