Lawmakers called back to Richmond

Having concluded the 2022 regular session without approving a budget, lawmakers were called back to Richmond by Gov. Glenn Youngkin earlier this month for the purpose of picking up where they left off in reaching a compromise on the biennium state budget. After meeting for just over an hour, the legislature went into recess, with lawmakers returning to their respective districts.


When the regular legislative session adjourned in March, the two budget proposals passed by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates and the Democratic-controlled state Senate contained about $3 billion in differences. Disagreements over tax cuts led to a stalemate in approving a final budget. Republicans have been trying to double the standard deduction on personal income taxes and eliminate the state and local grocery taxes. Democrats, on the other hand, are seeking to eliminate the state portion of the grocery tax while keeping a mechanism for localities to raise revenue via grocery taxes. Democrats would also rather conduct a study over the course of the next year on the impact tax cuts will have on revenue than move forward with doubling the standard deduction. 


A conference committee consisting of 14 lawmakers from both the House and the Senate have been working together on a compromise budget since both chambers approved their respective proposals at the end of the session. Work has been slow, however, and without a budget compromise to vote on, the General Assembly went into recess as quickly as it had convened. Lawmakers are expected to return to Richmond once again on April 27th to consider amendments and vetoes Gov. Youngkin has made to bills passed by the legislature. They’ll also have another chance to approve a budget; the current fiscal year ends on June 30. 


In the meantime, Gov. Youngkin has been considering bills sent to him from the legislature. So far, he has vetoed 25 bills, all of which received bipartisan support. Among the bills vetoed include one which would have established a three-year statute of limitations on the collection of medical debt, one which sought to prevent a repeat of this year’s I-95 traffic jam by prohibiting truck operators from using cruise control in snowy conditions, and one which would have prohibited penalties on health insurance premiums for tobacco usage. The governor also amended over 100 bills.


Providing Virginians with relief at the gas pump has also been a major topic of discussion among lawmakers as they gear up for a special session. With national gas prices hitting $4.33 last month, Gov. Youngkin has proposed suspending Virginia’s 26 cents per gallon gas tax for three months. Democrats in the House raised concerns about how such a suspension could impact the budget, and proposed providing all car owners in Virginia with a $50 gas rebate, or up to a $100 rebate for households. It’s unclear whether Senate Democrats support this proposal. 


Lawmakers will have the opportunity to override Gov. Youngkin’s vetoes, consider his amendments, pass a measure to help Virginians pay for gas, and approve a biennial budget when they meet at the end of this month.

[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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