HB 602 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 SB 722.

• Phil M. Hernandez Democratic · primary

1. Jan 13, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104564D · lower
2. Jan 13, 2026 Referred to Committee on General Laws · lower
3. Jan 29, 2026 Referred from General Laws and referred to Health and Human Services (Voice Vote) · lower
4. Jan 30, 2026 Assigned sub: Health · lower
5. Feb 6, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB602) · lower
6. Feb 10, 2026 House subcommittee offered · lower
7. Feb 10, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) · lower
8. Feb 12, 2026 Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute (19-Y 1-N 1-A) · lower
9. Feb 12, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26106291D-H1 · lower
10. Feb 15, 2026 Read first time · lower
11. Feb 16, 2026 Read second time · lower
12. Feb 16, 2026 committee substitute agreed to · lower
13. Feb 16, 2026 Engrossed by House - committee substitute · lower
14. Feb 17, 2026 Read third time and passed House (79-Y 17-N 0-A) · lower
15. Feb 18, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) · upper
16. Feb 18, 2026 Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations · upper
17. Feb 25, 2026 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 4-N) · upper
18. Feb 26, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
19. Feb 26, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
20. Feb 26, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
21. Feb 26, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB602) · lower
22. Feb 27, 2026 Read third time · upper
23. Feb 27, 2026 Passed by for the day · upper
24. Mar 2, 2026 Passed Senate (23-Y 17-N 0-A) · upper
25. Mar 6, 2026 Enrolled · lower
26. Mar 6, 2026 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB602ER) · lower
27. Mar 6, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
28. Mar 6, 2026 Signed by President · upper
29. Mar 6, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB602) · lower
30. Mar 10, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 · lower
31. Mar 10, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
32. Apr 6, 2026 Approved by Governor-Chapter 184 (effective 7/1/2026) · executive
33. Apr 6, 2026 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0184) · 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
• Health and Human Services Substitute · PDF
• Health and Human Services Substitute · HTML
• Health and Human Services Substitute · PDF
• Health and Human Services Substitute · HTML
• Health Subcommittee Substitute · PDF
• Health Subcommittee Substitute · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML