2011 Legislative Update
Last updated: 3:30 p.m., 2/28/11
NOTE: Bills that passed are listed first; bills that failed to advance out of their respective chamber are listed below.
HB 1457
R. Marshall
Provides that public employees may be terminated or otherwise disciplined for knowing and willful violations of FOIA.
• Passed House and Senate. Amended to delete employee discipline measures and instead to double fines. Passed House 95-3.
HB 1479
Loupassi
Provides that the affidavit for a search warrant may be made publicly available only after the warrant that is the subject of the affidavit has been served.
• Passed House and Senate
HB 1565
P. Miller
Clarifies that the secure remote access restrictions do not apply to secure access by attorneys and governmental agencies as authorized by the clerk.
• Passed House and Senate. Amended to prohibit attorneys from posting or selling data to websites "or in any way redistributed to any third party."
See SB 1274
HB 1592
Iaquinto
Requires all state agencies and regional bodies to put requests for proposal and invitations to bid on the Department of General Services' website.
• Passed House and Senate
HB 1593
Iaquinto
Provides that when a court orders the disclosure of records of a provider of electronic communication services or remote computing services, it may temporarily seal the order for good cause shown. The bill also provides that the order shall issue upon application by the attorney for the Commonwealth in an ex parte proceeding, an intervening step not in the current law.
• Passed House and Senate with amendment to make sealing good for 90-day increments
HB 1639
Purkey
Establishes the Virginia Nanotechnology Authority to promote development of nanotechnology in Virginia. Exempts audits of any non-stock corporation created by the Authority and audit records held by the Auditor of Public Accounts from FOIA.
• Reported from Science & Technology committee & referred to Appropriations. Appropriations subcommittee rolled the bill into HB 2324.
HB 1646
Brink
Provides that the name, residence address and, if different, mailing address, and the name of the organization, if any represented, of the person circulating a petition calling for a referendum election must appear on each page, front and back, of the petition.
• Passed House and Senate
HB 1666
Cole
Removes the requirement for the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to establish an advisory committee on the administration of veterans care centers established in the Commonwealth. Includes elimination of FOIA closed-meeting exemption for the committee.
• Passed House and Senate
HB 1714
Wilt
Provides that the provisions of § 2.2-3803 (denying the right of a government agency to require the disclosure of a social security number) shall not apply to the Code provisions that provide for issuance of an Identity Theft Passport.
• Passed House and Senate
HB 1831
E. Scott
Includes an exclusion from FOIA in bill about regulating several aspects relating to the application and use of fertilizer to lawns and turfs, including rules against applying fertilizers containing phosphorus or applying fertilizer when the ground is frozen, and the inclusion of a cautionary label on application and use.
• Passed House and Senate with language saying that "personal information" can't be released under FOIA but aggregate data can. SB1055 contains similar language, as does HB 1830, though this bill adds a provision about how nothing should be construed to interfere with other data required by state or federal law to be released.
HB 1860
Anderson
Requires that the party against whom a FOIA petition is brought must receive a copy of the petition at least three working days prior to the filing of the petition. The bill contains technical amendments and is a recommendation of the FOIA Council.
• Passed House and Senate
HB 1948
Villanueva
Senate Courts of Justice
Changes the requirement that data in the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center databases be reviewed every year to a requirement that it be reviewed every five years. Information that is determined to not be related to terrorist activity shall be removed from the database.
(See SB 1259)
• Passed House and Senate changing the review process to every three years (down from five in the original bill)
HB 2004
LeMunyon
Provides that the public notice issued prior to a public hearing held in conjunction with the issuance of bonds shall state with specificity the use of the proceeds, and if there is more than one use, state all uses for which greater than 10 percent of the total bond authority is sought and the amounts associated with each use.
• Passed House and Senate
HB 2020
May
Defines a "private record" as a record that does not relate to or affect the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official public business of a public officer, employee, or agent, including the correspondence, diaries, journals, or notes that are not prepared for, utilized for, circulated, or communicated in the course of transacting public business.
• Passed House and Senate with substitute now restating existing law that records that aren't about public business are not "public records.
HB 2034
Peace
Provides that the Attorney General shall investigate complaints of alleged abuse or neglect of persons in the care or custody of others who receive payments for medical assistance under the state plan for medical assistance, regardless of whether the patient is a recipient of medical assistance.
• Passed House and Senate with amendments to narrow the focus of the FOIA exemption.
HB 2041
Anderson
Allows any commission created by executive order to study and make recommendations concerning the prevention of closure and realignment of federal security installations in Virginia to withhold from public disclosure certain records relating to the relocation of national security facilities. The bill also allows those portions of meetings where such records are discussed to be closed to the public.
(See SB 1296)
• Passed House and Senate
HB 2076
Landes
Establishes the Office of the Inspector General to be headed by a State Inspector General to investigate complaints alleging fraud, waste, abuse, corruption, or mistreatment of citizens of the Commonwealth by a state agency or public officers and employees, including allegations of criminal acts affecting the operation of state agencies. The bill also authorizes the State Inspector General to examine the management and operation of state agencies and provides a record exemption under the Freedom of Information Act for certain documents of the Office.
(See SB 1477)
• Passed House and Senate
HB 2149
Cline
Eliminates the requirement that local governments send to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and that the Secretary of the Commonwealth publish a printed certified list of all local officers and constitutional officers. "There is no need to print such a report since it is online."
• Passed House and Senate
HB 2155
Cline
Authorizes local governments to publish information relating to warrants paid by the locality. The warrant information that could be published would be the names of payees, amounts paid, the serial numbers of warrants, and dates of payments. Information relating to tax refunds would be published only if the information were aggregated or classified so as to prevent the identification of the payee of the tax refund.
• Passed House and Senate in a slightly watered down version
Also see SB 844
HB 2173
Phillips
Requires the Department of Health to include in its regulations governing waterworks, water supplies, and pure water a process whereby waterworks serving fewer than 10,000 people may seek and the Governor may grant a waiver of the requirement that the waterworks mail copies of its community confidence report to each customer of the system at least once annually. Such waterworks shall instead provide notice of the report via publication in a newspaper of general circulation and by such other means as the waterworks deems appropriate and make copies of the report available to the public upon request.
(See SB 1024)
• Passed House and Senate
HB 2520
Peace
Eliminates certain advisory boards, councils, and other advisory collegial bodies. The bill contains numerous technical amendments.
• Passed House and Senate
SB 763
Puller
Requires that the party against whom a FOIA petition is brought must receive a copy of the petition at least three working days prior to the filing of the petition. The bill contains technical amendments and is a recommendation of the FOIA Council.
• Passed House and Senate
SB 844
Petersen
Authorizes local governments to regularly publish information relating to warrants paid by the locality. The warrant information that could be published would be the aggregate amount of warrants paid, classified by expenditure item or disbursement. Information on warrants relating to tax refunds could be published only if the information was aggregated or classified so as to prevent the identification of the payee of the tax refund.
• Passed House and Senate in a slightly watered-down version
Also see HB 2155
SB 951
Houck
Clarifies that the Library of Virginia is the custodian of records transferred to it for permanent archiving pursuant to the duties imposed by the Virginia Public Records Act (§ 42.1-76 et seq.) and for responding to requests for such records made under FOIA.
• Passed House and Senate
SB 1024
Puckett
Requires the Department of Health to include in its regulations governing waterworks, water supplies, and pure water a process whereby waterworks serving fewer than 10,000 people may seek and the Governor may grant a waiver of the requirement that the waterworks mail copies of its community confidence report to each customer of the system at least once annually. Such waterworks shall instead provide notice of the report via publication in a newspaper of general circulation and by such other means as the waterworks deems appropriate and make copies of the report available to the public upon request.
(See HB 2173)
• Passed House and Senate
SB 1255
Vogel
Exempts records of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit from disclosure pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
• Passed House and Senate with amendments to narrow the focus of the FOIA exemption.
SB 1259
Vogel
Changes the requirement that data in the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center databases be reviewed every year to a requirement that it be reviewed every five years. Information that is determined to not be related to terrorist activity shall be removed from the database.
(See HB 1948)
• Passed House and Senate changing the review process to every three years (down from five in the original bill)
SB 1274
Obenshain
Clarifies that the secure remote access restrictions do not apply to secure access by attorneys, their authorized agents, or by governmental agencies as authorized by the clerk.
(See HB 1565)
• Passed House and Senate. Amended to prohibit attorneys from posting or selling data to websites "or in any way redistributed to any third party."
SB 1296
Ruff
Allows any commission created by executive order to study and make recommendations concerning the prevention of closure and realignment of federal security installations in Virginia to withhold from public disclosure certain records relating to the relocation of national security facilities. The bill also allows those portions of meetings where such records are discussed to be closed to the public.
(See HB 2041)
• Passed House and Senate
SB 1302
Ruff
Allows a member of a local governing body to be notified of special meetings via electronic mail or facsimile, in lieu of in writing delivered to his home or business, if he so requests.
• Passed House and Senate
SB 1337
Herring
House General Laws
Creates an exemption from the mandatory disclosure requirements of FOIA for (i) records relating to rate structures or charges for using the facilities of the Commercial Space Flight Authority and (ii) certain records provided by a private entity to the Commercial Space Flight Authority.
• Passed House and Senate w/ amendments to narrow (i) to instances where the entity's bargaining position could be compromised.
SB 1477
Stosch
House General Laws
Establishes the Office of the Inspector General to be headed by a State Inspector General to investigate complaints alleging fraud, waste, abuse, corruption, or mistreatment of citizens of the Commonwealth by a state agency or public officers and employees.
(See HB 2076)
• Passed House and Senate
Bills passed by, tabled, killed, referred to commission, etc.
HB 1414
J. Scott
Privileges & Elections
Adds a requirement for campaign committees, political committees, and out-of-state political committees to report the name and address of any controlling individual with an ownership interest exceeding 50 percent in any contributor that is a corporation, partnership, business, or other like entity.
• Killed in subcommittee
HB 1415
J. Scott
Privileges & Elections (Campaign Finance Subcommittee #3)
Provides a procedure for review of campaign finance reports for candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General and for candidates in a random sample of General Assembly districts. The review focuses on reconciling the balance in the campaign depository with campaign finance reports, on mathematical accuracy, and on completeness. The provisions would become effective on January 1, 2012.
• killed in subcommittee
HB 1566
LeMunyon (co-sponsored by Keam)
Rules
Provides that, beginning with the 2012 Regular Session of the General Assembly, the Legislative Support Commissio must post on the legislative electronic information system (LIS) the recorded committee, subcommittee, and floor votes of each member of the General Assembly on legislation acted upon in each house.
Left in House Rules
HB 1722
R. Marshall
General Laws
Requires that at the time of creation of any public record, the custodian of such records that are subject to FOIA shall designate whether the record is subject to FOIA's mandatory disclosure provisions or otherwise exempt from disclosure. The bill requires that such designation shall appear on the face of the record and be updated by the custodian in a timely manner in the event of any changes. (more...)
• Passed by w/ letter recommending study by FOIA Council
HB 1804
Surovell
Rules
Provides that meetings of standing committees of the House of Delegates and their subcommittees shall be digitally recorded and made available on the legislative electronic information system.
• Tabled in committee
HB 1922
Abbott
Courts of Justice
Provides that the clerk of each district court shall ensure that all nonconfidential court records regarding a person's conviction for a criminal offense or a traffic infraction shall contain the last two digits of the person's social security number. The clerk of each circuit court must also comply with this requirement for such records that are made available via remote access.
• After subcommittee unanimously reported w/ amendments, the full committee passed it by
HB 1935
O. Ware
Counties, Cities & Towns
Allows localities to meet certain notice requirements by utilizing their web sites, radio or television rather than a newspaper of general circulation.
• After being referred by Science & Technology, the bill was passed by by Counties, Cities & Towns subcommittee with letter to FOIA Council
HB 2079
Landes
Counties, Cities & Towns (subcommittee #2)
Gives localities alternatives to publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality for legal ads and other notices of proposed action. These alternatives include publication in at least two of the following forms of publication: (i) in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality, including such newspaper's online publication, if any; (ii) on the locality's website; (iii) on any public access channel operated by the locality, to be aired during prime-time programming and at least two other times during the day; (iv) using any automated voice or text alert systems used by the locality; or (v) posting at the local public library established pursuant to § 42.1-33, if any.
• Failed to report from subcommittee on 5-5 tie.
HB 2115
Armstrong
Agriculture, Chesapeake & Natural Resources, #1 subcommittee
Requires the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to oversee and evaluate the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (the Commission) on a continuing basis and to administer biennial operational and programmatic performance audits of the Commission. Includes an exemption from FOIA for certain records.
• Killed in subcommittee
HB 2189
Robinson
Science & Technology
Provides for the Virginia Information Technologies Agency to assist public bodies of the Commonwealth to determine the rules and standards applicable to the acceptance and distribution of electronic records and electronic signatures.
• Stricken from Science & Technology docket
HB 2196
Comstock
Appropriations
Establishes a searchable database website that would allow persons to search and aggregate information including but not limited to (i) individual or specific appropriations or budget items, (ii) state agency spending and procurement data, (iii) financial disclosure statements, (iv) audit and state agency performance reports, and (v) contact information for public records access purposes. Under the bill, the searchable database website will be developed and maintained by the Department of Planning and Budget and is required to be operational by July 1, 2012. When fully operational, all data in the database would be maintained for a minimum of 10 years. The bill requires the Department to work with the Auditor of Public Accounts and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to avoid duplication of effort. The bill also establishes the Government Transparency Advisory Council to advise the Department on the practical usability of the website, considering all intended end users.
• Reported from General Laws, but left in Appropriations
HB 2199
Comstock
Courts of Justice (civil subcommittee #2)
Prohibits a body with the authority to issue a subpoena or other compulsory process from compelling a journalist to testify regarding or to produce or disclose in an official proceeding any confidential or nonconfidential information, document, or item obtained or prepared while the person was acting as a journalist or to produce or disclose in an official proceeding the source of any such material.
• Passed by with letter to study issue post-session
HB 2269
Keam
General Laws (FOIA subcommittee)
Provides that criminal records are exempt from the mandatory provisions of FOIA prior to judicial proceedings, but pertinent records or pertinent information from records that are otherwise unlawful to disclose shall be disclosed in any judicial proceeding where such records or information is requested in the interest of transparency of government, except where disclosure of any pertinent record or information is specifically prohibited by law. A denial without legal grounds of pertinent records or information disclosure or a failure upon appeal to remand a case back to the court where there had been a denial without legal grounds of pertinent records or information disclosure by any judge is grounds for judicial impeachment, enforceable retroactively, in the interest of forcing the executive and judicial departments to become and to remain separate and distinct in accordance with Article I, Section 5 and Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia.
• Tabled in FOIA subcommittee
HB 2383
Lewis
General Laws (FOIA subcommittee)
Allows any public body to petition an appropriate court for a summary determination whether a requester, in making a request for records, is intending to harass or otherwise abuse the rights or privileges granted by FOIA or whether such request is overly burdensome on the public body.
• killed in subcommittee
HB 2416
Stolle
Rules
Establishes the Accountability and Performance Review Commission to review agencies on an eight-year cycle and advise the General Assembly on the elimination of waste, duplication, and inefficiency on the part of such agencies.
• Tabled in Rules committee
HJ 577
O'Bannon
Senate Rules
Urges Congress to limit the Federal Communications Commission's authority over regulation of the Internet.
• Passed House (63-33), but left in Senate Rules
HJ 594
Carrico
Rules (#3 subcommittee)
Establishes a joint subcommittee to study the efficacy of the establishment of additional registries similar to the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry that would contain criminal justice information for use by the public in making informed decisions regarding their family members.
• Tabled by House Rules subcommittee
SB 812
Martin
General Laws
Says that the names of public employees cannot be released along with salary and reimbursements information.
• passed by in subcommittee with letter to FOIA Council
SB 826
Edwards
Courts of Justice (Criminal sub)
Provides that it is a Class 6 felony for a person to publish on the Internet a photograph or video made in violation of the current law prohibiting photographing, etc., a nonconsenting person in certain situations where there is an expectation of privacy.
• Reported from Courts of Justice and referred to Finance; tabled in Finance
SB 845
Petersen
House Courts of Justice
Provides that local officials who are members of public bodies with legislative powers are immune from civil liability or criminal prosecution for any speech or debate engaged in by the officials during the exercise of such powers, and that they shall not be compelled by law to be questioned on such speech or debate in any other place without leave of court. The public body still retains its authority to regulate the conduct of its members.
• Passed Senate (21-20), but tabled in House Courts of Justice subcommittee
SB 865
Blevins
Education and Health (health care sub)
Requires records of birth after 100 years have elapsed from the date of birth and records of death, marriage, or divorce certificates after 50 years have elapsed from the date of death, marriage, or divorce, to become public information.
• Passed by in subcommittee with letter
SB 867
Smith
Rules
Provides that no legislative action may be taken on (i) committee amendments to the budget, (ii) any conference committee report on the budget, or (iii) any Governor's recommendations on the budget until each has been posted on the General Assembly's website for at least 72 hours. The bill provides that each house may vote by two-thirds majority to override the posting requirement.
• reported from subcommittee (2-1), but passed by in full committee
SB 918
McDougle
Courts of Justice
(criminal subcommittee)
Allows the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center to receive and integrate criminal-related intelligence information, not just terrorist-related intelligence, to assist in preventing and deterring criminal activity generally.
• Left in Courts of Justice
SB 1084
Hanger
Courts of Justice
Prohibits the clerk of the court from disclosing identifying information contained on a concealed handgun permit application or on an order issuing a concealed handgun permit, if so requested by the applicant or permittee.
• Failed in full committee
SB 1239
Ticer
Commerce & Labor
Makes several amendments to the Personal Information Privacy Act. The bill would prohibit a person from requiring an individual to provide his social security number to access goods and services if he also is required to provide a credit card or debit card number. The bill reinserts language that states that restrictions on the use of social security numbers set forth in the Act do not apply to records open under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
• Withdrawn by patron
SB 1451
Deeds
House Appropriations
Provides that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services shall make certain information about behavioral health services providers licensed by the Department, including reports of reviews or inspections of services and facilities, available on its website and requires service providers to make such information available to the public on a website maintained by the provider and in any waiting room or public area of the provider.
• Passed Senate and was reported unanimously from HWI, but tabled in House Appropriations subcommittee
SB 1467
Edwards
General Laws
Amends the definition of "criminal investigative file" so that the exemption applies to records relating to active or ongoing investigations or prosecutions.
• Passed by in subcommittee with letter to FOIA Council
