RICHMOND, Va. — Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger joined Democratic leaders in the General Assembly Thursday to announce a legislative agenda aimed at reducing costs for Virginia families across the healthcare, energy and housing sector.
The 17-bill package represents priorities Spanberger's administration will pursue when the legislative session begins next month, working alongside the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.
"It is clear that we cannot accept the status quo when it comes to the high cost of living," Spanberger said. "It is hurting the financial security of our economy, our communities and our neighbors, and changing the status quo begins next month."
"The impact of this legislation will impact all Virginians," she added. "We recognize that as these bills, as I sign these bills into law, some of them will have more immediate impact than others. Some of them, we will need to see kind of shifts within our communities."
Spanberger said the agenda is a combination of new legislation and bills that passed in previous years but were vetoed by outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Healthcare initiatives target prescription costs
On healthcare, the package includes proposals to reduce prescription drug costs and establish a pilot program to help Virginians affected by the loss of Affordable Care Act subsidies at year's end.
"These premium increases and the lack of those federal subsidies don't just impact those who utilized those subsidies, but as we will see, a distortion within the marketplace. Overall costs for everyone will go up," Spanberger said.
Housing measures focus on affordability and renter protection
The housing component supports legislation to protect renters and includes several bills aimed at preserving or expanding affordable housing options.
"The impact is not just on those who depended on those affordable housing units, but it increases prices across the board," Spanberger said.
Energy agenda emphasizes efficiency and storage
The energy portion calls for increased energy storage, programs to reduce bills for low-income customers through energy efficiency initiatives, and allowances for small solar installations like balcony setups.
Below is the complete list of proposals provide by Spanberger’s team:
WATCH: Youngkin's final Virginia budget: $730M in tax breaks faces Democratic opposition
Republicans express cautious support
Republican House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore said in a statement the plan appears focused on appropriate priorities but expressed concerns about implementation methods and potential additional costs for Virginians.
"“We’re still digesting the governor-elect’s proposals, but at first blush they appear focused on the right priorities. That said, we have serious concerns about how these problems are being addressed. The housing proposals largely focus on managing existing stock rather than increasing the supply of new homes. On energy, we’re concerned about policies that could saddle Virginians with tens of billions of dollars in additional costs for large-scale battery storage, costs that would ultimately be passed on to ratepayers,” said Kilgore. “If you don’t build enough houses, housing gets expensive. If you don’t produce enough energy, energy gets expensive. If demand rises faster than supply, prices go up. No legislation can repeal the law of supply and demand.
Youngkin echoed similar concerns during his budget presentation on Wednesday, warning lawmakers against actions that could drive away businesses, such as repealing Right to Work laws or rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, known as RGGI.
"Let me be candid. Don't put Virginia back in RGGI," Youngkin said. "RGGI only drives up utility bills and drives up the cost of living for Virginians."
Spanberger called those comments contradictory, noting Youngkin was using RGGI funds in his budget to cover potential losses of federal emergency management funds. She added that some legislation in the package previously received bipartisan support.
"If we were actually leveraging RGGI dollars for weatherization projects as prescribed by the programmer, we could be reducing the costs for Virginians by building up on energy efficiency," Spanberger said.
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