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General Assembly tracker: Everyone who says they aren’t coming back next year
As the 2023 legislative session draws to a close, a mounting number of delegates and senators are announcing this one will be their last. Twenty-two lawmakers have said they don’t intend to run again this fall, when every one of Virginia’s 140 General Assembly seats are up for election. Some of the announcements were expected. […]
Wegmans, business groups ask Virginia Supreme Court to overturn Hanover ruling
Real estate, housing and business groups are backing a request by Wegmans for the Supreme Court of Virginia to reconsider a ruling that property owners near a massive distribution center under construction in Hanover have the right to challenge local approvals of the project in court. “If not reconsidered,” the groups wrote in an amicus […]
No losses, no gains for Virginia farms and farmland in 2022
The number of farms and farm acreage in Virginia remained flat in 2022 despite small overall decreases in both farms and farmland nationally, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to the USDA’s most recent Farms and Land in Farms report, the total number of farms in Virginia remained stable at […]
Tyson still eligible for state incentives for Pittsylvania chicken plant despite Glen Allen closure
Tyson Foods will continue to be eligible for millions in state economic development grants linked to a facility it’s constructing in Pittsylvania County despite its announcement it will close a major plant in Hanover County that will lead to the loss of 692 jobs, said the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. In 2021, former Gov. Ralph […]
New study finds Central Appalachian miners at highest risk of dying from lung diseases
Central Appalachian coal miners including those in Virginia are over eight times more likely than men in the general population to die from respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and black lung, according to recent research. “This higher mortality has also worsened over time with modern miners facing greater risk than their predecessors,” wrote […]
Republicans and Democrats both want to make life cheaper for Virginians. They disagree on how.
Right before the 2023 General Assembly session began, a Virginia Commonwealth University poll found inflation was still a top issue Virginians want their elected officials to address. Because statehouses don’t have much control over national monetary policy, state legislators have spent much of the last six weeks debating what they can do to ease financial […]
House panel kills Prescription Drug Affordability Board proposal
A proposal to create a state Prescription Drug Affordability Board that would have the power to review and in some cases set upper price limits on prescription drugs died a swift death Thursday in a Republican-led House subcommittee. “This committee has heard this before,” said House Commerce and Energy Chair Kathy Byron, R-Bedford. “We are […]
Youngkin, Va. congressional Dems tout Virginia as “best home” for new FBI headquarters
In what Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Prince William, called “a great show of force,” Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and five congressional Democrats gathered in Springfield Wednesday to urge the federal government to choose the Northern Virginia location as the site of the next FBI headquarters. “I want to say it very, very clearly. There are […]
Mid-session update: what’s still alive and what’s dead (or on the way there)
Virginia lawmakers aren’t agreeing on much these days, but 93 of 100 members of the House of Delegates could at least find common ground on which Virginia pony is the best pony. “It is time the Commonwealth pony up, and give Chincoteague heritage the recognition it deserves,” Del. Rob Bloxom, R-Accomack, said last week. He […]
Senate OKs drug affordability board bill opposed by Youngkin administration
A proposal to create a state board to review and in some cases set upper price limits on prescription drugs cleared the Virginia Senate on a bipartisan 26-13 vote Friday but faces dim prospects in the House after opposition from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. Legislation from Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, to set up a Prescription […]
Supreme Court of Va. rules Hanover residents can sue over Wegmans warehouse
The Supreme Court of Virginia overruled a lower court that decided homeowners whose property lies near a massive Wegmans distribution center under construction in Hanover County didn’t have legal standing to challenge local approvals of the project issued in 2020. “Standing determines who may file a lawsuit — not who can win one,” Justice D. […]
Va. regulators propose easing emission limits for data centers over power transmission concerns
With Dominion Energy anticipating possible problems supplying electricity to data centers in parts of Northern Virginia this spring, the state Department of Environmental Quality is proposing to ease certain air emissions rules for facilities in the zone to allow them to get extra power from generators. In a statement announcing the proposal Thursday, DEQ Director […]