The Virginia legislative session which began early last month is set to discuss many issues facing Northern Virginia from the new sports arena and entertainment district proposed at Potomac Yard, to new regulations for the growing number of data centers in the region.
In the legislative elections last year, Virginia democrats regained control of the House of Delegates giving them full control of the Virginia legislature. However, they’ll still need to gain bipartisan support for any legislation to get approval from Republican governor Glenn Youngkin.
The Virginia assembly made history earlier this year with the nomination of Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) to be speaker of the house. Scott is the first black person to become speaker and was nominated without opposition. “My first immediate emotion is just gratitude, very grateful,” Scott said in his acceptance speech. “I know this is God’s favor. I know this is God’s grace, which is an undeserved favor, and I’m grateful.”
State senator Scott Surovell, who represents West Potomac High School was nominated to become the Senate majority leader marking the first change in Democratic senate leadership since former senator Richard Saslaw took power in 1996.
The new legislature is discussing many important issues for Northern Virginia, the biggest of which is the new arena proposal at Potomac Yard. The new arena would be the new home of the Washington Capitals and the Washington Wizards and would include a large retail and entertainment district around it that proponents say will create many new job opportunities.
The proposal has received broad support from local officials such as Alexandria mayor Justin Wilson but some in the public have questioned the merits of the proposal and believe that it will do more harm than good. The legislature will be reviewing the proposal and determining if it should pass.
Another important local issue being discussed by the legislature this year is the regulation of data centers. Data centers are large buildings that house tons of computers for large businesses or the internet. Northern Virginia is home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world. These centers create many jobs, but some groups are calling for increased environmental and development regulations. The legislature has proposed about a dozen bills regulating many aspects of the data center industry that will need to be considered in this session.
A more long term issue that the legislature hopes to tackle this year is abortion rights. Abortion was a major issue in the 2023 legislative campaign, and Virginia Democrats now want to pass a constitutional amendment to codify abortion rights into law. Amendments in Virginia need to be passed twice through the legislature and then go to a ballot measure that the whole state votes on. This means we could see an abortion rights amendment on the ballot as early as 2026.
In a statement state senator Jeniffer Boysko (D-Fairfax) said, “The voters have spoken, and they care about things like reproductive freedom and abortion rights.”