republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2019/hb-2494.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act; religious preferences and affiliations."
description: "Prohibits any state agency maintaining an information system that includes personal information from disseminating to federal government authorities information concerning the religious preferences and affiliations of data subjects for the purpose of compiling a list, registry, or database of individuals based on religious affiliation, national origin, or ethnicity, unless specifically required by state or federal law. This prohibition applies even if consent is given to disseminate such information to public institutions of higher education, state facilities under Title 37.2 (Behavioral Health and Developmental Services), and juvenile correctional facilities established pursuant to Title 66 (Juvenile Justice) or Chapter 11 (§ 16.1-226 et seq.) of Title 16.1 (Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts). As introduced, this bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2494"
citation: "Virginia HB 2494 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Administration of Government", "Administration of Government", "Behavioral Health and Developmental Services", "Religious and Charitable Matters; Cemeteries"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kathy K.L. Tran"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 18
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-01-09"
last_action: "2019-03-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cb93d375-b3fc-4770-8860-5c24b08555e1"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2494"
source_hash: "af1f412f4f4479b223c17b63a63dff23a2f7090dba87fcc215b02a37dc1f2368"
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 HB 2494 (2019) — Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act; religious preferences and affiliations.

Prohibits any state agency maintaining an information system that includes personal information from disseminating to federal government authorities information concerning the religious preferences and affiliations of data subjects for the purpose of compiling a list, registry, or database of individuals based on religious affiliation, national origin, or ethnicity, unless specifically required by state or federal law. This prohibition applies even if consent is given to disseminate such information to public institutions of higher education, state facilities under Title 37.2 (Behavioral Health and Developmental Services), and juvenile correctional facilities established pursuant to Title 66 (Juvenile Justice) or Chapter 11 (§ 16.1-226 et seq.) of Title 16.1 (Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts). As introduced, this bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0774)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0774)
2. **House amendments adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+amd+HB2494AH)
3. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB2494)
4. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2494ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2494ER)
5. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19100283D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2494)
6. **House: Printed as engrossed 19100283D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2494E)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws with amendments — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate — **38–1** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **99–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Kathy K.L. Tran — primary (person)
- Sam Rasoul — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19100283D `introduction`
- **2019-01-09** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-16** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #4 `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-02-04** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-02-04** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2019-02-04** Engrossed by House as amended HB2494E
- **2019-02-04** Printed as engrossed 19100283D-E
- **2019-02-05** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-02-06** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-22** Enrolled
- **2019-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-22** Signed by President
- **2019-03-04** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 4, 2019
- **2019-03-04** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-22** Approved by Governor-Chapter 774 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cb93d375-b3fc-4770-8860-5c24b08555e1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).