---
type: "Bill"
title: "Retail franchise agreements; governing law, competition restrictions."
description: "Retail franchise agreements; governing law; competition restrictions. Provides that retail franchise agreements shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth and prohibits any person from offering or entering into a franchise agreement that includes competition restrictions that extend beyond termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, except as a term of sale in the event that a franchisee sells a franchise to a third party or back to the franchisor. This bill is identical to HB 69."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 240"
citation: "Virginia SB 240 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Christopher T. Head"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 34
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-12"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9cb88543-ed96-4108-8cd1-6075e651e553"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB240"
source_hash: "bc4d393840c9588b2003048a8473e13c0d92177da6996a8265d32ed920eab255"
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 SB 240 (2026) — Retail franchise agreements; governing law, competition restrictions.

Retail franchise agreements; governing law; competition restrictions. Provides that retail franchise agreements shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth and prohibits any person from offering or entering into a franchise agreement that includes competition restrictions that extend beyond termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, except as a term of sale in the event that a franchisee sells a franchise to a third party or back to the franchisor. This bill is identical to HB 69.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086948.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218737.PDF)
3. **Labor and Commerce Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191633.PDF)
4. **Subcommittee #2 Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1185585.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209916.PDF)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Concur House Substitute R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Commerce and Labor — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Christopher T. Head — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100824D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-12** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-25** Fiscal Impact Statement from State Corporation Commission (SB240)
- **2026-02-02** Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-04** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-04** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-05** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-05** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-06** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-12** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-24** Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-26** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-02-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2026-03-03** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Committee substitute printed 26108684D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-03-05** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-06** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-06** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-03-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-03-06** Passed House with substitute (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-10** House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `substitution`
- **2026-03-12** Fiscal Impact Statement from State Corporation Commission (SB240)
- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB240ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Fiscal Impact Statement from State Corporation Commission (SB240)
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 554 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0554)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9cb88543-ed96-4108-8cd1-6075e651e553`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).