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Editorial
The 2025 session of the Virginia General Assembly is underway, as lawmakers completed their first full week of action after water was restored in Richmond following a disruption to service caused by a winter storm. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, beginning his final year in office, delivered his state of the commonwealth address that had been postponed by a few days due to the disruption in water service.
In his address to lawmakers, Youngkin called for an “all of the above” energy strategy to generate sufficient power to meet the state’s needs, including the increasing demands of the growing sector of data centers. The governor said he wants Virginia to be a leader in the data center industry.
Cutting taxes continues to be a priority for his administration. He proposed an income tax credit to offset what Virginians pay in local car taxes. He is seeking to eliminate the income tax on tips for workers in service jobs.
Nearly 1,200 bills have been introduced by legislators that will be considered in what is to be a short 45-day session. Democrats, who hold narrow majorities in both the state Senate and House of Delegates, have introduced three state constitutional amendments that would: 1) protect reproductive rights, 2) recognize all marriages of consenting adults and 3) automatically restore voting rights of felons after they are released from incarceration.
In his proposed budget, the governor wants to increase state aid to local schools by $517 million and provide $200 million for local school construction projects. He is also calling for taking $50 million from the general fund for private school vouchers.
Individual legislators have introduced bills that would allow localities to hold referendums to temporarily increase local sales taxes to help pay for local school projects. The governor vetoed one such bill last year that would have accomplished this. Language has been tightened in the new legislation to ensure that the funding would go for its intended purpose and that the tax would expire at a specified deadline.
Youngkin is proposing to write into law his ban on student use of cell phones in the state’s public schools. His directive on this has been welcomed by local school administrators, he said. He shared an anecdote of a principal making note of the newfound noise in the school cafeteria that was resulting from students actually talking to each other rather than staring at their phones.
Legislation has been introduced that would establish statewide standards to guide localities in the regulatory process for considering utility scale solar projects. Proponents say the current approval process in many localities is inconsistent, or arbitrary, creating a barrier to delivering this form of renewable energy to the commonwealth. Meanwhile, the demand for clean energy continues to grow.
Among the initiatives the governor called for, in last week’s address, is one that would address maternal health disparities among African American, Hispanic and other minority mothers and newborns, and another one seeking the creation of a single commission to oversee the burgeoning gambling industry in the commonwealth.
The governor and General Assembly are off to a busy start as they seek to address a plethora of issues that affect citizens throughout the commonwealth. We encourage everyone to pay close attention to what’s going on in Richmond. Those who have concerns about any particular issues or who would like to provide input into the legislative process should contact our local legislators who represent the Rockbridge area. They are Del. Terry Austin of the 37th District, Del. Ellen Campbell of the 36th District and state Sen. Christopher Head of the Third District.
Contact information is as follows: Austin - phone (804) 698-1037, email [email protected]; Campbell - phone (804) 6981036, email [email protected]; and Head - phone (804) 698-7503, email [email protected]. gov.
