republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2019/hb-2174.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Motor vehicle dealers; manufacturers and factory branch transfers, etc."
description: "Provides that if a motor vehicle manufacturer or factory branch discontinues, sells, or transfers its right to manufacture a line-make of motor vehicles, and the acquiring manufacturer or factory branch does not honor an existing franchise agreement with motor vehicle dealers in Virginia, such discontinuation, sale, or transfer shall constitute a termination of the franchise and such motor vehicle dealers shall be entitled to compensation pursuant to Virginia law. The bill provides that a manufacturer or distributor's right to first refusal in the event of a proposed sale or transfer of a dealership does not apply if such sale or transfer is not to a dealer licensed anywhere in the United States as a dealer holding a franchise from any manufacturer or to a distributor licensed as a manufacturer or distributor in the Commonwealth unless the exercise of such right of first refusal by a manufacturer or distributor with a program promoting minority dealers would lead to a minority dealer having a majority ownership of a dealership. The bill exempts certain manufacturers and distributors from the limitations on the right of first refusal."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2174"
citation: "Virginia HB 2174 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jason S. Miyares"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 24
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-01-08"
last_action: "2019-03-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/64c78a7d-442b-417f-8014-83b1c0c94c51"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2174"
source_hash: "39791eb833914c2ab5bfd648abef02662ee3beb932edfdb59141cd3658947d87"
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 2174 (2019) — Motor vehicle dealers; manufacturers and factory branch transfers, etc.

Provides that if a motor vehicle manufacturer or factory branch discontinues, sells, or transfers its right to manufacture a line-make of motor vehicles, and the acquiring manufacturer or factory branch does not honor an existing franchise agreement with motor vehicle dealers in Virginia, such discontinuation, sale, or transfer shall constitute a termination of the franchise and such motor vehicle dealers shall be entitled to compensation pursuant to Virginia law. The bill provides that a manufacturer or distributor's right to first refusal in the event of a proposed sale or transfer of a dealership does not apply if such sale or transfer is not to a dealer licensed anywhere in the United States as a dealer holding a franchise from any manufacturer or to a distributor licensed as a manufacturer or distributor in the Commonwealth unless the exercise of such right of first refusal by a manufacturer or distributor with a program promoting minority dealers would lead to a minority dealer having a majority ownership of a dealership. The bill exempts certain manufacturers and distributors from the limitations on the right of first refusal.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0738)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0738)
2. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB2174)
3. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2174ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2174ER)
4. **House: Committee substitute printed 19105473D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2174H1)
5. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101456D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2174)
6. **Senate amendments engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+amd+HB2174ASE)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed House — **95–2** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Transportation with amendments — **11–2** (pass) · upper
- Senate amendments agreed to by House — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Transportation with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendments — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jason S. Miyares — primary (person)
- Christopher P. Stolle — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101456D `introduction`
- **2019-01-08** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-14** Assigned Transportation sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-02-01** Committee substitute agreed to 19105473D-H1
- **2019-02-01** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2174H1
- **2019-02-04** Read third time and passed House (95-Y 2-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-02-05** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-18** Reading of amendments waived
- **2019-02-18** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2019-02-18** Reading of amendments waived
- **2019-02-18** Amendments by Senator McPike agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2019-02-18** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2019-02-19** Placed on Calendar
- **2019-02-19** Senate amendments agreed to by House (98-Y 0-N)
- **2019-02-22** Enrolled
- **2019-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-22** Signed by President
- **2019-03-04** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 4, 2019
- **2019-03-04** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-21** Approved by Governor-Chapter 738 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/64c78a7d-442b-417f-8014-83b1c0c94c51`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).