Following a historic election in which Virginia elected former Representative Abigail Spanberger as its first female Governor and Democrats reached heights not seen since the late 1980s in the House of Delegates, the focus has shifted from electoral to legislative. The first bills of the 2026 Virginia General Assembly have been filed.
The Virginia General Assembly will gavel in for a long, 60-day Session on January 14, 2026. We will examine the full breadth of policy topics early in the new year. For now, this is a snapshot of the bills filed first, as many will set the priorities for the Session.
Labor
- HB1/SB1 (Del. Ward/Sen. Lucas): Increases the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2028.
- HB 5 (Del. Convris-Fowler): Paid Sick Leave.
- SB2 (Sen. Boysko): Paid Family and Medical Leave.
- SB3 (Sen. Aird): Establishes the Employee Child Care Assistance Program.
- SB10 (Sen. Suetterlein): Permits a child 16 years of age or older to serve in an apprenticeship program or other work-based learning experience
Healthcare
- HB6 (Del. Price): Establishes a right to obtain contraceptives and engage in contraception.
- SB22 (Sen. Locke): Directs the Board of Medicine and Board of Nursing to require certain licensees to complete continuing learning activities on bias reduction in health care
Housing
- HB4 (Del. Bennett-Parker): Creates a framework for localities to preserve affordable housing via a Right of First Refusal.
Energy
- HB2 (Del. Sickles): Requires utilities to meet energy efficiency standards for low-income households.
- HB3/SB5 (Del. LeVere Bolling/Sen. Locke): Establishes an Income-Qualified Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Task Force.
Constitutional Amendments
- HJ1/SJ1(Del. Herring/Sen. Boysko): Creates a fundamental right to reproductive freedom.
- HJ2/SB6/SJ2 (Del. Bennett-Parker/Sen. Locke): Automatic restoration of voter rights.
- HJ3/SJ3 (Del. Sickles/Sen. Ebbin): Repeal of Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition.
- HJ4 (Del. Willett): Redistricting of Congressional Districts.
Education
- SB4 (Sen. Roem): Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program.
- SB16 (Sen. Suetterlein): Extends the timeline for which School Boards are permitted to administer assessments as alternatives to the through-year growth assessment system.
- SB18 (Sen. Locke): Prevents the censoring or banning of school library books.
- SB20 (Sen. Locke): Requires the Department of Education to develop and implement a phased reduction model for the Child Care Subsidy Program.
Tax
- SB7 (Sen. Suetterlein): Makes the increased standard deduction thresholds permanent.
- SB8 (Sen. DeSteph): Real property tax exemptions for surviving spouses of members of the armed forces.
- SB9 (Sen. Suetterlein): Eliminates the grocery tax.
Transportation
- SB12 (Sen. DeSteph): Removes prohibitions on law enforcement officers from stopping a motor vehicle for operating for certain traffic offenses.
- SB13(Sen. DeSteph): Permits every registered motor vehicle to display a single license plate issued by DMV.
- SB15(Sen. Suetterlein): Creates motorcycle driver improvement clinics.
- SB17 (Sen. Suetterlein): Increases the maximum value of property that may be sold at public auction to satisfy a lien on a motor vehicle without petitioning for a court order for the sale of such property.
Misc.
- SB11(Sen. DeSteph): Repeals prohibition on restaurants using polystyrene.
- SB14 (Sen. DeSteph): Allows ABC to grant a license for a commercial lifestyle center.
- SB18 (Sen. Locke): Provides a process for the disposition of children under 11 who committed a delinquent act.
- SB21 (Sen. Locke): Directs the creation of a stakeholder work group to create a plan and recommended timeline for transferring responsibility for the Department of Juvenile Justice from the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to the Secretary of Health and Human Resources.
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