---
type: "Bill"
title: "Distilled spirits; initiate a referendum election for the authorization of the issuance of licenses; provide additional method"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 3 of Chapter 4 of Title 3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to local authorization and regulations for manufacture, distribution, and package sales of distilled spirits, so as to provide an additional method of initiating a referendum election for the authorization of the issuance of licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits; to change certain provisions relating to the procedures for calling and conducting certain referendum elections and the nullifications thereof; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2021_22"
identifier: "HB 273"
citation: "Georgia HB 273 (2021_22)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J Collins", "Kasey Carpenter", "Mandi Ballinger", "Matt Dollar"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 19
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-02-03"
last_action: "2021-05-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1d654565-3797-4aa7-bd67-dbc1d65d7df8"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "553e795d109f9dbfdf879063c4395d5649be4ab8192ccc98ccac3dde18c3a25e"
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-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 273 (2021_22) — Distilled spirits; initiate a referendum election for the authorization of the issuance of licenses; provide additional method

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 3 of Chapter 4 of Title 3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to local authorization and regulations for manufacture, distribution, and package sales of distilled spirits, so as to provide an additional method of initiating a referendum election for the authorization of the issuance of licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits; to change certain provisions relating to the procedures for calling and conducting certain referendum elections and the nullifications thereof; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

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

1. **HB 273/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/202451.pdf)
2. **LC 36 4507/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/196679.pdf)
3. **Sen ctee sub LC 36 4749S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/200351.pdf)
4. **Sen ctee sub LC 36 4853S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/201706.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **142–24** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- J Collins — primary (person)
- Kasey Carpenter — primary (person)
- Mandi Ballinger — primary (person)
- Matt Dollar — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-03** House Hopper
- **2021-02-04** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2021-02-08** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2021-02-17** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-22** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2021-02-22** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2021-02-23** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-15** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-16** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2021-03-29** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-29** Senate Tabled
- **2021-03-29** Senate Taken from Table
- **2021-03-29** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2021-03-29** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2021-03-31** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2021-04-07** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-05-05** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-05** Act 226 `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-05** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1d654565-3797-4aa7-bd67-dbc1d65d7df8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).