# Virginia HB706: Gunston Hall; meetings of the Board of Regents.

Virginia HB706, Gunston Hall; meetings of the Board of Regents., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Rozia A. Henson, Jr. (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0206)) (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB706-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB706
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Gunston Hall; meetings of the Board of Regents.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0206)
- Sponsor: Rozia A. Henson, Jr. (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 7 (220 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Museums and other cultural institutions; Gunston Hall; meetings of the Board of Regents. Requires the Gunston Hall Board of Regents to meet in person at least once annually. The bill clarifies that any additional meeting of the Board held within the same calendar year may be in person or held as an all-virtual public meeting, notwithstanding a certain provision of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the contrary. The bill requires all such meetings to otherwise comply with FOIA.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Gunston Hall board meetings: in-person and virtual: benefit, low. The law sets meeting rules for the Gunston Hall Board of Regents. The Board must meet in person at least once each calendar year. Other meetings in that same year can be in person or an all-virtual public meeting. All meetings must follow the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, with public notice…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Rozia A. Henson, Jr. (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 37 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | 15 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-10 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 98 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-04 | House | Reported from Education with amendment(s) | pass | 21 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-02 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) | pass | 9 | 0 |   |

## Actions (31)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0206) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 206 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB706) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB706ER) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Assigned Education sub: Higher Education (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB706) (House)
- 2026-02-11: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Read third time and passed House Block Vote (98-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-09: Engrossed by House as amended (House)
- 2026-02-09: committee amendments agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-09: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-06: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-04: Reported from Education with amendment(s) (21-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-02: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-02-02: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (9-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-30: Assigned HED sub: Higher Education (House)
- 2026-01-19: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB706) (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Education (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102893D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216762.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216761.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194218.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194217.PDF)
- Engrossed, 2026-02-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127271.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127270.PDF)
- Amendment, 2026-02-04: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116367.HTML)
- Amendment, 2026-02-02: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1105639.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1105780.HTML)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085552.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085551.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216762.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216761.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194218.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194217.PDF)
- [Engrossed (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127271.HTML)
- [Engrossed (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127270.PDF)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116367.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1105639.HTML)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1105780.HTML)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085552.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085551.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB706-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).