The Virginia newspapers must have known what was coming down the pike. Fed by the lobbying arm of the Virginia Press Association, the state's newspapers have been publishing editorials warning against a potential bill that would move public notices out of print. Today HB 222 was "prefiled"  which states "In addition to, or instead of, any requirements that a locality advertise legal notices in a newspaper having a general circulation in the locality, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, general or special, such notices may also be published on the locality's World Wide Web site or advertised on radio or television." 

Delegate Christopher Head appears to be the only sponsor of the bill. 

The bill has been assigned to the House Courts of Justice committee whose memebers include Delegates Albo (Chairman), Kilgore, Athey, Janis, Bell, Robert B., Cline, Iaquinto, Gilbert, Peace, Miller, Loupassi,Villanueva, Cleaveland, Habeeb, Johnson, Armstrong, Barlow, Watts, Toscano, Herring, McClellan, Hope

Just about a year ago, we reported that in Virginia, 4 bills which would have saved at least $10 million and which had bipartisan support all died in committee thanks to fierce lobbying by the newspapers.

The bill will go through revisions prior to actually getting to a vote or even getting out of committee. Hopefully one of the revisions will be to force the government to publish the notices on an independent web site.