Search
Yancey: 10 things to know about the new state budget proposals
Sunday was budget day in Richmond, the day where the budget-writing committees in each chamber release their proposed rewrites of the spending plan that Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed shortly before he left office. Virginia’s budget cycle is quirky like that. What happens next is that, after some procedural actions, a select group of legislators — the “budget conferees” — will work out the differences, then send the budget to our new governor, who has line-item veto authority.
Virginia Senate shuffles committee assignments; Marsden, Reeves removed from posts
The Virginia Senate shuffled key committee assignments Friday following Sen. Adam Ebbin’s departure to join the Spanberger administration, triggering a shake-up that included Sen. Dave Marsden’s, D-Fairfax, removal from the powerful Finance and Appropriations Committee and Sen. Bryce Reeves’, R-Orange, ouster from Commerce and Labor. Officially, Senate Democrats said that Marsden requested to leave the Appropriations Committee; however, multiple sources told Virginia Scope that Marsden made a disrespectful comment to the committee’s chair, Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, prior to a meeting. Marsden’s alleged comment to Lucas implied that she is not heavily involved in the Appropriation Committee’s work.
Lawmakers reshape Youngkin’s final budget with focus on affordability, no new taxes
The Virginia General Assembly’s money committees on Sunday rolled out sweeping amendments to former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed two-year, $212 billion state budget, with both the House and Senate advancing plans that emphasize affordability, backfill federal funding gaps and avoid new taxes as they reshape the Republican’s final spending blueprint. The Senate Finance Committee’s Senate Bill 30 would end a data center sales tax exemption and set the stage for the state to potentially reap millions in revenue from the industry.
Board of Visitors picks, political donors continue to overlap
Both major political parties in Virginia have decried the politicization of public universities’ Boards of Visitors, which govern public colleges in the Commonwealth. And on her first day in office, Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger issued an executive order to study how those selections are made. At the same time, Spanberger also announced nominees to the boards of George Mason University, the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia. Four of 10 picks for UVA’s panel donated more than $10,000 to Spanberger’s gubernatorial campaign; three donated more than $20,000.
Lawmakers question how Rosie’s was approved to add more gambling machines in Richmond
After Richmond voters rejected an actual casino, the city’s casino-esque Rosie’s location got bigger. The Richmond Rosie’s was originally limited to 700 slots-like gambling machines under a state-imposed cap. Today, the location has nearly 1,200 machines, an expansion state regulators allowed with virtually no public process. Though the Richmond Rosie’s is technically a “satellite” facility to the Colonial Downs horse racing track in New Kent County, the Richmond location now has more than twice as many gambling machines as the track itself. In light of that growth, two state lawmakers recently raised concerns over what they see as a procedurally and legally questionable approval process for the Richmond expansion.
Senate budget ditches data center tax break to create more than $1B in revenue
The newly proposed Senate budget would ditch the state sales tax exemption for data centers, adding more than $1 billion in tax revenue that could fund tax cuts and critical spending priorities. But the Senate plan creates a wide gulf between it and the proposed House of Delegates spending plan, with less than three weeks to reach a compromise before the General Assembly is supposed to adjourn. Neither budget proposal would raise general taxes, but the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee introduced a budget on Sunday that would repeal the sales tax exemption on data center computer servers and other equipment that the industry regularly replaces.
Spanberger to deliver State of the Union response from Colonial Williamsburg
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democrats’ response to the State of the Union address Tuesday from Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area. The rebuttal will immediately follow Republican President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress. “Since the people of the Virginia Colony first gathered to take on the extraordinary task of governing themselves, Williamsburg has served as a testament to the power of ordinary citizens to shape the future of our nation, demand better from our government, and pursue a more perfect union for all,” Spanberger said in a release Saturday.
What is ‘performance-based regulation,’ and how can it lower utility bills?
Lawmakers are advancing legislation that could lay the groundwork for future bills aimed at pushing major utilities to lower costs, reduce outages and improve customer service through a model known as “Performance Based Regulation.” Senate Bill 251, sponsored by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, and House Bill 903, sponsored by Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, would direct the State Corporation Commission to establish a study group to determine how to implement regulatory changes designed to reduce utility bills.
Data center tax break takes center stage in Va. budget plans
The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates split on one of the commonwealth's most controversial tax exemptions on Sunday, in a pair of votes on their state budget proposals. The Senate is proposing a more active approach to lowering the cost of living than the House by allowing a billion-dollar data center tax exemption to expire and using it to fund tax rebates to be sent to Virginians this October.
After years of partisan clashes, K-12 education policy moves behind the scenes in Va.
For four years, K-12 education regularly fueled partisan clashes at Virginia’s General Assembly, with lawmakers sparring over school choice, parental rights and how much the state should spend on public schools. This year, the state's public school system has drawn far less attention. The shift comes as Democrats, who control both chambers and the governor's office, focus on refining existing policies rather than launching sweeping new reforms.