Retail franchise agreements; governing law, competition restrictions.
Summary
Retail franchise agreements; governing law; competition restrictions. Provides that retail franchise agreements shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth and prohibits any person from offering or entering into a franchise agreement that includes competition restrictions that extend beyond termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, except as a term of sale in the event that a franchisee sells a franchise to a third party or back to the franchisor. This bill is identical to SB 240.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Dec 30, 2025
Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
1 edit
MINOR
The bill was approved and assigned to Chapter 553 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The primary substantive change is the addition of a specific approval date (April 13, 2026), while the core text regarding retail franchise agreements and governing law remains unchanged.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability to retail franchise agreements remain unchanged; only the legislative metadata regarding the approval date was updated.
TECHNICAL
Added the specific approval date of April 13, 2026, to the header section of the enrolled bill.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 11, 2026 · House of Delegates Jan 28, 2026
How they voted
39–0
Passed
Total votes 39
Mar 11, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
34
Key actions
12
Committee
7
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 553 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB69ER)
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Jan 29, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
upper
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Labor and Commerce (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 15, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #1
lower
Dec 30, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce
lower
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Dan Helmer
DDemocratic
Co
J.J. Singh
DDemocratic
Co
Jason Ballard
RRepublican
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