HB 707 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

State government; transaction of public business, prohibited website domains.

Summary
State government; transaction of public business; prohibited website domains. Prohibits a public body, defined in the bill, from maintaining an official website for public use with a domain other than a .gov, .edu, or .museum domain. The bill provides that any email address that a public body provides to its employees shall utilize a .gov domain and directs the Virginia Information Technologies Agency to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2029.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 25, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

General Laws Substitute Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process Subcommittee Substitute · 1 edit
MINOR
This bill version primarily shows formatting and layout changes rather than substantive policy modifications. The core provisions regarding prohibited website domains for Virginia public bodies remain unchanged, including the definition of 'public body,' the requirement for .gov domains, and the effective date of July 1, 2029. The document structure was reorganized with different header formatting and line spacing.
TECHNICAL

Document formatting and layout were reorganized with different header styles, line spacing, and page number placement, but no substantive policy content was altered.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

4738
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 87
Feb 17, 2026
D Democratic52
47 Yea 4 Nay 1
90% Yea
R Republican35
34 Nay 1
97% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
5
Committee
8
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (54-Y 43-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Appropriations (15-Y 7-N)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (4-Y 1-N)
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from General Laws with substitute and referred to Appropriations (11-Y 10-N)
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 26, 2026
Committee
Assigned HGL sub: Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Cliff Hayes
Cliff Hayes
DDemocratic
VA
91