SB 722 VA

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Became Law

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.

• Angelia Williams Graves Democratic · primary

1. Jan 14, 2026 Presented and ordered printed 26104982D · upper
2. Jan 14, 2026 Referred to Committee on Education and Health · upper
3. Jan 22, 2026 Rereferred from Education and Health to Rehabilitation and Social Services (14-Y 0-N) · upper
4. Jan 30, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
5. Jan 30, 2026 Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (11-Y 4-N) · upper
6. Jan 30, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26106714D-S1 · upper
7. Feb 3, 2026 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 4-N) · upper
8. Feb 4, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
9. Feb 4, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
10. Feb 4, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
11. Feb 5, 2026 Read second time · upper
12. Feb 5, 2026 Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute agreed to · upper
13. Feb 5, 2026 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute · upper
14. Feb 6, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB722) · upper
15. Feb 6, 2026 Read third time and passed Senate (27-Y 13-N 0-A) · upper
16. Feb 12, 2026 Placed on Calendar · lower
17. Feb 12, 2026 Read first time · lower
18. Feb 12, 2026 Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services · lower
19. Feb 19, 2026 Reported from Health and Human Services (19-Y 2-N) · lower
20. Feb 23, 2026 Read second time · lower
21. Feb 24, 2026 Read third time · lower
22. Feb 24, 2026 Passed House (81-Y 17-N 0-A) · lower
23. Feb 26, 2026 Enrolled · upper
24. Feb 26, 2026 Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB722ER) · upper
25. Feb 26, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB722) · upper
26. Feb 26, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
27. Feb 26, 2026 Signed by President · upper
28. Mar 10, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 · upper
29. Mar 10, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
30. Apr 6, 2026 Approved by Governor-Chapter 185 (effective 7/1/2026) · executive
31. Apr 6, 2026 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0185) · executive

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

• Chaptered · PDF
• Chaptered · HTML
• Enrolled · PDF
• Enrolled · HTML
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · PDF
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · HTML
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · PDF
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML