An Act to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-3705.6, 2.2-3711, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 3.2-1100, 3.2-1104, 3.2-1105, 3.2-1106, 10.1-1458, and 15.2-2103.1 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal Chapter 12 (§§ 3.2-1200 through 3.2-1217) of Title 3.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Apple Board; repeal.
HB65 repeals Virginia’s statutory Apple Board framework and makes conforming changes across several sections of the Code of Virginia. The bill eliminates Chapter 12 of Title 3.2, which had established the Apple Board and related provisions governing apple industry oversight, and amends multiple statutes to remove references or update cross-references tied to that board. It also makes related technical amendments in areas including public records exemptions, agricultural regulation, and other code sections that had incorporated the Apple Board or apple-related provisions.
In addition to the repeal itself, the bill revises provisions in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and other chapters to ensure the code remains internally consistent after the Apple Board’s removal. The public-records changes appear to be largely conforming or housekeeping amendments rather than a broad policy shift, but they preserve existing exemptions for proprietary and confidential information in several contexts. Overall, the bill functions as a cleanup measure that removes an obsolete or no-longer-needed statutory entity and aligns related laws accordingly.
HB65 directly repeals Chapter 12 of Title 3.2, removing the Apple Board from Virginia law and deleting the statutory provisions that governed it. It also amends related sections of the Code of Virginia—spanning public records, agriculture, environmental, and local government provisions—to conform cross-references and eliminate references to the repealed board. The practical effect is to end any legal authority, duties, or administrative structure associated with the Apple Board and to update affected statutes and agencies to reflect that repeal.
The available record suggests little overt controversy around HB65. The bill was approved and enacted as Chapter 23, which indicates it moved successfully through the legislative process. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided materials, the sentiment can only be inferred from the outcome: the measure appears to have been treated as a routine cleanup or modernization bill rather than a contentious policy change.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. The main substantive issue is the repeal of the Apple Board itself, which could matter to apple growers, agricultural stakeholders, or any parties that previously interacted with the board’s statutory framework. However, the absence of committee debate or recorded opposition suggests that any disagreement, if present, was limited or not captured in the available record. The conforming amendments to public-records and related statutes also appear technical and were likely not the focus of dispute.