In a glut of actions Monday night, Gov. Abigail Spanberger will have the General Assembly reconsider a more moderate posture on many of the Democratic majority's priorities — setting up one of the first marked public breaks between Virginia's Legislature and its executive.
While Spanberger signed hundreds of bills outright during her 30-day bill review process, she vetoed or amended dozens of bills the Democrat-controlled statehouse had passed, including flagship legislation on cannabis, guns, labor rights and immigration.
Spanberger had hundreds of bills awaiting action on Monday; the deadline was 11:59 p.m. Any bills passed by the General Assembly that were not overtly signed, amended or vetoed by the governor will become state law on July 1, according to the Virginia Constitution.
The governor's office did not release a count of how many bills were amended or vetoed. Here are some of the actions she took.
Editor's note: Virginia's Legislative Information System, which displays the bills and the governor's actions, will likely update after this story's publication. Follow the links for the most up-to-date information.
Health care
Spanberger proposed changes to a number of health care bills; the amendment text was not available Monday night. Those included adjustments to the so-called Affordable Medicine Act, which set out to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board; HB1182, which requires insurance to cover contraception; and recommendations on legislation setting requirements for additional maternal health care coverage.
A bill banning noncompete agreements for health care workers also saw recommendations from Spanberger that were not posted. The governor signed a bill requiring mental health awareness training in schools.
Education
Spanberger fundamentally changed a bill that would prevent teaching the history of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol as a peaceful protest. Her substitute instead directs the Board of Education to consider whether to teach about the attack in curricula.
She did approve a bill that would document how artificial intelligence is used in schools and share guidance for the public on how to use AI.
Housing
A bill requiring localities to allow for accessory dwelling units statewide and limiting ADU permit costs will go into effect on July 1 after getting Spanberger's signature.
Spanberger made recommendations to bills governing rental housing that were not available Monday night; those bills governed escrow, property damaged by fire and notices of increases to rent.
How the governor chose to act on a "YIGBY" bill that removes rezoning requirements for affordable housing built by faith organizations was not posted early Tuesday morning. Neither was her decision on another bill limiting parking requirements.
Energy
Spanberger signed a bill to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative without amendments.
She also signed bills that require studying how loud data centers will be and require Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power to submit grid utilization metrics. The governor also amended another to limit load forecast requirements to infrastructure on high energy users (namely, data centers).
Bills passed that were not signed, amended or vetoed will become state law on July 1, per the Virginia Constitution.
Legislation to establish a weatherization task force got her signature; a bill that legalizes so-called balcony solar didn't have details posted early Tuesday morning.
Criminal justice reform
Spanberger vetoed a few notable criminal justice reform bills. One would ban Fourth Amendment waivers in plea agreements, which experts and advocates told VPM News are unevenly applied by race and largely arbitrary.
A Spanberger spokesperson pointed to a 1998 court case to say that waivers are appropriately regulated in the state. Another vetoed bill would have differentiated between drug residue being on a person and felony drug possession.
Immigration
By the midnight deadline, Spanberger finalized action on a series of immigration bills beginning with an amendment to a closely watched proposal restricting 287(g) agreements, which law enforcement agencies may sign with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to carry out federal immigration enforcement actions.
Del. Alfonso Lopez (D–Arlington), patron of HB1441, told VPM News that Spanberger issued a minor amendment to the bill while leaving its core provisions intact. Lopez said the bill — which seeks to place clearer limits on state and local collaboration, formal and informal, with federal immigration authorities — remains strong. (The legislation's finalized amendment wasn't available Monday night.)
"I think we are in a very good place and I appreciate the governor's strong support," Lopez told VPM News shortly before the deadline.
Another of Lopez's bills extending the renewal period for driver privilege cards issued to non–US citizens to eight years instead of two was signed into law.
Spanberger also signed SB491, which protects Virginia public school students from discrimination based on their actual or perceived immigration status. The bill also prevents data sharing of a student's immigration or citizenship status — as well as their parents' — with the US Department of Homeland Security without a judicial warrant.
The governor amended legislation addressing face coverings that would require all law enforcement agents, including ICE to be identifiable, as well as separate provisions outlining protections against federal immigration enforcement at courthouses and polling places.
Cannabis market
Spanberger is proposing to start Virginia's legal recreational cannabis sales on July 1, 2027, six months after the launch date that state lawmakers initially negotiated.
The General Assembly passed legislation on the last day of the regular session to let people 21 and over buy cannabis recreationally starting Jan. 1, 2027.
The bill was then sent to Spanberger, who proposed the later start date and other changes for the Legislature to consider during its April 22 reconvened session.
The governor's office said the later start date would "allow for additional time to implement a legal market safely and curb the illicit market." With Virginia's Constitution requiring a two-thirds vote to override amendments and the margins in the General Assembly (21–19 in the Senate, 64–36 in the House), Spanberger's launch date will likely stand.
Once the bill is finalized, Virginia's yearslong stay in marijuana purgatory will finally have an end date.
State lawmakers will take action on her amendments during the one-day reconvened session on April 22.
Guns
Spanberger also amended legislation proposing a ban on the future sales of assault weapons like the AR-15 and high-capacity magazines that carry more than 15 rounds of ammunition.
Specific changes proposed by the governor were not posted online prior to publication; Spanberger's office said in a press release that the amendments "provide additional clarity to law enforcement as it relates to the firearms included under this legislation, as well as protect the use of certain semi-automatic shotguns used for hunting."
The measure would prohibit the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of semiautomatic centerfire rifles and pistols that can hold more than 15 rounds after July 1, 2026. This ban would also cover ammunition feeding devices, such as magazines, that can carry more than 15 rounds.
The legislation, which former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed last year, doesn't stop people from owning these types of guns and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices — if they were purchased before July 1, 2026.
It does prevent people from bringing these firearms into Virginia from other states, with exemptions for law enforcement, military members and their spouses and others.
President Donald Trump's administration warned Spanberger late last week that the US Department of Justice would sue if she signed the measure into law.
The legislation, carried by Del. Dan Helmer (D–Fairfax) and state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D–Fairfax), was just one of the gun restrictions that Democrats pressed forward this year that are expected to spark legal challenges from pro-gun rights groups and the firearm industry.
Before Monday's deadline, Spanberger signed a separate measure from Helmer to create standards of responsible conduct for members of the firearm industry and require them to implement safeguards to prevent firearm sales to people who can't legally possess guns. The impending law creates a path for Virginia's attorney general, local prosecutors and people to sue for damages over alleged violations.
Labor
In a press release late Monday, Spanberger amended the bill repealing prohibitions on collective bargaining for state employees, but did not address who was included. As previously reported, university faculty were excluded in the final bill the General Assembly passed.
The governor added that she made amendments to a proposed paid family and medical leave program to "define how the program will be developed and implemented, bring the program into closer alignment with federal policy, clarify definitions and eligibility, and give employers clarity in how the program works."
Details on those, as well as bills regarding wage theft and paid sick leave, were not posted early Tuesday.
Voting
Spanberger approved one bill that would put Virginia back in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and codify its membership in the multistate voter data partnership in state code. She signed another that would have the commonwealth join the National Popular Vote Compact, which would assign a state's Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote in a presidential election — if enough states with the majority of electoral votes join.
She also signed a bill that bans the hand counting of ballots (unless ballot scanners aren't functioning).
Spanberger recommended her own bill to replace one that would expand ranked-choice voting to most governing bodies in Virginia.
Gaming and gambling
Spanberger's first veto late last week spiked SB756, a bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D–Fairfax) that would have added Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible for a casino.
In an April 9 statement announcing the veto, Spanberger said the bill — which, due to existing law, would have required the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to hold a referendum on a proposed casino at Tysons Corner despite its opposition to the project — would "set a precedent against local decision-making on gambling."
She also vetoed SB661, a bill that would have legalized electronic skill games. The legislation put forth by Sen. Aaron Rouse (D–Virginia Beach) would have placed the games, which are similar to slot machines, under the purview of Virginia Lottery.
In her veto explanation, Spanberger pointed to data showing that when skill games were previously legal in 2020 and 2021, millions of dollars were wagered using devices "disproportionately located" in communities with larger Black and Hispanic populations, higher rates of poverty and lower rates of educational attainment.
"The rapid expansion of gaming in Virginia over the last decade," the governor wrote, "has outpaced the Commonwealth's ability to provide consistent enforcement, robust public safety oversight, and meaningful assessments of the potential impacts or harms of gaming in all its forms."
State lawmakers will take action on her amendments during the one-day reconvened session on April 22.
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