# Virginia SB722: Motion picture theaters; definitions, establishes requirements for open captioning.

Virginia SB722, Motion picture theaters; definitions, establishes requirements for open captioning., is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Angelia Williams Graves (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0185)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB722-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia SB722
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Motion picture theaters; definitions, establishes requirements for open captioning.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-14
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0185)
- Sponsor: Angelia Williams Graves (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 10 (202 yes, 40 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 3

## Summary

Open captioning at motion picture theaters. Establishes requirements for open captioning for motion picture theaters. The bill requires all motion picture theater companies, excluding outdoor theaters such as drive-in theaters, that own, operate, control, or lease five or more locations in the Commonwealth and are open to the general public to provide open captioning on any film that has at least seven showings per operating week for a period greater than one operating week, provided that open captioning is available to the theater for such film as part of the digital cinema package. The bill specifies that (i) within the first two operating weeks following a film's release, a theater shall provide at least four open captioning viewings; (ii) at least one of such open captioning viewings shall start between (a) 5:59 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. on a Friday, (b) 10:59 a.m. and 11:01 p.m. on a Saturday or Sunday, or (c) 5:59 p.m. and 10:01 p.m. on a Monday through Thursday; and (iii) beginning in the third operating week following a film's release, a theater shall provide at least one open captioning viewing within 72 hours after receiving a request for such a viewing provided that no theater shall be obligated to provide open captioning viewing for any particular screening for which advance tickets have been sold prior to its receipt of such request.Under the bill, motion picture theater companies are required to provide contact information on their websites for receiving and fulfilling requests for open captioning screenings and advertise the date and time of open captioning screenings in the same manner used to advertise all other motion picture screenings and indicate which screenings shall include open captioning by utilizing the character symbol "OC" or such other language or symbols as may reasonably identify which screenings will include open captioning. The bill directs the Office of Civil Rights of the Attorney General of Virginia to establish a process for receiving consumer reports of suspected violations of the bill. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Disability Commission. This bill is identical to HB 602.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Closed captions at every showing: benefit, medium. The law requires theaters to offer working closed-caption devices at every screening when a movie is distributed with closed captions. This covers any film with captions provided under federal ADA rules. It helps people who are deaf or hard of hearing follow dialogue and sounds.
- Report and fix captioning violations: benefit, medium. You can report suspected captioning violations to the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Law. The Office can ask theaters for showtime records. If it finds a violation, the theater must add one extra open-caption show in the next operating week after the notice.
- Theaters must offer open-caption showings: mixed, medium. The law requires open-caption showings for films that include open captions in their digital package and play at least seven times a week for more than one week. Large chains (five or more Virginia locations) must schedule at least four open-caption shows in the first two operating weeks after rele…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Angelia Williams Graves (Democratic), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-24 | House | Passed House | pass | 81 | 17 |   |
| 2026-02-19 | House | Reported from Health and Human Services | pass | 19 | 2 |   |
| 2026-02-06 | Senate | Read third time and passed Senate | pass | 27 | 13 |   |
| 2026-02-05 | Senate | Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute agreed to | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-05 | Senate | Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-04 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-04 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | Senate | Reported from Finance and Appropriations | pass | 10 | 4 |   |
| 2026-01-30 | Senate | Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations | pass | 11 | 4 |   |
| 2026-01-22 | Senate | Rereferred from Education and Health to Rehabilitation and Social Services | pass | 14 | 0 |   |

## Actions (31)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0185) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 185 (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 (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB722) (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB722ER) (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Enrolled (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-02-24: Passed House (81-Y 17-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-24: Read third time (House)
- 2026-02-23: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-19: Reported from Health and Human Services (19-Y 2-N) (House)
- 2026-02-12: Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services (House)
- 2026-02-12: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-12: Placed on Calendar (House)
- 2026-02-06: Read third time and passed Senate (27-Y 13-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-06: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB722) (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute agreed to (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Read second time (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 4-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-30: Committee substitute printed 26106714D-S1 (Senate)
- 2026-01-30: Senate committee offered (Senate)
- 2026-01-30: Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (11-Y 4-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-22: Rereferred from Education and Health to Rehabilitation and Social Services (14-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-14: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-01-14: Presented and ordered printed 26104982D (Senate)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216766.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216765.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-02-26: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1179220.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1179219.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-01-30: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104904.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103934.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104903.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103933.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-14: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1092155.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1092154.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/1216766.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216765.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1179220.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1179219.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104904.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103934.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104903.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103933.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1092155.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1092154.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)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB722-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).