# Virginia HB840: Restaurants; exempts certain facilities or programs.

Virginia HB840, Restaurants; exempts certain facilities or programs., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Shelly A. Simonds (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0231)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB840-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB840
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Restaurants; exempts certain facilities or programs.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0231)
- Sponsor: Shelly A. Simonds (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 8 (217 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

Restaurants; certain facilities or programs; exemptions. Exempts certain facilities that provide custodial care to 12 or fewer adults or children in a home from regulations applicable to restaurants. This bill is identical to SB 677.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Small care homes exempt from restaurant rules: benefit, low. Virginia exempts listed care programs from restaurant laws when they provide care to 12 or fewer adults or children in a home. Eligible programs include family day homes, adult day centers, assisted living facilities, children's residential facilities, and child-caring institutions. Group homes, re…
- Youth concession stands face restaurant rules: mixed, low. The law removes the restaurant-law exemption for concession stands at youth athletic activities sponsored or promoted by youth athletic associations. It also removes the exemption for stands sponsored or promoted by qualifying charities. Those charities must be recognized by local ordinance or reso…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Shelly A. Simonds (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 37 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | 15 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-17 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 97 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-12 | House | Reported from Health and Human Services | pass | 21 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-12 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 7 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-28 | House | Referred from Courts of Justice and referred to Health and Human Services (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |

## Actions (27)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0231) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 231 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-06: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB840) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB840ER) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-17: Read third time and passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-16: Read second time and engrossed (House)
- 2026-02-15: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-12: Reported from Health and Human Services (21-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-12: Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-30: Assigned sub: Behavioral Health (House)
- 2026-01-28: Referred from Courts of Justice and referred to Health and Human Services (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-01-20: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB840) (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101823D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216886.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216885.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194280.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194279.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086120.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086119.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216886.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216885.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194280.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194279.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086120.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086119.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB840-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).