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The Home Stretch
As we approach the conclusion of the 2025 legislative session, I am working to bring a number of my bills over the finish line. This week I wanted to discuss a few pieces of legislation that many of you have written to me about. Our Green Priorities Energy and a green economy for Virginia’s future is a hot topic that comes up in the General Assembly. My bill on solar interconnection fees, SB 1058, deals with the costs of connecting new solar facilities to the electric grid. Recently, Alexandria Public High School’s new Minnie Howard Campus and the new Douglas MacArthur Elementary School faced unexpected costs of $1.3 million and $105,000 respectively to integrate their new solar installations with the electrical grid due to associated infrastructure upgrade costs assessed by Dominion Energy. My bill would require the State Corporation Commission to establish a cost sharing program for required system upgrades to interconnect new solar facilities. By spreading interconnection upgrade costs among all new solar installations connected to a particular substation, smaller projects, like those being built by Alexandria City Public Schools, can proceed while still contributing to maintain and upgrade the system. Delegate Kathy Tran (D-Fairfax) has worked hard on the House version of the bill, HB 2266. Delegate Rip Sullivan (D-Fairfax) brought us HB 1791, another bill that would help our green economy. This bill creates the Electric Vehicle Rural Infrastructure Program and Fund, which would allow developers who install electric vehicle charging stations in rural areas to apply for a state grant. We have a growing number of electric vehicles, and easier drives to our state parks and other rural attractions help promote access and protect our environment. Tobacco Confiscation From Minors Legislation One of the bills requiring the most legwork this session has been my bill, SB 1060, which aims to reduce underage vaping and tobacco use. Delegate Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) is sponsoring the House counterpart, HB 1946. Both bills would allow the confiscation of tobacco and vape products from underage persons and would increase random inspections to prevent sales to minors. My office has worked with stakeholders from the Department of Taxation, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, and representatives from convenience stores to come to a solution. Inspections are an important tool in deterring sales, but can end up costing as much as $174 per location between ABC agent overtime pay, youth working with law enforcement on these buys, and transportation costs. Proposed Casino Legislation The bill I received the most email on this session was Senator Scott Surovell’s (D-Fairfax) SB 982, which would have allowed the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to hold a referendum regarding the proposed Tyson’s Corner Casino. More than four hundred of my constituents emailed me sharing concerns with this piece of legislation. I spoke against and voted against SB 982. It was not requested by Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors, and further, the licensing fee and tax revenue split was not favorable to the county. SB 982 also would not have allowed the county to conduct an independent assessment of where the most appropriate site for the casino and accompanying conference center, entertainment center, and hotel would be located. Expanding Fair Elections with Ranked Choice Voting As we continue working to improve our democracy, I am happy to support SB 1009, sponsored by Senator Saddam Salim (D-Fairfax), a bill that allows elections for any local governing body to be conducted by Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), ensuring that our electoral system more accurately reflects the will of the voters. Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, rather than being forced to choose just one. If no candidate secures a majority outright, the system eliminates the lowest-performing candidate, reallocating votes based on next-ranked preferences until a winner emerges. This ensures that the winning candidate has broad support and reduces the risk of "spoiler" candidates splitting the vote. Supporting Affordable Housing I was happy to support HB 2153 introduced by Delegate Betsy Carr (D-Richmond), a bill that empowers nonprofit organizations to expand access to affordable housing. This bill would allow localities to waive certain zoning restrictions, reduce administrative fees, and expedite site plan approvals for nonprofit-led housing projects. By cutting through bureaucratic red tape, we are helping to create a pathway for trusted nonprofit organizations to provide quality, affordable housing for families in need. To ensure long-term affordability, the bill also requires that housing developed under these provisions remains affordable for at least 40 years. By empowering nonprofits and local governments to work together, we can create real solutions to Virginia’s housing crisis—ensuring that families and individuals have access to safe and stable housing for years to come. Protecting Veterans from Exploitation SB 1222 was introduced by Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Orange) and myself. Under this legislation, charges would be capped for veterans who use private application services in seeking to upgrade their VA benefits. The bill would also ensure transparency by requiring that veterans receive clear disclosures about their rights before agreeing to any services. This piece of legislation would have introduced new protections against fraud and financial exploitation targeting veterans by prohibiting the use of overseas call centers and solicitation of vets during the benefits application process. This legislation was a bipartisan effort. Unfortunately the bill did not pass in the House Rules committee, which ended its consideration for this session. I look forward to continuing to work on these protections next year. Prescription Drug Affordability Finally, Delegate Karrie Delaney (D-Fairfax) has introduced HB 1724, which would establish the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to bring stakeholders together to lower the cost of prescription drugs here in the Commonwealth. This board would conduct a review of the affordability of these drugs and make recommendations to bring down costs by limiting drug payment amounts involving state-regulated programs, and would require nonprofit organizations contracted by the Department of Health to provide more transparency on prescription drug pricing to the board. I cosponsored this bill in previous years. Virginians at large agree the cost of prescription drugs are too high. Fair Unemployment Benefits Strengthen Our Communities
As the session passed its halfway point, 22 of my bills have passed the Senate (including 16 with bipartisan support) and are being considered by the House of Delegates. Three of my bills can measurably improve the lives of everyday Virginians. In today’s gig economy many Virginians work jobs without benefits, some as their primary source of income and others in addition to their full time jobs. Families are working harder than ever, but endure ever-increasing employment uncertainty. Additionally, many families in the 39th Senate district have been affected by threats, uncertainty, and cuts made by President Trump to our federal workforce. Despite Virginians working multiple jobs and longer hours to make ends meet, they are still facing rising prices for groceries, rent, and other necessities. I have three bills focused on unemployment benefits. The first, SB 878, combines the work of the Commission on Unemployment Commission and the Unemployment Insurance Subcommittee into one to reduce unnecessary duplication. This bill also ensures nonlegislative stakeholders from labor and management continue to play a role in monitoring and evaluating Virginia’s unemployment system. SB 1056 would increase unemployment insurance weekly benefit amounts by $100 per week. Virginia’s unemployment benefits are too low to assist workers in covering basic necessities. Weekly benefit amounts have not been increased since 2012, and unlike thirty-six other states, Virginia’s benefit amounts do not increase based on a statewide metric. Fewer than 14 of every 100 unemployed workers in Virginia receive any unemployment insurance benefits. SB 1057 would increase the amount of income that a person qualifying for unemployment could deduct from their benefits from $50 to $100 per week while working part-time. Policy experts in unemployment insurance (UI) have recommended that the earning limit placed on claimants should be set to give them a real incentive to work and hopefully a better chance of leading to full-time work. In Virginia, the income disregard was last revised in 2005. At the time, the minimum hourly wage in Virginia was $5.15. As of 2025, the minimum hourly wage in Virginia is $12.41. The income disregard in Virginia has not kept pace with hourly wage growth. My bill would update our outdated numbers from two decades ago. In Virginia, I believe every person deserves a fair chance to pursue their career with dignity and professional satisfaction. When hardworking Virginians are faced with unemployment, the support of the Commonwealth can be the difference between a successful career transition and sinking into more difficult situations. My Role In Standing Up to Regressive Bullying Behavior It’s important that we all stand up against the bullying behavior impacting federal workers and vulnerable communities that flies in the face of our values and priorities. Last Wednesday, I joined with State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, House Speaker Don Scott, and other lawmakers to demand that Governor Youngkin begin to focus on threats 144,483 Virginia federal workers face from Trump. One constituent’s email stuck with me. She is a mental health professional who has seen a spike in mental health conditions as her clients grapple with uncertainty in Trump’s executive actions and policies. While President Trump seeks to dismantle the federal workforce, including USAID, and Governor Youngkin continues to be more focused on currying President Trump’s favor than doing his job, I will continue to represent you. I will use my platform to denounce President Trump’s antics when they threaten the livelihoods of Northern Virginians. 2/5/2025 Can Data Centers Co-Exist with responsible development and increased energy demands?Read Now Every time you make an online purchase, scroll through social media, or check your email, a data center processes the information. Data centers contain storage for computer systems for everyday usage by consumers and businesses, and have grown exponentially in recent years, with usage expected to double in the next few years. Northern Virginia has the largest data concentration center in the world, handling 25 percent of Internet traffic in the Americas and 13 percent of the total in the World. One data center in Ashburn alone averages 31,000 credit card transactions per second. These transactions are a key part of our modern economy, and keep the Commonwealth on the cutting edge of innovation and commerce.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, data center demand is growing even faster than anticipated. More than 23 bills dealing with data centers were introduced in the General Assembly, including my bill, SB 1449. More than 13 of those bills remained under consideration as of Monday, February 3rd. After spending a year researching the data center industry and soliciting input from more than a hundred diverse stakeholders, ranging from technology advocates and utilities to environmentalists and grassroots activists, the Virginia General Assembly’s highly respected Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) released their findings in December. JLARC found that data centers are responsible for more than 74,000 jobs and $9.1 billion in annual revenue in Virginia. However, data centers are not without some concerns. They require a huge amount of energy to operate. Data center energy usage can vary from the equivalent of the average usage of 20,000 homes to over a million homes. By 2040, unconstrained demand could double our energy needs, and we must balance the economic benefits with the challenges and energy impact of data centers. Other potential data center challenges include power transmission lines, water usage, noise issues, and construction near historic sites. JLARC says we are a relatively water-rich state, but that usage could be more efficient. We must work with local governments to address these challenges and ensure that we are still on a path to transition to a greener energy mix as the demands around data centers increase. My Bill, SB 1449, will empower localities to require a sound study before a data center (or other “high energy use facility” that uses more than 100 megawatts of power) can be sited within 500 feet of houses or schools. It will also allow local governments to decide whether a site assessment of potential impacts on nearby resources – such as water, agricultural land, parks, historic sites, or forestland – is appropriate before approving a new facility. Delegate Josh Thomas of Prince William has similar, but not identical, legislation that has passed the House of Delegates. I believe my legislation will strike a reasonable balance: it will empower localities to make more informed choices as they manage responsible data center development, while not overly burdening an essential industry that already falls under many local, state, and federal regulations that are intended to protect Virginians. For the past 15 years, data centers have helped provide economic growth, jobs, and funding for community priorities in the Commonwealth, especially in Northern Virginia. Loudoun County alone reaped $875,000,000 in 2024 in tax revenue from data centers, an increase of 19.5% from the year before, helping the fast growing county to fund their needs with lower property taxes than neighboring jurisdictions. I am hopeful that we can continue to be a leader in technology and 21st century jobs. If managed correctly, data centers can provide jobs, substantial tax revenue, and further investment in the Commonwealth. |
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