As the deadline for her to act on 2026 General Assembly legislation approaches, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed additional bills yesterday (Wednesday) on health care, housing and energy, including a few championed by Fairfax County lawmakers.
The governor has approved hundreds of bills since the General Assembly session ended on March 14. The latest round of bills includes a codified right to contraception, limits on prior authorizations on prescription drugs from insurance plans, stricter emissions standards for data centers, tools to incentivize and preserve affordable housing, and a longer mandatory waiting period before landlords pursue evictions.
“I am signing this legislation into law to help deliver relief for families in communities across the Commonwealth,” Spanberger said in a release. “Virginians deserve results when it comes to contending with the high cost of living — and I am deeply grateful to the lawmakers who focused relentlessly during this legislative session on contending with high costs facing families.”
The right to contraception legislation (SB 596 and companion bill HB 6) came from Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-33), whose district includes a southern portion of Fairfax County, and Del. Cia Price (D-85) of Newport News.
The bills will codify the right to use and doctors’ right to prescribe contraception methods approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, such as condoms, birth control pills, IUDs, and emergency contraceptives.
“The Right to Contraception Act strengthens stability for families and safeguards essential health care choices,” Carroll Foy said. “It makes clear that these decisions belong to patients — not politicians.”
Other bills from Fairfax County representatives concern energy demand and affordability.
HB 1360 by Herndon Del. Irene Shin (D-8) requires greater transparency from investor-owned electric utilities on any coal and oil-fueled units, including the duration and cost of their operations, in rate proceedings before the State Corporation Commission. The bill passed unanimously before Spanberger signed it.
HB 683 by Del. Charniele Herring (D-4), whose district includes Seven Corners and Bailey’s Crossroads in Fairfax County, will create a Solar Interconnection Grant Program for local governments and schools looking to offset energy costs with solar projects. Spanberger also signed the companion SB 659.
With SB 650 from state Sen. Dave Marsden (D-35), who represents Annandale and Springfield, Herring’s HB770 will let utilities seek discounted rates for low-income customers.
The legislation would allow utilities to recover costs from the discounts through rates for commercial and industrial customers, which can include high-energy users like data centers. While many bills passed out of this session take effect on July 1, this bill has an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027.
HB 1002 by Del. Kathy Tran (D-18), whose district extends from Springfield down to parts of Lorton, will restrict some utilities from shutting off service to residential customers without trying to set up a payment plan or connect a customer with bill payment assistance or energy savings programs.
It also requires notices in languages other than English in localities that provide election materials in multiple languages.
Additional housing, health care and energy bills signed by the governor Wednesday were:
Housing
- HB867 (Delegate Rae Cousins), SB74 (Senator Jeremy McPike) — Giving every community the opportunity to adopt an affordable housing program. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB352 (Delegate Josh Thomas) — Giving localities new tools to incentivize the construction of affordable housing through performance-based grant programs. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB594 (Delegate Shelly Simonds) — Streamlining the approval process for specific affordable housing developments to help localities build more homes faster. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB164 (Delegate Josh Thomas), SB328 (Senator Russet Perry) — Removing caps on homeownership grants so localities can better support employees seeking to live where they work. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB806 (Delegate Betsy Carr) — Promotes safe, affordable housing by enabling more industrial development authorities to finance affordable housing. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB15 (Delegate Cia Price), SB48 (Senator Aaron Rouse) — Improving protections for Virginia renters.
Health Care
- HB736 (Delegate Michelle Maldonado) — Preventing costly delays in care by limiting prior authorizations. Passed unanimously.
- HB424 (Delegate Destiny LeVere Bolling), SB745 (Senator Kannan Srinivasan) — Blocking health insurers from barring in-network providers from referring patients to in-network clinical laboratories or pathology service providers. Passed unanimously.
- HB425 (Delegate Destiny LeVere Bolling) — Expanding access to telemedicine service for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies or women 35 years of age or older on Medicaid. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB456 (Delegate Rodney Willett), SB291 (Senator Lashrecse Aird) — Increasing the quality of care for premature or sick babies. Passed unanimously.
Energy
- HB284 (Delegate Michael Feggans), SB371 (Senator Jeremy McPike) — Requiring Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to develop voluntary demand flexibility programs for high energy demand customers. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB507 (Delegate John McAuliff) — Setting stricter emissions standards for data center generators to reduce air pollution from the Commonwealth’s growing data center sector. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB1144 (Delegate Marty Martinez) — Allowing localities to reduce or waive water and sewer fees for first-time homebuyers and affordable housing developments. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB242 (Delegate Joshua Cole) — Prohibits public utilities from increasing monthly payments more than once a year for customers enrolled in a budget plan. Passed with bipartisan support.
Spanberger has an April 13 deadline to sign, veto or amend legislation passed during the 2026 General Assembly session.
“Our work is not finished, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to make Virginia a more affordable place to live,” Spanberger said.
