Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority

The Board discussed financial results for January and February 2026, including potential impacts of declining revenues and strategies for variable sales compensation. Marketing updates covered recent promotions, plans for expanding store hours, and ongoing discussions regarding third-party delivery services. The Board conducted appeal hearings for Beer Lovers Distributors and Roseshire, resulting in a remand and a modification of the original decisions, respectively. Additionally, the Board reviewed eleven ABC-related bills from the 2026 legislative session, covering topics such as tobacco enforcement, infrastructure costs, and minimum wage impacts.

The board discussed several operational and administrative items, including the rejection of a petition to extend happy hour operations, the approval of the internal audit plan, and the resolution of two appeal hearings. Legislative monitoring efforts regarding alcohol-related bills were reviewed. The board also received comprehensive financial performance updates for January and February 2026, which included detailed analysis of revenue, operating costs, and year-to-date net profits compared to the budget. Additionally, the board compared Virginia ABC's sales growth performance against other control states.

New Business included the consideration of a petition to extend Happy Hour hours from 9:00 p.m. to midnight, which followed public comment indicating mixed support. The Board ultimately voted to reject this petition, desiring more information from other entities and observing pending legislation. The Board unanimously approved the internal audit plan presented by the Director of Internal Audit, which covered the FY25 year-end report and FY26 short plan. The Board conducted two appeal hearings, voting 5-0 in both cases to uphold the Administrative Law Judge's decisions for Hill Top Restaurant and Express Food Mart. Discussions also occurred regarding monitoring of ABC-related bills during the 2026 Legislative Session, and public comment included input regarding the MBAR topic scheduled for April or May.

The agenda for the February 5, 2026 Board Meeting included several key items scheduled to commence at 9:00 AM. Discussions and potential actions covered Board Appeal Hearings regarding Hill Top Restaurant and Express Food Mart, comments from the Board, and public comments. The agenda also included a closed session for a Litigation Update (Hucks-Watkins), a New Business item for Board approval/action, and a New Business item for Board information concerning the 2026 Legislative Session. An Internal Audit Presentation by Garner was also scheduled. The meeting concluded with adjournment.

The meeting included Board Appeal Hearings, resulting in the dismissal of charges after deliberations in closed session. New Business covered the Virtual Board Meeting policy, which was adopted with revisions to review it annually. A financial update for November and December 2025 was presented, prompting requests for marketing strategy discussions and a breakdown of SKUs at the Carytown store. Public comments focused on extending happy hour as a marketing tool and adopting a price differential (penny rounding) proposal, which the Board unanimously approved. Updates were provided on the 2026 Legislative Session tracking 72 bills. The Board reviewed the Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) report for the year ended June 30, 2025, which identified six significant deficiencies requiring corrective action, discussed in closed session. The majority of the document detailed the Internal Audit Update & FY26 Audit Plan, covering results from FY25 audits of SPCC, Retail Stores (noting inventory accuracy at 97.3% and common findings in 'Morning Paperwork'), and Distillery Stores. The proposed FY26 Audit Plan was also presented, detailing ongoing and planned audits for Retail, Distillery Stores, Expense Review, Warehouse Receiving, IT, Investigations, and Special Projects.