Home General Assembly Legislation to Watch in the 2025 Virginia General Assembly Session

Legislation to Watch in the 2025 Virginia General Assembly Session

After a delay due to the Richmond water crisis, the action finally gets going today.

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The 2025 Virginia General Assembly kicks off this morning, and as always there will be a lot of bills to consider. Here are just a few to keep an eye on.

  1. Constitutional amendment: fundamental right to reproductive freedom (“Provides that every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom and that the right to make and effectuate one’s own decisions about all matters related to one’s pregnancy cannot be denied, burdened, or otherwise infringed upon by the Commonwealth, unless justified by a compelling state interest and achieved by the least restrictive means. The amendment prohibits the Commonwealth from penalizing, prosecuting, or otherwise taking adverse action against an individual for exercising the individual’s right to reproductive freedom or for aiding another individual in the exercise of such right, unless justified by a compelling state interest.”)
  2. Constitutional amendment: qualifications of voters, right to vote, persons not entitled to vote (“Provides that every person who meets the qualifications of voters set forth in the Constitution of Virginia shall have the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth and that such right shall not be abridged by law, except for persons who have been convicted of a felony and persons who have been adjudicated to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting. A person who has been convicted of a felony shall not be entitled to vote during any period of incarceration for such felony conviction, but upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further action required of him, such person shall be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote.”)
  3. Constitutional amendment: marriage between two individuals; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry (“The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two parties and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such parties. The amendment provides that religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.”)
  4. Contraception: right to contraception (” Establishes a right to obtain contraceptives and engage in contraception, as defined in the bill. The bill creates a cause of action that may be instituted against anyone who infringes on such right.”)
  5. “Sanctuary cities”: sanctuary policies prohibited (“Provides that no locality shall adopt any ordinance, procedure, or policy intended to restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The bill also requires an official in charge of a correctional facility to transfer custody of certain persons to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon receipt of a detainer. Under current law, the official may make such transfer.”)
  6. Data centers: A couple bills on this hot topic include Electric utilities; electric distribution infrastructure serving data centers. and Electric utilities; data center cost allocation. Also, per VAPLAN: HB1601 local site assessment (noise, parks, water, forests, historic sites) req’dHB1984 away from parks, schools, residential HB2026 review (industrial) zoning HB2028 one-time $250k to affected schools SB899 water considerations
  7. Casino gaming: eligible host locations (“Adds Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a casino in the Commonwealth and provides that any proposed site for a casino gaming establishment considered by Fairfax County shall be (i) located within one-quarter of a mile of an existing station on the Metro Silver Line, (ii) part of a coordinated mixed-use project development consisting of no less than 1.5 million square feet, (iii) within two miles of a regional enclosed mall containing not less than 1.5 million square feet of gross building area, and (iv) outside of the Interstate 495 Beltway.”)
  8. Budget bill: “Amends items of and adds items to Chapter 2 of the Acts of Assembly of 2024, Special Session I.” (Note that Virginia already has a budget in place; this would amend that)
  9. Income tax deduction: tips. (“Provides, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, an income tax deduction for the amount of cash tips received during the taxable year that are included on statements furnished to the employer for federal tax purposes.”)
  10. Absentee voting in person; available beginning 14 days prior to election (“Limits the availability of absentee voting in person to beginning 14 days prior to any election. Under current law, absentee voting in person is available beginning 45 days prior to any election.”)
  11. Elections; voter identification…containing a photograph required (“Requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisions of law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required forms of identification to vote after signing a statement, subject to felony penalties for false statements, that he is the named registered voter he claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitled to cast a provisional ballot.”)
  12. Minimum wage (Increases the minimum wage incrementally to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2027. The bill codifies the adjusted state hourly minimum wage of $12.41 per hour that is effective January 1, 2025 and increases the minimum wage to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2026 and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2027. The bill requires the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to establish an adjusted state hourly minimum wage by October 1, 2027.”)
  13. Car tax: I’m not seeing a separate bill (will keep looking), but this will presumably be a significant topic of conversation this session.
  14. Virginia Clean Economy Act: It will be interesting to see what, if any, changes are made to the Virginia Clean Economy Act, such as this bill by Del. Candi Mundon-King (“Provides that a ground-mounted solar energy generation facility to be located on property zoned agricultural, commercial, industrial, or institutional shall be permitted pursuant to various criteria to be included in a local ordinance, such as specifications for setbacks, fencing, solar panel height, visual impacts, and grading, and a decommissioning plan for solar energy equipment and facilities.”)
  15.  Voter registration: this bill by right-wing-Republican Del. Tim Griffin would “[Prohibit] any person or organization, except a high school administrator, teacher, or staff person or a general registrar or his staff, from facilitating voter registration activities at a public high school. The bill also requires the form of the application to register to vote to include a statement of consent that must be signed by the parent or legal guardian of any applicant who is younger than the age of 18 at the time of his application. The bill specifies that such statement must include an acknowledgement that the minor applicant’s personally identifiable information is required for voter registration.”
  16.  Per VAPLAN,This @CandiMundonKing bill–a recommendation of the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation–will be one to read carefully and follow. It changes specs of the utilities’ Integrated Resource Plans, including taking into account the social costs of carbon.”
  17. Also, per VAPLAN: “@PhilforVirginia proposes a new top tax bracket for income over a million dollars, a 10% tax whose revenue is dedicated to public schools (50%), Child Care Subsidies (30%), and the Housing Trust Fund (20%).”
  18. Per VAPLAN, “HB1796 (@HelmerVA) would make Virginia the 5th state to recognize DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations–typically used for cryptocurrency transactions) as legal entities, joining VT, WY, TN, and UT.”
  19. Per VAPLAN, Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) bills are back! SB932 (@SalimVASenate) and HB1832 (@shelly_simonds)
  20. Sen. Mamie Locke’s SB757 – Trespass with an unmanned aircraft system; contracted defense facility, penalty.  (“Creates a Class 4 felony for any person who knowingly and intentionally causes an unmanned aircraft system to enter the property of a contracted defense facility, defined in the bill, and obtains or attempts to obtain any videographic or still image of any information subject to the export control laws of the United States located within such facility. The bill also provides that no owner or operator of any such facility or its employees shall be liable for any damage to an unmanned aircraft system used in such offense.”)
  21. Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg’s SB839 – Zoning; by-right multifamily development in areas zoned for commercial use. (“Requires a locality to provide in its zoning ordinance provisions allowing for the by-right development and construction of multifamily residential uses on all land contained in commercial or business zoning district classifications. The bill provides that the review and approval of such development shall be done administratively by the locality’s staff and that any residential development that dedicates a minimum of 10 percent of the total number of housing units to households with a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median income shall be granted an accelerated plan review and permit approval process by the locality’s staff.”)

 

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