Of the 2,574 bills introduced in the 2022 General Assembly Session, 1,106 are dead following last Tuesday’s “Crossover” day deadline, when bills must have advanced to the other Chamber. The bills still in play are currently betting vetted by the non-originating body, and if approved, will advance to Governor Youngkin for his approval into law, amendments or veto.
There are three more weeks of Session to go with Sine Die ajdournment scheduled for Saturday, March 12, with next week’s focus being on the budget.  Both the House and Senate will release their competing versions of the state budget this Sunday, so working out a deal on that key document will become a priority.
As usual during Session, we are meeting weekly with the VBWA Board of Directors to review bills and receive advice on strategy to determine VBWA’s adopted positions.  Listed below are highlights of those of interest introduced to-date. Should you want more details, you can go directly to the bill summary, bill history and bill text by clicking the bill number below.

Virginia Wine Distribution Company Study

HB1336 (Robinson)

Latest: The bill passed the House without a negative vote and is awaiting action in the Senate.

Background: The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild attempted introduce legislation that would have allowed craft breweries to sell their beer through the Virginia Wine Distribution Company (VWDC). The VWDC is a program run by the Department of Agriculture that allows farm wineries access to the market without going through a traditional wine distributor. It has a Board consisting of wineries and wine distributors, limits on volume, and operates at a deficit — and therefore, requires an annual state appropriation. It’s operated by the Department of Agriculture because it’s a way to support wineries, which are agricultural businesses. While the VBWA has long committed to having a conversation about including beer in the VWDC, we did not support the proposed legislation or approach that the Guild was attempting to take.

What we did support was legislation that requires the Department of Agriculture to study both if and how beer should be included in the program, as well as other aspects of the craft beer market. As introduced, the VBWA supports the alternative bill and looks forward to working on the issue over the summer.

Cocktails-to-Go

HB426 (Bulova) & SB254 (Bell)

Latest: Both bills passed their respective chambers with broad support and are on a fast track to the Governor for his approval.

Background: As COVID raged and restaurants were shut down, then-Gov. Ralph Northam loosened restrictions on “alcohol-to-go” for spirits by Executive Order to offer retailers a lifeline. The 2021 General Assembly allowed for that policy to continue on a temporary basis when the Executive Order expired and agreed to study making the policy permanent. The VBWA was part of the workgroup that studied the issue over the past year. That workgroup proposed extending the current “cocktails-to-go” policy for two more years so we can fully evaluate what the unintended consequences the policy may have on public health.

Dram Shop

HB984 (Runion), SB230 (Hanger) & SB555 (Obenshain)

Latest: The House version was left in committee before the critical “crossover” deadline without a vote, so is dead for the year.

Background: Several “Dram Shop” bills have been introduced as a result of some recent high-profile underage DUI incidents. Dram Shop is a legal principle that exists in a majority of states across the nation that assigns civil liability to a retailer for actions taken by their patrons. That liability does not extend to the wholesale or manufacturing tier except in instances where they have retail privileges. The VBWA is closely tracking these bills; however, our Board decided to remain neutral as long as liability does not extend to the wholesaler. The legacy breweries are taking a similar position. Both Senate bills were defeated in Senate Courts last week on a bi-partisan vote.

New ABC Licensing Privileges

HB455 (Knight) & SB519 (Lucas)

Latest: Both bills are on a fast track to the Governor for his approval.

Background: Casinos are now legal in Virginia and preparing to open in the months ahead. As such, they’ve been working with the broader ABC community to develop a customized ABC license that makes sense for how they operate. Del. Barry Knight and Sen. Louise Lucas have led those efforts and put in bills establishing a casino ABC license, which the VBWA supports. The bills were reported from Committee and passed their respective chambers with broad support.

Marijuana

Latest: None of the House bills made it out of committee and the Senate rallied behind a bill that would allow cannabis pharmaceutical operators to sell to the general public starting this year until a more traditional retail structure could be set up to create a legal market. It’s not expected that the House will act on the Senate bill, but that could change as things still have to play out.

Background: There were over a dozen bills introduced impacting how the Commonwealth will move forward with cannabis sales. We are monitoring all the bills as they make their way through the process and will report anything that could impact beer distributors.

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