“It’s the same bill, different year,” Virginia Mercury reported. “The entire point of it is to reduce FOIA fees, so that the fees that are being charged are actually being used simply to cover the actual costs associated with pursuing FOIA requests in the first place, instead of being used as a deterrent for the public to not pursue FOIA requests.”
“Public documents are public, your tax dollars have already paid for these documents in the first place,” Roem said. “Therefore, you should have the lowest barrier possible to accessing them.”
Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, has reintroduced Senate Bill 56 for the 2026 General Assembly session, reviving legislation aimed at limiting how much state and local agencies can charge for public records under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill would cap labor fees, clarify how agencies seek court relief for large or complex requests, and standardize response timelines. A similar version passed the Senate and advanced to the House floor in 2025 before dying on a procedural vote. Supporters say the measure would reduce the use of high FOIA fees as a barrier to public access and bring Virginia closer to practices used in other states.
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