Disclosure is hardly effective in promoting transparency and accountability.

Government is most effective when officeholders have a clear understanding of the needs and desires of constituents. Unfortunately, not everyone has the time to hang out around legislators each day discussing how to best promote the general welfare. That’s where lobbyists come in. Put simply, lobbyists are those who work on behalf of stakeholders — whether they be civic organizations, constituents, or corporations — to advocate for specific policies. 


Lobbyists sometimes get a bad reputation. Special interests spending millions on lobbyists who push for policies that benefit only a few isn’t necessarily a good look. But it’s important to remember that technically anyone can employ a lobbyist to push for a policy on their behalf and many non-profits, civic organizations, and private citizens do. In fact, the First Amendment protection of the right to petition essentially enshrines lobbying as an American institution. 


Lobbying isn’t going away. Here in Virginia, over 1,000 clients hired 2,463 lobbyists between 2020 and 2021. But just because lobbying is here to stay doesn’t mean that it can’t be improved. While anyone being paid over $500 a year to lobby is required to register with the Secretary of the Commonwealth in Virginia, annual disclosure forms intended to shine a light on how much lobbyists earn and what they advocate for are hardly effective in promoting transparency and accountability. 


Take meal and entertainment disclosures, for example. It’s common for lobbyists to take legislators out for dinner for a chance to talk policy. Disclosure guidelines, which are provided by the Virginia Ethics Council, don’t require lobbyists to itemize meals or entertainment or name legislators unless more than $50 is spent. This may seem like a small amount, but Virginia law allows lobbyists to split costs several ways. So if two lobbyists take a legislator out to a dinner costing $75, the bill can be split three ways, with everyone paying $25. And just like that, a meal between lobbyists and legislators can occur without the legislator's name ever being disclosed.


This loophole is frequently employed. Lobbyists held over 100 dinners for legislators during the 2020 General Assembly session. But in disclosures, only 11 legislators were listed by name as having dined with lobbyists. This keeps Virginians in the dark as to who is influencing who in Richmond. 


Lobbying disclosure law in Virginia also obscures how much lobbyists are paid by the groups they represent. A lobbyist employed full time by a company is only required to disclose “the portion of [their] salary attributable to [their] lobbying activities.” This means that a lobbyist can spend weeks at the General Assembly, but only have to disclose the money made for time spent directly interfacing with lawmakers. 


A recent story in the news illustrates this loophole. Dominion Energy hired a former state senator to lobby legislators on their behalf in 2020. The former senator received $92,297 in payments from Dominion for his lobbying efforts, but was able to get away with reporting only $1,641 on disclosure forms.


Lobbying will continue to shape the future of the Commonwealth. But until stricter lobbying disclosure laws are in place, Virginians will be left in the dark as to who is paying who for influence.

[Virginia Public Media] Data: Virginia’s Early Childhood Education Providers Are Succeeding

By VOW Ops • January 21, 2026
The second year of results from Virginia’s recently established Quality Establishment and Improvement System (VQB5) for early childhood education found that 99% of childcare providers receiving state funding meet or exceed quality expectations. As of early December 2025, over 154,000 views have been recorded on the system’s website since its October 2024 debut, revealing the many parents and families who appreciate the information that VQB5 offers them. None of these wonderful results would even be available to admire without the support and success we had in passing HB 1012 and SB 578 back in 2020! The data focuses on classroom interactions between children and caregivers and notes how said interactions encourage kids to express themselves at a young age. The state has also enacted categories of excellence for providers who score in the top 10%, exceed quality expectations, or even show significant improvement from an evaluation the year before. On top of that, a new data system called VAConnects helps integrate information on students over the years to track their learning progress. The Department of Education wishes to sustain the program and has requested $735,000 to do so. Overall, Virginia is serving as a model for other states to use in establishing best practices for their early childhood programs. Read more here .

[Richmond Times Dispatch] Virginians want General Assembly Action on Housing, Survey Finds

By VOW Ops • January 21, 2026
An August survey reveals that large majorities of Virginians want state lawmakers to address the rising cost of housing. The survey was conducted by Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia and Freedom Virginia. More than 8 in 10 Virginians said the General Assembly needs to act. More than 3 in 4 Virginians want lawmakers to prevent landlords from raising rents each year by more than 7%. Many Virginians also supported the idea of the state incentivizing localities to build more housing and providing developers with an ability to appeal rejected housing projects. Many proposals that were made to address all these public concerns were struck down during the 2025 legislative session. One of the main reasons why all the mentioned proposals failed to pass the General Assembly is because of the large influence the local government lobbies have in Richmond in protecting what little authority they are granted by the state. However, 6 in 10 Virginians indicated that they are more concerned with providing more housing than protecting local government authority. Read more here.

[Richmond Times Dispatch] Spanberger Details Affordability Measures in Health Care, Energy, Housing

By VOW Ops • December 19, 2025
Governor-elect Spanberger has released details on how her administration will work with the General Assembly to address affordability issues for Virginians regarding health care, energy, and housing. Democrats in the General Assembly argue the proposals are needed to mitigate the effects of President Trump’s tariff policies and reduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. Some of the solutions being proposed are legislation from the previous session that were vetoed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. In health care, Spanberger and Virginia Democrats will tackle pharmacy benefit managers’ ability to compel patients toward using affiliated-only pharmacies. The incoming administration also wants to limit the number of times insurance companies can request approvals from patients receiving certain cancer cares and medicines for chronic conditions. Democrats are also reviving legislation that would prohibit insurance companies from charging tobacco smokers higher premiums. Further, Spanberger supports implementing a pilot program to help Virginians who will face unaffordable insurance premiums resulting from the expiration of the ACA enhanced tax credits. In energy, Spanberger called to make it easier for Virginians to utilize small-scale solar panels which don’t require hard labor to install. She also wants the previously vetoed legislation that would set energy storage standards for utility companies brought back to her desk (Governor Youngkin vetoed it because of his belief that the Virginia Clean Economy Act associated with it was ineffective). In housing, Spanberger and Democrats are reviving legislation from 2025 that would extend the grace period tenants have before being evicted for missing rent payments. They are also proposing changes that would give local governments priority in acquiring affordable multi-family units supported by tax credits when the owner wants to sell or convert them. Further, Democrats are reintroducing a bill which would allow all localities to change their zoning ordinances to create dense and affordable housing (currently, only the counties of Albemarle and Loudoun and the cities of Alexandria, Charlottesville, and Fairfax are granted such provisions). Read more here.
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