State Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, has reintroduced a bill to limit how much state and local governments in Virginia can charge for public records and clarify court procedures related to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Senate Bill 56, set for consideration in the 2026 General Assembly session beginning next week, would cap labor charges for FOIA requests at either the employee’s actual hourly rate or the median hourly rate across the agency — whichever is lower. A narrow exception would allow agencies to petition a court to exceed the cap if no qualifying employee is available.
Roem, a former journalist, has led multiple FOIA reform efforts since taking office in 2018. The current proposal is nearly identical to a 2025 version that received bipartisan support and advanced to the House floor before being sent back to committee late in session, effectively ending its progress.
“The entire point of it is to reduce FOIA fees,” Roem said in an interview with the Virginia Mercury. She said fees should reflect the actual cost of processing requests, not deter public access.
Supporters argue the bill would prevent agencies from assigning high-paid employees to standard requests, a practice critics say has raised costs unnecessarily. Virginia law currently allows agencies broad discretion in choosing who processes requests.
Roem cited a case in her district where a parent was charged more than $8,000 to access a 92-second school bus security video involving her daughter. Although the cost was later lowered, the parent still paid hundreds and required financial help to cover the rest.
SB 56 also proposes updates to the required FOIA notice public bodies post on their websites, explaining how fees are calculated and when agencies may seek court permission to exceed limits.
The bill would revise how agencies request extra time to respond to complex FOIA requests, permitting filings in either general district or circuit court. Courts would be required to prioritize these petitions, and the response clock would pause while a petition is pending.
Additional technical changes would reorganize FOIA fee provisions into a separate section of law for clarity. Roem said the bill aims to reduce the use of cost as a barrier and create more consistent practices statewide.
“Public documents are public,” Roem said. “Your tax dollars have already paid for these documents in the first place. Therefore, you should have the lowest barrier possible to accessing them.”
Though Roem emphasized the law’s importance for all citizens, not just journalists, she noted FOIA reform rarely becomes a central campaign issue, which can reduce political urgency.
Alan Gernhardt, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act Advisory Council, said his staff studied a previous version of the bill but did not take a position, and the council did not formally vote due to a lack of quorum.
The FOIA system in Virginia has drawn criticism for inconsistency among its 133 localities. Roem said York County’s approach had informed parts of the bill.
Other states, including Colorado and Indiana, cap or standardize FOIA labor fees. Some, like Nevada, restrict fees to duplication costs unless requests are classified as extraordinary. At the federal level, law allows for fee waivers in cases where disclosure significantly benefits public understanding.
Roem said she plans to make the case for the bill again to lawmakers, noting many House members are new. Whether incoming Gov. Abigail Spanberger will support the bill remains unclear. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
“I have repeatedly compared the Freedom of Information Act in Virginia to a giant slice of Swiss cheese,” Roem said. “Every single year it gets more and more holes poked in it, and less and less cheese around it.”
