Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the first batch of legislation sent to her by the General Assembly into law Tuesday.
Bills signed by the governor as of Tuesday include efforts aiming to eliminate additional fees on health care premiums, expanding the Virginia Eviction Reduction pilot program and paving the way for easier permitting for manufactured homes.
Another effort hoping to reduce Virginians’ energy bills in the face of rising data center demand was carried by Fairfax Democrat Senator Scott Surrovel and Delegate Irene Shin. Shin told Radio IQ it was a huge win for ratepayers.
“This legislation is going to ensure that data centers can pay their fair share, especially for infrastructure costs that they require in order to service their data centers," Shin says. "And so, that will make sure they are bearing the brunt of the costs rather than passing that on to ratepayers.”
Spanberger has until April 13th to sign, veto or amend legislation passed during the 2026 General Assembly session. The legislature will return to Richmond in late April to consider those vetoes and amendments, as well as finalize the state’s budget.
You can find the governor's entire statement on the signed legislation, including details on what the new laws will do, here.
