Virginia House Bill 787 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: Introduced on January 7 2014 - 25% progression, died in chamber
Action: 2014-02-06 - Tabled in Commerce and Labor by voice vote
Text: Latest bill text (Prefiled) [HTML]

Freedom of Information Act; application to the State Corporation Commission; exemptions; proceedings for enforcement. Provides that the State Corporation Commission (Commission) is a public body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but exempts records of the Commission to the extent such records relate to activities of the Commission other than administrative activities. The bill provides, however, that disclosure of records related to the Commission's administrative activities shall not be required if (i) such records are otherwise covered by applicable legal privileges; (ii) disclosure of such records could threaten the safety or security of the Commission's employees, physical plant, or information technology assets or data; or (iii) such records are not publicly available from other public bodies under the laws of the Commonwealth. The bill also provides that records held by the clerk of the Commission related to business entities shall be held confidential in accordance with laws and regulations applicable specifically to such records. The bill defines "administrative activities" as matters related to the Commission's operational responsibilities and operational functions, including its revenues, expenditures, financial management and budgetary practices, personnel policies and practices, and procurement policies and practices. "Administrative activities" does not include the Commission's formal or informal regulatory or legal proceedings or activities, records related to which shall be governed, inter alia, by laws and regulations applicable specifically to such regulatory and legal proceedings or activities or in accordance with applicable legal privileges. The bill also grants the Commission certain exemptions from the open meeting provisions of FOIA. Finally, the bill designates the venue for FOIA petitions against the Commission. The bill reverses a case holding that FOIA is not applicable to the Commission (Christian v. State Corporation Commission, November 2011).

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; application to the State Corporation Commission, exemptions.

Del. Kaye Kory [D]

Del. James LeMunyon [R]

Sen. Scott Surovell [D]

Date	Chamber	Action
2014-02-06	House	Tabled in Commerce and Labor by voice vote
2014-01-07	House	Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
2014-01-07	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/14 14103279D

Chapter	Article	Section	Citation Type	Statute Text
2	2	3701	(n/a)	See Bill Text
2	2	3705.7	(n/a)	See Bill Text
2	2	3711	(n/a)	See Bill Text
2	2	3713	(n/a)	See Bill Text

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?141+sum+HB787
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?141+ful+HB787+hil