republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2022/hb-837.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Food and drink law; permitting requirements."
description: "Food and drink law; permitting requirements. Requires any food manufacturer, food storage warehouse, and retail food establishment to obtain a permit from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services prior to operating. Any such entity issued a permit is exempt from any other license, permit, or inspection required for the sale, preparation, or handling of food. The bill requires the Commissioner to notify such entities of the reason for denial of a permit and requires that any denial, suspension, or revocation of a permit be carried out in accordance with the Administrative Process Act. The provisions of the bill do not become effective until January 1, 2023, for those localities that currently have a local food inspection or permitting ordinance in place."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "HB 837"
citation: "Virginia HB 837 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Tony O. Wilt"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 46
vote_count: 11
first_action: "2022-01-12"
last_action: "2022-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/95f5a2c4-9fdb-4817-9a82-e5ec33054a7f"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+HB837"
source_hash: "28c0cd8b81f23d58f1306907d2b8044fac612fd666702b28d64f01543b53ce0e"
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 837 (2022) — Food and drink law; permitting requirements.

Food and drink law; permitting requirements. Requires any food manufacturer, food storage warehouse, and retail food establishment to obtain a permit from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services prior to operating. Any such entity issued a permit is exempt from any other license, permit, or inspection required for the sale, preparation, or handling of food. The bill requires the Commissioner to notify such entities of the reason for denial of a permit and requires that any denial, suspension, or revocation of a permit be carried out in accordance with the Administrative Process Act. The provisions of the bill do not become effective until January 1, 2023, for those localities that currently have a local food inspection or permitting ordinance in place.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0204** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+CHAP0204)
2. **HB837ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB837ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22104157D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB837)
4. **Printed as engrossed 22104157D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB837E)

## Votes

- Senate insisted on amendment (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Rejected (0-Y 97-N) — **0–96** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with amendment (14-Y 1-N) — **14–1** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 46-N) — **51–46** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (10-Y 0-N) — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (30-Y 10-N) — **30–10** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with amendment (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage #2 (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Tony O. Wilt — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22104157D `introduction`
- **2022-01-12** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-24** Impact statement from DPB (HB837)
- **2022-01-24** Assigned ACNR sub: Agriculture `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-26** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2022-01-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (10-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-02** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-04** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2022-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-02-07** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2022-02-07** Engrossed by House as amended HB837E
- **2022-02-07** Printed as engrossed 22104157D-E
- **2022-02-08** Impact statement from DPB (HB837E)
- **2022-02-08** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-02-08** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-08** Reconsideration of passage agreed to by House
- **2022-02-08** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2022-02-08** VOTE: Block Vote Passage #2 (99-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-09** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2022-02-09** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-01** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with amendment (14-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-03-03** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-04** Passed by for the day
- **2022-03-07** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2022-03-07** Reading of amendment waived
- **2022-03-07** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2022-03-07** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2022-03-07** Passed Senate with amendment (38-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2022-03-08** Senate amendment rejected by House (0-Y 97-N)
- **2022-03-08** VOTE: Rejected (0-Y 97-N)
- **2022-03-09** Senate insisted on amendment (39-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-09** Senate requested conference committee
- **2022-03-10** House acceded to request
- **2022-03-10** Conferees appointed by House
- **2022-03-10** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2022-03-11** Amended by conference committee
- **2022-03-12** Conference report agreed to by House (52-Y 46-N)
- **2022-03-12** VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 46-N)
- **2022-03-12** Conference report agreed to by Senate (30-Y 10-N)
- **2022-03-21** Enrolled
- **2022-03-21** Signed by President
- **2022-03-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2022-03-22** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 22, 2022
- **2022-03-22** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2022
- **2022-03-24** Impact statement from DPB (HB837ER)
- **2022-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 204 (effective 7/1/22 - 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/95f5a2c4-9fdb-4817-9a82-e5ec33054a7f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).