republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2019/hb-2634.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Alcoholic beverage control; local referendums."
description: "Allows the sale of mixed beverages by licensed restaurants and the sale of alcoholic beverages by the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority in any county, town, or supervisor's election district unless a referendum is held and a majority of the voters voting in such referendum vote to prohibit such sales. Under current law, such sales are prohibited unless they have been approved through the referendum process. The bill includes a grandfathering provision that allows the granting of a mixed beverage license to any establishment described in § 4.1-126, as it was in effect prior to the effective date of this bill, notwithstanding the provisions of the bill related to local referendums but subject to other applicable laws and regulations. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020, but allows localities to hold anticipatory referendums between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, and provides that the results of such referendums shall become valid and enforceable on July 1, 2020. The bill provides that the result of any referendum held prior to July 1, 2019, shall remain valid and enforceable for a period of five years. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2634"
citation: "Virginia HB 2634 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Alcoholic Beverage Control Act", "Authorities", "Counties", "Cities and Towns", "Elections", "Hotels", "Restaurants", "Summer Camps", "and Campgrounds"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chris L. Hurst"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 17
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-01-10"
last_action: "2019-02-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/46bd374c-3ed9-45fe-a27f-bce8b8346f7b"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2634"
source_hash: "01975a332dbbd50ff9cdf9c7f53fb676e2eea7ae465446f9cc8f9cdcc0cbf2f4"
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 2634 (2019) — Alcoholic beverage control; local referendums.

Allows the sale of mixed beverages by licensed restaurants and the sale of alcoholic beverages by the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority in any county, town, or supervisor's election district unless a referendum is held and a majority of the voters voting in such referendum vote to prohibit such sales. Under current law, such sales are prohibited unless they have been approved through the referendum process. The bill includes a grandfathering provision that allows the granting of a mixed beverage license to any establishment described in § 4.1-126, as it was in effect prior to the effective date of this bill, notwithstanding the provisions of the bill related to local referendums but subject to other applicable laws and regulations. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020, but allows localities to hold anticipatory referendums between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, and provides that the results of such referendums shall become valid and enforceable on July 1, 2020. The bill provides that the result of any referendum held prior to July 1, 2019, shall remain valid and enforceable for a period of five years. 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 (CHAP0178)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0178)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2634ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2634ER)
3. **House: Committee substitute printed 19105774D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2634H1)
4. **House: Presented and ordered printed 19104143D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2634)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate — **26–14** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws with substitute — **16–6** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed House — **67–30** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services — **12–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Chris L. Hurst — primary (person)
- James W. Morefield — cosponsor (person)
- Jason S. Miyares — cosponsor (person)
- Jerrauld C. "Jay" Jones — cosponsor (person)
- Lashrecse D. Aird — cosponsor (person)
- Terry G. Kilgore — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-10** Presented and ordered printed 19104143D `introduction`
- **2019-01-10** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-16** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-28** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-01-29** Committee substitute agreed to 19105774D-H1
- **2019-01-29** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2634H1
- **2019-01-30** Read third time and passed House (67-Y 30-N 1-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-01-31** Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-12** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-14** Enrolled
- **2019-02-14** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-14** Signed by President
- **2019-02-18** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 18, 2019
- **2019-02-18** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-02-27** Approved by Governor-Chapter 178 (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/46bd374c-3ed9-45fe-a27f-bce8b8346f7b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).