Whether you liked what the legislature did or not, this was a consequential session.
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The 2026 General Assembly session is now in the rear-view mirror, except for the portion of it that still lies ahead, which will presumably resolve a tiny little unfinished piece of work known as the state budget. That brings us to the first of 10 observations about this year’s session:
1. Party control does not guarantee harmony — or unanimity
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanbergerer reacts to applause from Lt. Gov Ghazala Hashmi (left), House Speaker Don Scott (center), D-Portsmouth, and Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (right), D-Portsmouth. Photo by Bob Brown.
After last November’s elections, Democrats expanded a slim majority in the House into a big one — 64-36. The Senate wasn’t on the ballot last year, so the 21-19 Democratic margin stayed the same. And, of course, Democrats now hold office as governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Nonetheless, the legislature’s final days were marked by a dramatic showdown between top Democrats over data centers that kept the legislature from completing its main duties — passing a budget.
On the one side, Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth. On the House side, House Appropriations Chair Luke Torian, D-Prince William County, with the support of House Speaker Don Scott, who, like Lucas, is D-Portsmouth.
That wasn’t the only conflict between Democrats in different chambers; there was also some infighting over who should get named to judgeships in Chesterfield County.
What explains this apparent Democratic dysfunction? Let’s turn to a former Republican legislator, who has a long memory — former Del. David Ramadan, at one time R-Loudoun County and now a professor at George Mason University. He posted: “Lesson of the day: the biggest fights in legislative bodies usually aren’t Democrats vs. Republicans — they’re House vs. Senate, regardless of party.”
2. Even without the budget, this was a consequential session
Pro-gun demonstrators gather outside the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond on Jan. 17. Photo by Bob Brown.
Republicans might wish it were a little less consequential, but this is what happens when the same party controls both chambers: They can pass a lot of items on their agenda. Maybe not everything (see above) but a lot.
This session voted to raise the minimum wage, institute paid family and medical leave, restrict gun ownership in multiple ways, legalize retail sales of cannabis, legalize so-called “skill” games, establish a right to contraception, allow state employees to unionize and, well, the list goes on. This legislature also sent four constitutional amendments on to voters — congressional redistricting in a special election April 21 and three others for November, those dealing with guaranteeing a right to an abortion, guaranteeing the right to a same-sex marriage (in case the U.S. Supreme Court ever changes its mind), and automatically restoring the civil rights of convicted felons.
With more than 3,000 bills, there was a lot to keep track of in Richmond. We’ll publish a lengthy list of bills and what happened to them on Tuesday. At the risk of saying “we have to pass this bill so you can see what’s in it,” many of the more complicated pieces of legislation — especially those dealing with energy — will require a closer look to figure out what actually made it in as the legislature convened in marathon sessions to complete its non-budgetary work. We’ll be reporting on some of these bills for a long time, especially those dealing with energy and housing.
3. The battle over data centers is complicated
Data centers in Prince William County. Courtesy of Roger Snyder.
What is holding up the budget is Lucas’ insistence that the state end its tax breaks for data centers eight years early — 2027, rather than 2035. For some, data centers are a simple issue: They use a lot of energy (and water). Some think we should have a moratorium on their development. Those tax incentives also mean the state is forgoing $1.9 billion in taxes each year, which is a lot of money that could be spent on whatever you think it should be spent on. However, the issue is a lot more complicated than that. Those tax abatements really ought to be measured against the $9.1 billion in gross domestic product that data centers account for each year in Virginia. Nobody’s studied what happens if those tax incentives are done away with: If data centers keep coming, then those tax breaks were, indeed, a giveaway. If they stop coming, then maybe those tax incentives were a bargain to secure that much investment.
There are other issues at play, too: The state promised these tax breaks through 2035. If Virginia now changes the rules, what message does that send to other business sectors? Does it mean the state can’t be trusted to keep its word?
While data centers are concentrated in Northern Virginia, rural voices have started to speak up to say: Hey, wait a minute. We’re just now getting a shot at data centers. Shutting down the tax incentives looks like a case of Northern Virginia saying, “Hey, we’ve got ours, but you can’t have yours.” That’s essentially what the Danville-based Future of the Piedmont Foundation said last week when it urged legislators to keep the tax incentives; they just said it in more formal, diplomatic language.
Those who say data centers are bad for the grid, and maybe even bad for the environment, might well have a point, but they don’t have much to say about rural localities who feel they’re about to be the victims of a switcheroo.
4. Gaming was a big issue that didn’t follow partisan lines
Dharmendra Patel, the owner of the Quick-ette and Happy Food Marts in Botetourt County and other convenience stores around the region, said the ability to offer skill games is “extremely critical” for most convenience store owners across the commonwealth. Photo by Dwayne Yancey.
In the old days, we called this gambling. Of course, in the old days we called cannabis marijuana but now advocates of both prefer a higher-class name. It wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t have gaming in Virginia, at least legally. Now the question is what kinds will be allowed and how should it be regulated.
This session approved legalizing the so-called “skill” games found in many convenience stores — what critics call “neighborhood slot machines.” It also approved adding Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a casino.
However, the legislature rejected so-called “igaming” or online gaming. It put off discussion of creating a Virginia Gaming Commission until next year.
Meanwhile, Roanoke’s quest for a casino never came up (and likely would have been defeated if it had been, since all the Roanoke Valley legislators were opposed to the measure and nobody else was going to push for it).
5. The “affordability agenda” may require some accounting
So-called balcony solar systems similar to this one, which was introduced this year by EcoFlow, have been popular in Europe for years. The General Assembly approved them this year, saying they make energy more affordable. Courtesy of EcoFlow.
“Affordability” was Abigail Spanberger’s main theme in last year’s governor’s race; that word became so popular that Republicans in the session embraced it as well, just in different ways. So did the General Assembly make things more affordable?
That’s hard to tell — and may depend on either your point of view or where you are in the economy.
Spanberger celebrated “passage of the full Affordable Virginia agenda” and listed 16 bills (not counting their companion bills in the other chamber) that passed. Many of those are energy-related bills, such as a bill to establish a Virginia Weatherization Task Force “to improve energy efficiency.” It will take time to see what impact they have.
Republicans were quick to point to bills that they said made Virginia less affordable, such as returning Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Some bills may make life more affordable for some but less affordable for others. For instance, the paid family and medical leave bill involves a payroll tax. Any tax makes things less affordable, at least in the short run. For those who take advantage of the bill’s provision, the measure may well make life more affordable. For those who don’t, well, they’re still paying the tax but aren’t using the benefits. Perhaps society as a whole is better off, but some individual members of that society may not be. This is a classic contrast between the two parties’ philosophies — Democrats who view things through the lens of community and Republicans who tend to see things more individualistically.
Sorting out the bottom line on “a
