FOIA Reform Bill Stalls in Virginia House, Keeping High Public Records Fees Intact

For Virginians seeking public records from universities, police departments, or government agencies, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ensures access — but that access often comes with a hefty price tag. When agencies set sky-high fees, the cost alone can prevent the public from obtaining critical information.

Enter Sen. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, who has spent years pushing for limits on FOIA processing fees. This year’s effort, Senate Bill 1029, aimed to cap hourly rates at either the median salary of a public body or the actual salary of the person handling the request. The proposal also allowed agencies to seek court approval if they believed higher fees were justified.

Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William. (Photo by Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)

Transparency advocates, including the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, backed the measure, and after sailing through the Senate with near-unanimous support, it looked poised to finally reach Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk.

But in a last-minute move, the bill hit a roadblock in the House of Delegates this week, just moments before final passage. Instead of an outright vote — which would have recorded who supported or opposed it — lawmakers sent it back to the General Laws Committee by an unrecorded voice vote, effectively killing it for the session.

With the 2025 legislative session wrapping up this weekend, committees have stopped meeting, and bill deadlines have passed.

Last year, Roem called the system “broken” after a constituent was charged $8,800 just to obtain a video showing how a school bus driver handled her autistic daughter.

The bill’s defeat is particularly frustrating for Megan Rhyne, the director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. The FOIA Advisory Council held multiple work sessions in 2024, bringing together lawmakers, police departments, localities and transparency advocates to address concerns on both sides.

While high fees are often seen as a deterrent to public record requests, Rhyne acknowledged that some local governments worry about “nuisance” requesters who flood agencies with excessive demands.

Still, she believes the legislation was a necessary step towards transparency. In an email to lawmakers earlier this week, she pointed out that best practices guidance had already been developed by the FOIA Council to help both requesters and public agencies to navigate the process fairly.

“I was trying to point out ‘You’re making it so that your constituents of limited means don’t have a right to know what their government’s doing,’” Rhyne said.

Despite the setback, Roem isn’t backing down — she’s already planning to bring the bill back next year.

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

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