---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tobacco Board; composition, increases excise tax on bright flue-cured & type 21 dark-fired tobaccos."
description: "Alters the member nomination process, tax rate, and other functions of the Tobacco Board (the Board). The bill removes the 90-day deadline for submission of industry nominees for a seat on the Board, as well as the requirement that there be two or more nominations for each seat. The bill removes from the Board the power to appoint a secretary and other employees. Finally, the bill raises the excise tax on tobacco from 20 cents to 40 cents per 100 pounds of tobacco harvested and renames it an assessment; authorizes the Board, at its discretion, to waive interest on the assessment when it is paid late or is left unpaid; and provides criteria for such waiver. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 2254"
citation: "Virginia HB 2254 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Agriculture", "Animal Care and Food", "Commissions", "Boards and Institutions Generally", "Taxation", "Tobacco and Tobacco Products"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James E. Edmunds, II"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 17
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-01-11"
last_action: "2017-02-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8decffbd-e509-47e9-abd7-519907357385"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB2254"
source_hash: "1a07a8d03712ff739a65327ab98db39882d7faab66685b979455f258cecbcaab"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 2254 (2017) — Tobacco Board; composition, increases excise tax on bright flue-cured & type 21 dark-fired tobaccos.

Alters the member nomination process, tax rate, and other functions of the Tobacco Board (the Board). The bill removes the 90-day deadline for submission of industry nominees for a seat on the Board, as well as the requirement that there be two or more nominations for each seat. The bill removes from the Board the power to appoint a secretary and other employees. Finally, the bill raises the excise tax on tobacco from 20 cents to 40 cents per 100 pounds of tobacco harvested and renames it an assessment; authorizes the Board, at its discretion, to waive interest on the assessment when it is paid late or is left unpaid; and provides criteria for such waiver. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0008)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0008)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2254ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2254ER)
3. **House: Committee substitute printed 17104064D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2254H1)
4. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101881D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2254)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **6–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **33–7** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources — **12–1** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- James E. Edmunds, II — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101881D `introduction`
- **2017-01-11** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-16** Assigned ACNR sub: Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-26** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-01-27** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-01-27** Committee substitute agreed to 17104064D-H1
- **2017-01-27** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2254H1
- **2017-01-30** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-01-31** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-07** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-08** Enrolled
- **2017-02-08** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-08** Signed by President
- **2017-02-09** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/9/17
- **2017-02-09** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 16, 2017
- **2017-02-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 8 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8decffbd-e509-47e9-abd7-519907357385`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).