Virginia General Assembly: Legislative Summary

About the Legislature

The Virginia General Assembly has operated since 1619, when it was originally known as the House of Burgesses, making it one of the longest continuously operating democratic legislative bodies in the history of the world. The House of Delegates has 100 members elected every two years, while the Senate of Virginia has 40 senators elected every four years. Under the Virginia Constitution, the General Assembly convenes on the second Wednesday of every January. In even-numbered years, the session lasts 60 days and lawmakers must adopt a two-year budget; in odd-numbered years, they meet for 45 days. All daily House and Senate proceedings are open to the public and streamed online, as are all committee hearings.

2025 Session (Short Session — 45 Days)

The 2025 General Assembly session adjourned on February 22, 2025. Of 1,994 total bills introduced, 917 passed both chambers. Key highlights included:

Education Funding The session provided $52.8 million for a special education add-on and $134.4 million for a one-time $1,000 bonus for teachers and school support staff requiring no local match. Funding for English Learner teachers increased substantially based on updated enrollment data.

SOL Assessment — HB1957 (Major Reform) In a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, Virginia enacted sweeping changes to the state's K-12 testing system. HB1957 requires SOL scores to count as 10% of a student's final grade, a significant shift from current policy, and moves test administration to the final two weeks of the school year, away from the previous practice of testing five to six weeks earlier. The legislation also requires release of more past exams for practice purposes and is designed to raise test quality under the new assessment contract. The legislation takes effect at the start of the 2026–27 school year.

VGA Alternative Assessments The 2025 session extended legislation permitting school boards to administer alternative assessments in lieu of the Virginia Growth Assessments through the 2025–26 school year, provided they are aligned to the SOLs and approved by VDOE.

Assessment Procurement Authorization The legislature appropriated $500,000 for VDOE to procure an assessment consultant to analyze options for a new statewide assessment system, and authorized a one-year extension of the Pearson contract through December 31, 2025, with a subsequent extension through December 31, 2027 to ensure testing continuity during the new procurement process.

2026 Session (Long Session — 60 Days, Democratic Trifecta)

The 2026 General Assembly session adjourned on March 14, 2026. After major Democratic gains in the House of Delegates and new Democratic leadership in the executive branch following the 2025 elections, the session brought a whole new level of discourse, shifting the policy dialogue considerably. The House introduced 1,530 bills and the Senate introduced 836. With Gov. Abigail Spanberger in the executive mansion and Democratic majorities in both chambers, lawmakers moved swiftly to pass a wide range of priorities that had stalled under divided government.

Budget Impasse Lawmakers adjourned without a new two-year budget after an unexpected dispute over data center tax breaks fractured negotiations among Democrats who otherwise controlled every lever of power in Richmond. The standoff centered on a proposal by Senate Democrats to eliminate the longstanding sales tax exemption for data centers, estimated to generate roughly $1 billion in revenue; which House leaders and Gov. Spanberger opposed. A special session was convened April 23 to finalize the budget.

Education — K-12 Funding & Support The session fully lifted the support staffing cap ($223 million), returning flexible spending to localities; funded a special education add-on of $53 million; provided $12 million for a Math Advisory Task Force and math specialist micro-credentials; and approved $150 million in school construction grants. A $134 million one-time $1,000 teacher and support staff bonus was also approved.

Education — Collective Bargaining (Historic) The session produced landmark legislation making collective bargaining contracts for educators and nearly all public employees a reality for the first time in more than 70 years. Virginia became the first state in the South to restore collective bargaining rights for public sector employees.

Education — SOL and Assessment Adjustments Gov. Spanberger signed 21 bills focused on K-12 education by early April, including changes to the Standards of Learning and increased parental involvement in course selection. With HB1957 from 2025 now in effect for 2026–27, the General Assembly also considered tweaks to the assessment reform legislation during the 2026 session, with lawmakers debating concerns about SOL scores counting toward grades and the compressed testing window.

The Virginia Board of Education separately endorsed a four-year phased plan to raise SOL cut scores, with the proficient threshold holding at 400 in 2025–26 before rising to 446 by 2028–29, a decision with significant downstream implications for school accreditation, graduation rates, and the new assessment contract's design requirements.

Education — AI in Schools HB1186/SB394, signed into law, requires school divisions and their stakeholders to gather relevant information on artificial intelligence systems and use such findings to offer guidance for appropriate use of AI in instructional learning environments, and establishes an AI Innovation in Education Pilot Program. The bill passed the House 95–0.

Education — Low-Performing Schools HB924, signed by Spanberger on April 6, 2026, conditions support for low-performing schools on meeting certain performance benchmarks, aiming to improve outcomes in the Commonwealth's most challenged school divisions.

Education — School Safety & Well-Being A broad package of bipartisan school safety legislation was signed into law, including measures to strengthen how schools identify and respond to potential threats, improve mental health resources, modernize student safety education, and provide additional tools for educators working with at-risk youth.

Career & Technical Education Bills signed into law made it easier to credential career and technical education teachers and aligned CTE course offerings with emerging industry and workforce needs — both passed unanimously.

Broader Legislative Highlights The session's broader Democratic agenda also included raising Virginia's minimum wage to $15/hour by January 1, 2028; advancing constitutional amendments on reproductive freedom, marriage equality, and automatic voting rights restoration for returning citizens; and a package of gun reform measures. The session also legalized and created a regulatory framework for cannabis retail sales and "skill games" in convenience stores.

Key Ongoing Issues to Watch The budget special session (ongoing as of May 2026) will determine final educator pay increases for 2026–28. The data center tax exemption dispute remains unresolved and will shape how much revenue Virginia has available for education investments. And the full assessment system RFP — authorized but not yet issued — will be one of the largest K-12 procurement actions in the Commonwealth's recent history.