Good stuff from the Virginia Grassroots Coalition:
November 25, 2025
Dear Virginia General Assembly Senators and Delegates,
The Virginia Grassroots Coalition is a statewide coalition of more than 60 grassroots groups and tens of thousands of voters. Today, we share with you our progressive goals for 2026. These priorities are intended to make Virginia a safer, more inclusive, resilient, and environmentally healthy place to live for all of our residents.
Our priorities fit at least one of the following criteria: 1) legislative proposals that carry out the platforms that our successful candidates ran on; 2) legislation that was passed in 2024 or 2025, but vetoed by Governor Youngkin; or 3) legislative proposals that can be used for messaging during the 2026 federal elections.
Collectively, we have a great responsibility to enact legislation that will protect all Virginians, particularly those whose rights are not being protected at the federal level. Key among these priorities is completing the process of amending the Virginia Constitution to establish a right to contraception and abortion, a right to same-sex marriage, and the automatic restoration of the right to vote after completion of a sentence for a felony conviction. We are committed to supporting this multiyear process, especially given the current federal environment.
In January, we will share the list of the specific bills that the Virginia Grassroots Coalition will work to support through various advocacy strategies, as well as those bills we urge you to oppose.
We would like to meet with you before the holidays to discuss your priorities for the legislative session and find ways to work together to protect our Virginia democracy and promote the health, safety and prosperity of all Virginians. Please email Luisa Boyarski at luisaboyarski@gmail.com to set up a meeting.
2026 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Campaign Finance Reform
Priorities:
- Improve the public campaign finance information portal
- Disclose the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in election advertising
- Implement campaign finance oversight
- Support public financing of local elections
- Ban corporate campaign donations
Passed, but Vetoed 2025:
- HB 2479: Elections; political campaign advertisements; synthetic media; penalty
- SB 775: Elections; political campaign advertisements; synthetic media; penalty
Climate and Clean Energy
Priorities:
- Reduce carbon emissions and other pollutants from electric utilities and lower costs to ratepayers by: (1) defending and strengthening the Virginia Clean Economy Act; and (2) promoting utility reform through Performance Based Regulations and transparent Integrated Resource Plans
- Require data centers to use clean energy and energy efficiency measures, thereby reducing carbon/air/noise pollution and disruptions to the grid
- Protect ratepayers from spiraling costs from huge electricity demand by data centers
- Require new residential construction to use the best energy efficiency standards
- Provide legal tools to local governments & communities to take actions on climate and clean energy
Passed, but Vetoed 2025:
- HB 1791: Electric Vehicle Rural Infrastructure Program and Fund; established and created
- HB 1883 & SB 1040: Electric utilities; renewable energy portfolio standard program requirements; power purchase agreements
- HB 2356 & SB 853: Prevailing wage rate; apprenticeship requirements; renewable energy portfolio standard eligible source work; penalties
- SB 1021: Electric utilities; integrated resource plans
Criminal Justice Reform
Priorities:
- Repeal mandatory minimum sentences
- End mass surveillance
- Defelonize drug possession
- Ensure criminal defendants are represented by counsel at their first appearance
Passed, but Vetoed 2025:
- SB 1013: Affirmative defense or reduced penalty for a neurocognitive disorder or intellectual or developmental disability.
Passed, but Vetoed 2024:
- SB 334 Plea agreements and court orders; prohibited provisions.
Equitable Taxation
Priority: Enact a wealth tax generated from capital gains, dividends, and passive business income as a simple, commonsense way for Virginia to improve the fairness of the tax system
Good Governance
Priorities:
- Establish a credible, transparent process for submitting ethics complaints; maintain complaint records; and report anonymized data on the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council website
- Enter Virginia into an interstate compact to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes nationwide
- Extend ranked choice voting to all local and constitutional offices in Virginia, including those for mayor and school board.
Passed, but Vetoed 2025:
- SB 1009: Elections; conduct of election; ranked choice voting; report
Passed, but Vetoed 2024:
- HB 265: Removal of public officers from office; petition requirements; procedure.
- SB 428: Elections; conduct of election; ranked choice voting; locally elected offices; report
Gun Violence Prevention
Priorities:
- Safe storage
- Assault weapons and certain ammunition
- Close the dating partner loophole
- Prohibit plastic firearms
Passed, but Vetoed 2025:
- SB 1134: Storage of firearms in a residence where a minor or person prohibited from possessing a firearm is present; penalty
Passed, but Vetoed 2024:
- HB 2 & SB 2: Assault firearms & certain ammunition, etc.; purchase, possession, sale, transfer, etc., prohibited.
- HB 362: Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearm following an assault and battery of family or household member or intimate partner; penalties
- SB 100: Plastic firearms and unfinished frames, etc.; manufacture, import, etc. prohibited, penalties
Protecting Our Migrant Residents
Priorities:
- Prohibit state and local law enforcement partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including those authorized by Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
- Prohibit state and local cooperation with civil administrative immigration enforcement
- Prohibit ICE from sensitive locations such as houses of worship, schools, courthouses, and hospitals
- Protect immigrants against coercion to ensure that community members can interact with police without fear of harassment
- Ban private, for-profit immigration detention centers in Virginia
Public Education
Priorities:
- Establish and implement standards for determining and recognizing student educational performance and academic achievement
- Authorize all counties and cities to impose additional local sales and use tax to support schools
- Increase the average teacher salary in the Commonwealth to at least the national average teacher salary and establish a detailed timeline and process for satisfying such requirements
- Adopt and provide to each local school board guidance on the adoption of policies governing the provision of culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services for students
- Ensure fair funding for special education, English language learners and at-risk students
Passed, but Vetoed 2025
- HB 2244 Standards of Quality; measurement of student educational performance and academic achievement.
- SB1307 Sales and use tax, local; additional tax authorized in all counties and cities to support schools.
Passed, but Vetoed 2024:
- HB 187 & SB 104: Teacher and support staff compensation; at or above national average.
- HB 624 & SB 105: Public school staffing and funding; National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; At-Risk Program; English language learner students
- HB 805 & SB 14: Sales and use tax, local; additional tax authorized in all counties & cities to support Schools.
Women and Families
Priorities:
- Gender balanced and diverse corporate boards
- Paid family medical leave
- Increase the minimum wage and repeal the “Right to Work” legislation
Passed, but Vetoed 2025:
- HB 1724: Prescription Drug Affordability Board established; drug cost affordability review.
- HB 2531 & SB 1122: Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements; civil action
- HB 1716 & SB 1105 Contraception, establishes right to obtain, applicability, enforcement
- HB 2371 & SB 780 Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices
- SB 1132 Prospective employees: prohibiting employer seeking wage or salary history
Passed, but Vetoed 2024:
- HB1 & SB 1: Minimum wage; increases wage to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025
- HB 570 & SB 274: Prescription Drug Affordability Board; established, drug cost affordability review, report
- SB 373: Paid family and medical leave insurance program; notice requirements, civil action
- HB 212 & SB 393: Gender Balanced and Diverse Corporate Boards for companies asking for tax breaks from the state
We ask that you support these important legislative goals in the upcoming General Assembly session.
Thank you for your good work on behalf of the Commonwealth and all of its people.
The groups that endorse this letter include:
Fairfax Indivisible
4 Public Education
We of Action (WofA)
Postcards4VA
Climate & Clean Energy Working Group
Third Act Virginia
Lewinsville Faith in Action
Viva La Resistance
PWC Women that Wine
New River Valley Indivisible
Advocates for Women & Families
Virginia Democracy Forward
Justice Forward Virginia
BigMoneyOutVA
Network NOVA
Williamsburg JCC Indivisible
Center for Common Ground
People Demanding Action
ACLU People Power Fairfax
Westminster Democrats
Arlington Huddle Action Network
Charlottesville NOW (National Organization for Women)
Silver Panthers
Hunter Mill Huddle
Women Against Project 2025
The Informed Voter
350 Alexandria
Grassroots Alexandria
They See Blue DMV
Progressive Democrats of America – Virginia (PDA-VA)
Our Revolution Falls Church
ShenCo Indivisible
Nova Blue Squad
NoVA’s Childless Cat Ladies
Keep Going Together
Women Empowerment Foundation
Falls Church Indivisible
Indivisible NOVA West
Indivisible Charlottesville
Loudoun Indivisible
Virginia NOW
Roanoke Indivisible
Vienna Neighbors United
Loudoun4All
Loudoun County Democratic Committee
Indivisible Virginia
