Meanwhile, Virginia GOP said Democrats were ‘breaking every promise they made on affordability.’
Virginia Democrats closed their first legislative session during which they held a trifecta in state government having passed bills to raise the minimum wage, ban “assault firearms,” limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, establish a legal cannabis retail market, and expand family and paid sick leave—priorities echoed by Democratic parties in statehouses across the country.
Republicans, who ran against Democrats on an affordability message in 2025, said the session failed to deliver.
The session ended on March 14 without a budget.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she was reviewing legislation on her desk and reaffirmed her intention to call lawmakers back to Richmond to complete budget talks.
“I remain in close contact with leaders in the General Assembly, and I look forward to calling lawmakers back to Richmond on April 23 to pass a budget that delivers on the responsible, pragmatic leadership Virginians voted for this past November,” Spanberger said in a statement on March 14.
The budget standoff centered on a sales and use tax exemption for the data center industry. State Sen. Louise Lucas, a Democrat, addressed the dispute directly on the Senate floor the night before adjournment.
Lucas said the Senate’s objective had always been to invest in making life more affordable through a balanced budget and that doing so required new revenue.
“Our responsibility to hardworking Virginians is a budget that doesn’t burden them,” Lucas said.
She also said that the Senate had always been the body to look beyond a two-year budget cycle, House elections, one-term governors, or any short-term gimmicks to get a budget over the finish line.
Lucas said that she voted for the original data center exemption in 2008 to incentivize the industry but that no one could have imagined the scale of growth that followed. She said that data center jobs are concentrated in the construction phase and that operational facilities employ as few as 10 to 50 workers.
She also said that revenue from an earlier expiration of the exemption could fund education, transportation, and social services.
By Chase Smith
