Virginia Lawmakers Pass Competing Bills to Allow Adult-Use Cannabis Sales
- The Virginia House and Senate have each passed competing bills to legalize adult-use cannabis sales, with the House approving HB 642 by a 65-32 vote and the Senate passing SB 542 by a narrow 21-19 vote.
- Both bills propose licensing various cannabis-related businesses through a lottery system, with regulation managed by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
- The key differences between the bills include tax rates—SB 542 proposes a 12.875% state tax plus up to 3% local taxes, while HB 642 suggests a 6% state tax plus 1% to 3.5% local taxes—and the Senate bill calls for merging cannabis and alcohol regulation agencies and has a later start date (January 1, 2027 vs. November 1, 2026).
- Legislative leaders will need to reconcile the two versions into one bill before it can be sent to Governor Abigail Spanberger, who has indicated she would sign legalization legislation.
The Virginia House and Senate have each passed competing versions of a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis sales in the commonwealth, Foaley Hoag reports.
House lawmakers passed HB 642 by a 65-32 vote on Tuesday morning, and the Senate narrowly passed SB 542 by a 21-19 vote several hours later.
The largely similar proposals would establish licenses for cannabis cultivators, retailers, manufacturers, microbusinesses, testing facilities, and transportation services. The licenses would be awarded by lottery and the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would be designated the industry’s prime regulator.
The proposals differ in their proposed tax rates — SB 542 seeks to set a 12.875% tax rate with up to 3% in local taxes, while HB 642 proposes a 6% cannabis tax plus a local tax of between 1% and 3.5%. Additionally, the proposal passed by the Senate calls for combining the state’s cannabis and alcohol agencies to form the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Cannabis Control Authority. The Senate version of the bill also sets a later start date, January 1, 2027, compared to the House’s proposed start date, November 1, 2026.
Next, leaders from each legislative body will need to meet and reconcile the bills into a unified proposal.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) said during last year’s election that as governor, she would sign a cannabis sales legalization bill if one were to reach her desk.
The bills were introduced together in January, about five years after former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed a very similar cannabis sales framework.