republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-977.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	Local governing body meetings; public comment during a regular meeting at least quarterly.	Local governing body meetings; public comment.Requires a governing body to provide members of the general public with the opportunity for public comment during at least half of the regular meetings held each fiscal year.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2020	SB 977	Virginia SB 977 (2020)	bill		enacted	David R. Suetterlein	3	27	7	2020-01-15	2020-04-11	openstates	ocd-bill/eca1d68d-a291-4425-94c6-fa607a032cd0	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB977	8ffd0c48e8a43f2275ca02b30b4316037077cf8cec61f44e48eb6ccad6781a8e	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 977 (2020) — Local governing body meetings; public comment during a regular meeting at least quarterly.

Local governing body meetings; public comment.Requires a governing body to provide members of the general public with the opportunity for public comment during at least half of the regular meetings held each fiscal year.

Version chain

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

1. Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1144) (committee substitute) — source
2. Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB977ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (SB977) (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N) — 38–0 (pass) · upper
• VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — 99–0 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) — 15–0 (pass) · upper
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N) — 8–0 (pass) · lower
• Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendments (22-Y 0-N) — 22–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• David R. Suetterlein — primary (person)
• Joseph P. McNamara — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2020-01-15 Presented and ordered printed 20105104D introduction
• 2020-01-15 Referred to Committee on Local Government referral-committee
• 2020-01-20 Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2020-01-21 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
• 2020-01-22 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
• 2020-01-23 Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (SB977)
• 2020-01-23 Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) passage, reading-3
• 2020-02-13 Placed on Calendar
• 2020-02-13 Read first time reading-1
• 2020-02-13 Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns referral-committee
• 2020-02-13 Assigned CC & T sub: Land Use referral-committee
• 2020-02-20 Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-21 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2020-02-21 Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendments (22-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-25 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-02-26 Read third time reading-3
• 2020-02-26 Committee amendments agreed to
• 2020-02-26 Engrossed by House as amended
• 2020-02-26 Passed House with amendments BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) passage
• 2020-02-26 VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-28 House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N)
• 2020-03-05 Enrolled
• 2020-03-06 Signed by Speaker
• 2020-03-07 Signed by President
• 2020-03-12 Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
• 2020-03-12 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
• 2020-04-11 Approved by Governor-Chapter 1144 (effective 7/1/20) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/eca1d68d-a291-4425-94c6-fa607a032cd0. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).