Fabio
109 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
109 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Va. Freedom of Information Act; meetings conducted through electronic meetings, states of emergency."
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description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; meetings conducted through electronic communication means. Amends existing provisions concerning electronic meetings by keeping the provisions for electronic meetings held in response to declared states of emergency, repealing the provisions that are specific to regional and state public bodies, and allowing certain public bodies to conduct all-virtual public meetings where all of the members who participate do so remotely and that the public may access through electronic communications means. The bill excepts local governing bodies, local school boards, planning commissions, architectural review boards, zoning appeals boards, and any board with the authority to deny, revoke, or suspend a professional or occupational license from the provisions that allow public bodies to conduct all-virtual public meetings. Definitions, procedural requirements, and limitations for all-virtual public meetings are set forth in the bill, along with technical amendments. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2022."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2022"
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identifier: "HB 444"
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citation: "Virginia HB 444 (2022)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker"]
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version_count: 4
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action_count: 42
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vote_count: 7
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first_action: "2022-01-11"
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last_action: "2022-04-11"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1fd51b4f-c640-4fd1-b130-f1360e535abe"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+HB444"
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source_hash: "893a38729cdf3df1a49e173f512be361a99e9570082175016b923051a11352b2"
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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 444 (2022) — Va. Freedom of Information Act; meetings conducted through electronic meetings, states of emergency.
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Virginia Freedom of Information Act; meetings conducted through electronic communication means. Amends existing provisions concerning electronic meetings by keeping the provisions for electronic meetings held in response to declared states of emergency, repealing the provisions that are specific to regional and state public bodies, and allowing certain public bodies to conduct all-virtual public meetings where all of the members who participate do so remotely and that the public may access through electronic communications means. The bill excepts local governing bodies, local school boards, planning commissions, architectural review boards, zoning appeals boards, and any board with the authority to deny, revoke, or suspend a professional or occupational license from the provisions that allow public bodies to conduct all-virtual public meetings. Definitions, procedural requirements, and limitations for all-virtual public meetings are set forth in the bill, along with technical amendments. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2022.
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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. **CHAP0597** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+CHAP0597)
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2. **Committee substitute printed 22107153D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB444S1)
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3. **HB444ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB444ER)
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4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22104056D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB444)
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## Votes
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- Passed Senate with substitute with amendments (25-Y 15-N) — **25–15** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
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- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
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- VOTE: Adoption (97-Y 0-N) — **96–0** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — primary (person)
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- William C. Wampler III — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2022-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22104056D `introduction`
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- **2022-01-11** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
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- **2022-01-19** Impact statement from DPB (HB444)
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- **2022-01-21** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #4 `referral-committee`
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- **2022-01-25** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
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- **2022-01-27** Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2022-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2022-02-01** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2022-02-02** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2022-02-02** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N)
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- **2022-02-03** Constitutional reading dispensed
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- **2022-02-03** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
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- **2022-03-02** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
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- **2022-03-02** Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (12-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2022-03-02** Committee substitute printed 22107153D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2022-03-04** Passed by for the day
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- **2022-03-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB444S1)
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- **2022-03-07** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
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- **2022-03-08** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2022-03-08** Reading of substitute waived
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- **2022-03-08** Committee substitute agreed to 22107153D-S1
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- **2022-03-08** Passed by for the day
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- **2022-03-09** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2022-03-09** Passed by temporarily
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- **2022-03-09** Passed by for the day
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- **2022-03-10** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2022-03-10** Passed by temporarily
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- **2022-03-10** Reading of amendments #1, #2 waived
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- **2022-03-10** Amendments #1, #2 by Senator Petersen agreed to `amendment-passage`
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- **2022-03-10** Reading of amendment #3 waived
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- **2022-03-10** Amendment #3 by Senator Petersen agreed to `amendment-passage`
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- **2022-03-10** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendments HB444S1
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- **2022-03-10** Passed Senate with substitute with amendments (25-Y 15-N) `passage`
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- **2022-03-10** Senate substitute with amendments agreed to by House 22107153D-S1 (97-Y 0-N)
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- **2022-03-10** VOTE: Adoption (97-Y 0-N)
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- **2022-03-21** Enrolled
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- **2022-03-21** Impact statement from DPB (HB444ER)
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- **2022-03-21** Signed by President
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- **2022-03-22** Signed by Speaker
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- **2022-03-22** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 22, 2022
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- **2022-03-22** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2022
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- **2022-04-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 597 (effective 9/1/22) `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/1fd51b4f-c640-4fd1-b130-f1360e535abe`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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