Legislative Priorities 2026

Legislative Priorities 2026

Constitutional Amendments

  • Right To Vote
  • Reproductive Rights
  • Marriage Equality

Voting & Elections

  • Right to Vote Amendment
  • Zuckerbucks amendment to repeal, introduce de minimis value ($500) or clarify language to limit scope specifically to “conduct of elections” 
  • List maintenance and voter registration bills
  • Reinstatement of membership in ERIC [the Governor can reinstate Virginia in ERIC without legislation, although bills have been introduced in the past two sessions]
  • Acceptance of e-signatures in voter registration
  • 90-day quiet period and extension of time to respond to notices of voter registration cancellations
  • Campaign Advertising – disclosure requirements for use of synthetic materials
  • Guardianship adjudications to require specific determination of competence for voting purposes [can collaborate with other orgs]
  • National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
  • Ranked Choice Voting
  • Virginia Beach Charter Change

Affordable Housing

  • Preservation of affordable housing. This bill enables localities to establish a right of first refusal (ROFR) during the sale of publicly supported multifamily rental housing whose affordability period is expiring.
  • Increasing opportunities for residents and nonprofit housing organizations to purchase parks by providing a ROFR for localities and non-profit organizations.
  • Allow all localities the ability to establish Inclusionary Zoning Programs.
  • Pay or quit extension: Extend the “pay or quit” period from five to fourteen days, returning to the longer period that was in place for most of the COVID pandemic.

Budget Amendment

  • Virginia Housing Trust Fund: Increase base funding from $87.5 million to $150 million per year.
  • 5000 Families Pilot Program: $80 million one-time appropriation for a three-year pilot program for rental assistance to 5,800 very low-income Virginia households with families with children under 13 years old.
  • Increase funding for Virginia Eviction Reduction Program to Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) by $3.15 million to bring the total program funding to $6.6 million per year. 

Child Care

  • Eliminate waitlists for childcare subsidies and expand eligibility
  • Enact family and medical leave

Environment

  • Keep the Virginia Clean Energy Act (VCEA) unchanged. This will force a
  • cascade of specific actions to incentivize clean energy and rein in both
  • use of carbon fuels and the economic sectors making excessive power
  • demands.
  • Regulate data centers. In addition to energy demands, consider water
  • use, siting, noise, diesel emissions, tax credits, etc.
  • Incorporate environmental justice/community health in localities’
  • Comprehensive Plans.
  • Study microplastics in public drinking water.

Education

  • Funding Equity for English Language Students, Special Education and High Poverty Schools, both rural and urban (restore the funding for Title 1 Schools (for example-, capital projects; services (Mental Health, Guidance Counselors, and resources).
  • Making Sure the State Pays Its Fair Share of Public-School Costs. (The near-term and long-term recommendations of the JLARC Study must be implemented, and funds Appropriated in accordance with the study, and we will continue to oppose any diversion of funds from public schools to private schools.
  • Revenue Raising for K-12.
  • Allow localities to have a referendum to raise a 1% Sales Tax dedicated to their Local Public Schools.
  • “The Fair Share Tax Safe and Restorative-Community Schools-Many of the Rural and Urban schools who have adopted this model.
  • A Constitutional Amendment to change the wording of public education funding, from “Seek to Ensure” to “Ensure.”

Health Care

  • Medicaid and SNAP Funding Safety
  • Continuous Medicaid Funding for Children 0-6 Years Old
  • DSS Funding for staff (incentives and training) and technology upgrade
  • Subsidy for Virginia Marketplace (based on what the federal government funds)
  • Paid Medical Leave—there are coalitions for Paid Family Leave and Paid
  • Sick Leave- HC task force considering joining

Reproductive Health

  • VA Constitutional amendment for reproductive freedom
  • Right to contraception equity
  • Shield laws for providers and recipients of reproductive care
  • Health insurance coverage for reproductive care

Domestic and Gun Violence

  • Firearm Purchaser Licensing (FPL) Initiative
  • Opening a State Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Intervention