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2021 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 1 (2021)

handle is hein.sag/sagva0146 and id is 1 raw text is: COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA Office of the Attorney General Mark R. Herring 202 North Ninth Street Attorney General Richmond, Virginia 23219 804-786-2071 Fax 804-786-1991 Virginia Relay Services January 10, 2021 800-828-1120 7-1-1 The Honorable Richard L. Saslaw Member, Senate of Virginia Post Office Box 1856 Springfield, Virginia 22151-0856 Dear Senator Saslaw: I am responding to your request for an official advisory opinion pursuant to § 2.2-505 of the Code of Virginia. Issue Presented You ask whether Item 4-0.01 in House Bill 5005 (the current Appropriations Act) permits the Senate of Virginia to meet during an emergency with some members physically present and other members participating electronically. In an opinion issued to Speaker of the House of Delegates Eileen Filler-Corn in May of last year, this Office concluded that under Items 4-0.01 of the Appropriations Acts in place at the time,' the General Assembly was permitted to meet electronically during an emergency, provided the conditions in those Items were met. Your question differs from Speaker Filler-Corn's inquiry in that you ask whether the Senate of Virginia may meet during an emergency with some members physically present and others participating electronically under Item 4-0.01 of the current Appropriations Act (House Bill 5005). Statutory Background Item 4-0.01 in House Bill 5005 (the current Appropriation Act) reads, in relevant part: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any public body, including any state, local, regional, or regulatory body, or a governing board as defined in § 54.1-2345 of the Code of Virginia, or any joint meeting of such entities, may meet by electronic communication means without a quorum of the public body or any member of the governing board physically assembled at one location when the Governor has declared a state of emergency in accordance with § 44-146.17, provided that (i) the nature of the declared 'That is, House Bills 29 and 30 of 2020 Regular Session of the General Assembly. 2 2020 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. No. 20-024, available at https://www.oag.state.va.us/citizen-resources/opinions/ official-opinions/30-resource/opinions/1632-2020-official-opinions#may (issued May 6, 2020).

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