Fifty beer distributor leaders representing 15 wholesalers statewide spent Thursday morning at the Virginia General Assembly to advocate for a series of bills that support the three tier system, grow craft breweries, create jobs, and protect public safety.

This is the last full week of session, so it’s pretty intense at the state Capitol. Budget negotiators have been appointed and have started the process of negotiating a state budget, and the Governor’s proposed tax cuts are a key sticking point. Most committees met for a final time last week, so this week is focused on working out conference reports for bills where there wasn’t agreement, budget negotiations, and electing judges.

It's been a busy week with both the House and Senate getting to work.  As expected, both parties highlighted issues of importance to their respective bases with the House GOP passing the Gov's $1 Billion tax cut, passing "election integrity" bills and killing all the Democrats gun control bills. In the Senate, the Democratic majority killed all GOP drafted bills restricting abortions, passed a constitutional amendment protecting gay marriage and put the Gov's tax cuts on life support. There were really no surprises by most political observers.  We can expect more of the same next week as it's the last full week before the legislature hits the critical "crossover" deadline on Feb. 7th.

The 2023 General Assembly Session has wrapped up the second week of its "short" 45-day session. Overall it was a very good week for bills that could impact the Three-Tier system - a key one was defeated and another, to allow for limited distribution by breweries, is moving accordingly. Listed below are highlights of those bills of interest to our industry. Should you want more details, you can go directly to the bill summary, history, and text by clicking the bill number.

The 2023 General Assembly Session gaveled in this week on Wednesday, January 11, for a "short" 46 day session...

As we reach the end of an eventful General Assembly session, I am proud of the work our Board and members have done to promote our industry’s interests at the Capitol. Your efforts and support helped us play a part in promoting some bills, making the case for more study for others, and playing a role in defeating legislation that would have harmed our members and run counter to the Three Tier System ...

We are pleased to report another successful session for Beer Distributors, which we could not have done without the active participation of so many of you. To everyone that showed up in Richmond, did a warehouse tour before session, contacted their legislators, answered questions from VBWA staff about how a bill could impact your business or otherwise supported our efforts, thank you!  You are the secret to our continued success.

Last week was another busy one for committee action as the House and Senate worked to complete their dockets before today (March 7), the final day to advance a bill for consideration by the full body. The focus after today will be on the budget bill and final floor actions on legislation. Below are highlights of some of the bills that the VBWA team is following. Bills that were listed on previous reports, but since defeated or amended to where they no longer impact beer distributors are not listed.

In the remaining two weeks of the General Assembly Session the focus is on the all-important budget bill, the master document that governs all state spending. The House and Senate released competing versions with major differences on tax cuts and spending. And as noted below regarding DOLI, the budget is important for reasons not all related to funding as the language included affects many policies and governing laws in the Commonwealth. The Senate and House budget conferees must create a compromise budget before the body can adjorn Sine Die.