republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/hb-2359.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority; changes effective date for creation of Authority."
description: "Changes the effective date for the creation of the ABC Authority from July 1, 2018, to January 15, 2018. The bill creates a transition period from January 15, 2018, until December 31, 2018, during which time the current Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will coexist with the ABC Authority to facilitate an orderly and efficient transition and to ensure the continuation of operations during the transition. The bill provides that during the transition period the current ABC Board will be the Board of Directors of the ABC Authority. The bill grants to the ABC Authority the authority to implement and maintain independent payroll and nonpayroll disbursement systems, which are subject to review and approval by the State Comptroller and which include travel reimbursements, revenue refunds, disbursements for vendor payments, petty cash, and interagency payments. The bill also (i) streamlines the suspension and revocation process to encourage settlement of cases before reaching the appeal level to the Board of Directors, (ii) exempts the ABC Authority from mandatory procurement provisions, and (iii) authorizes the Board of Directors to delegate or assign to any officer or employee of the ABC Authority any duties or tasks required to be performed by the ABC Authority but provides that the Board of Directors remains responsible for the performance of any such duties or tasks. The bill contains numerous technical amendments."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 2359"
citation: "Virginia HB 2359 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Alcoholic Beverage Control Act", "Authorities", "Study Commissions", "Committees and Reports"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David B. Albo"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2017-01-16"
last_action: "2017-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a30709a6-8162-4348-b197-efbfcff2cfec"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB2359"
source_hash: "2c8988da2bf3a9f2d96d0bd76ff6e008d9e867754c8e1c87cf411c10c89919d3"
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 2359 (2017) — Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority; changes effective date for creation of Authority.

Changes the effective date for the creation of the ABC Authority from July 1, 2018, to January 15, 2018. The bill creates a transition period from January 15, 2018, until December 31, 2018, during which time the current Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will coexist with the ABC Authority to facilitate an orderly and efficient transition and to ensure the continuation of operations during the transition. The bill provides that during the transition period the current ABC Board will be the Board of Directors of the ABC Authority. The bill grants to the ABC Authority the authority to implement and maintain independent payroll and nonpayroll disbursement systems, which are subject to review and approval by the State Comptroller and which include travel reimbursements, revenue refunds, disbursements for vendor payments, petty cash, and interagency payments. The bill also (i) streamlines the suspension and revocation process to encourage settlement of cases before reaching the appeal level to the Board of Directors, (ii) exempts the ABC Authority from mandatory procurement provisions, and (iii) authorizes the Board of Directors to delegate or assign to any officer or employee of the ABC Authority any duties or tasks required to be performed by the ABC Authority but provides that the Board of Directors remains responsible for the performance of any such duties or tasks. The bill contains numerous technical amendments.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0698)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0698)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2359ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2359ER)
3. **House: Committee substitute printed 17104807D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2359H1)
4. **House: Presented and ordered printed 17103828D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2359)
5. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17105360D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2359S1)

## Votes

- Passed Senate with substitute — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **6–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **97–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Finance — **16–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from General Laws with substitute — **20–0** (pass) · legislature
- Senate substitute agreed to by House 17105360D-S1 — **97–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- David B. Albo — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-16** Presented and ordered printed 17103828D `introduction`
- **2017-01-16** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-23** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-04** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 17104807D-H1
- **2017-02-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2359H1
- **2017-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-02-08** Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-10** Rereferred to Finance `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-17** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-02-17** Committee substitute agreed to 17105360D-S1
- **2017-02-17** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB2359S1
- **2017-02-21** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-21** Senate substitute agreed to by House 17105360D-S1 (97-Y 0-N)
- **2017-02-24** Enrolled
- **2017-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-24** Signed by President
- **2017-02-28** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/28/17
- **2017-02-28** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 698 (effective - see bill) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a30709a6-8162-4348-b197-efbfcff2cfec`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).