Overview
- Newly inaugurated Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed roughly 10 executive orders, including reversing Virginia’s ICE cooperation directive and rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
- Democratic lawmakers rolled out a broad package that includes new higher income tax brackets, a net investment income tax, a retail delivery levy, extended sales taxes on services, and an 11% tax on firearms and ammunition, along with a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights.
- A criminal justice bill, HB 863, seeks to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for crimes such as rape, manslaughter, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and certain child pornography offenses.
- Right-leaning commentators and politicians accuse Spanberger of abandoning centrist campaign messaging, highlighting the speed and scope of her early actions and the Democratic agenda.
- The state Senate passed a separate constitutional amendment measure that would let the legislature redraw congressional maps if voters approve it in an April statewide referendum.