republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-734.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings."
description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings. Amends the number of all-virtual public meetings that public bodies, with certain exceptions, may convene in a calendar year to no more than two times per calendar year or 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. Current law limits the number of all-virtual public meetings to no more than two times per calendar year or 25 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. The bill also provides that with respect to all-virtual public meetings, when audio-visual technology is available, a member of a public body shall, for purposes of a quorum, be considered absent from any portion of the meeting during which visual communication with the member is voluntarily disconnected or otherwise fails or during which audio communication involuntarily fails. This bill is identical to HB 894. "
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 734"
citation: "Virginia SB 734 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David W. Marsden"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-19"
last_action: "2024-03-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/250294ec-b4c6-41ae-a34d-e37c2a95b48b"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB734"
source_hash: "230f0e67dcd05cebf5559eb8a712165ed1245b19487d3aba07fe3467df5bdcd3"
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 734 (2024) — Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings. Amends the number of all-virtual public meetings that public bodies, with certain exceptions, may convene in a calendar year to no more than two times per calendar year or 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. Current law limits the number of all-virtual public meetings to no more than two times per calendar year or 25 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. The bill also provides that with respect to all-virtual public meetings, when audio-visual technology is available, a member of a public body shall, for purposes of a quorum, be considered absent from any portion of the meeting during which visual communication with the member is voluntarily disconnected or otherwise fails or during which audio communication involuntarily fails. This bill is identical to HB 894. 

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0129** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0129)
2. **Presented and ordered printed 24102038D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB734)
3. **SB734ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB734ER)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (35-Y 4-N) — **35–4** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (79-Y 20-N) — **78–20** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- David W. Marsden — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-19** Presented and ordered printed 24102038D `introduction`
- **2024-01-19** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-24** Impact statement from DPB (SB734)
- **2024-01-31** Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-02** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-05** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-06** Read third time and passed Senate (35-Y 4-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-15** Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-19** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-20** Passed House (79-Y 20-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-20** VOTE: Passage (79-Y 20-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-26** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB734ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (SB734ER)
- **2024-02-26** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-29** 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 129 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-20** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0129)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/250294ec-b4c6-41ae-a34d-e37c2a95b48b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).