republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-577.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Campaign finance; exemption for candidates for certain office or directors."
description: "Elections; campaign finance; exemptions for candidates for certain offices; directors of soil and water conservation districts. Provides that a candidate for director of a soil and water conservation district may also seek an exemption from the requirement that he designate a separate campaign depository by certifying that (i) he has not and will not contribute any money to his own campaign and (ii) he has not and will not expend any money in the course of the campaign. The bill also provides that a candidate for local office or for director of a soil and water conservation district applying for a general exemption is exempt from having to make special reports for certain large pre-election contributions. This bill is identical to HB 1346."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 577"
citation: "Virginia SB 577 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark D. Obenshain"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 30
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-10"
last_action: "2024-03-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e0a34e61-e84b-41df-bfd4-94a5b4e37fa3"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB577"
source_hash: "0182d8d3cdadaba86b512a9039f108ec75c173293800aff404aeb38e76c40fd6"
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 577 (2024) — Campaign finance; exemption for candidates for certain office or directors.

Elections; campaign finance; exemptions for candidates for certain offices; directors of soil and water conservation districts. Provides that a candidate for director of a soil and water conservation district may also seek an exemption from the requirement that he designate a separate campaign depository by certifying that (i) he has not and will not contribute any money to his own campaign and (ii) he has not and will not expend any money in the course of the campaign. The bill also provides that a candidate for local office or for director of a soil and water conservation district applying for a general exemption is exempt from having to make special reports for certain large pre-election contributions. This bill is identical to HB 1346.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0124** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0124)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102482D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB577)
3. **Printed as engrossed 24102482D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB577E)
4. **SB577ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB577ER)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (18-Y 3-N) — **18–3** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (94-Y 6-N) — **93–6** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mark D. Obenshain — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102482D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-10** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-22** Impact statement from DPB (SB577)
- **2024-01-23** Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-23** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-25** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-01-26** Reading of amendment waived
- **2024-01-26** Committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-01-26** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB577E
- **2024-01-26** Printed as engrossed 24102482D-E
- **2024-01-29** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-01-29** Impact statement from DPB (SB577E)
- **2024-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-13** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-16** Reported from Privileges and Elections (18-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Passed House (94-Y 6-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-21** VOTE: Passage (94-Y 6-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-26** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB577ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-28** Impact statement from DPB (SB577ER)
- **2024-02-28** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-20** Approved by Governor-Chapter 124 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-20** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0124)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e0a34e61-e84b-41df-bfd4-94a5b4e37fa3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).