Numerous pieces of legislation from Alexandria lawmakers are officially set to become law or are heading back to the General Assembly with amendments after action by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D).
Among the approximately 1,200 bills passed out of the 2026 session, legislation on guns, housing, the national popular vote, energy and immigration enforcement all came by way of state senators and delegates representing Alexandria. Most signed bills will take effect on July 1, 2026, unless otherwise specified.
The final deadline for Spanberger to act on bills was Monday (April 13).
A bill from Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3) to prohibit state and local law enforcement from entering agreements with federal immigration enforcement received a minor amendment. Spanberger struck a reference to adults convicted of violent felonies transferred custody from prisons and jails to cover any adult facing a judicial warrant. However, the General Assembly-passed version already provides an exception for any transfers based on a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena.
Lopez’s other bills to restrict immigration enforcement in schools, hospitals and polling places were incorporated into a separate bill for which the governor recommended a substitute. Spanberger also provided a substitute bill on other legislators’ bills that would ban law enforcement from wearing face masks.
Spanberger has already banned state law enforcement from 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through executive order.
“Virginia will continue to cooperate with federal law enforcement partners to keep our neighbors safe as long as I am in office,” Spanberger said about the amendments. “But when masked agents operate on Virginia’s streets, our citizens have no way of distinguishing them from bad actors, and that is unacceptable. These amendments simply set the terms of our ongoing collaboration.”
Spanberger has signed numerous gun safety bills, including state Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-39)’s HB 93 and companion Senate bill that limit who a person convicted of domestic violence crimes or under a protective order can transfer their guns to. The guns can no longer be transferred to a person under 21 or someone who lives with the person.
“There’s really no mechanism in place to ensure that that transfer happens, and so this bill basically simply creates a form so the courts and law enforcement know who is supposed to have your gun, and can follow up if there is concern that that transfer has not happened,” Bennett-Parker previously told ALXnow.
Another gun-related bill comes from former state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-39) — who left the General Assembly mid-session to take a position in the Spanberger administration. Spanberger signed Ebbin’s bill and companion House bill that ban the manufacture, import, purchase, sale, transfer and possession of “ghost guns,” which are untraceable gun parts without serial numbers. This will take effect on July 1, 2027.
Other key gun bills were amended by Spanberger, including an assault-style weapon ban, background checks and safe gun storage. Spanberger’s assault-style weapon substitute seeks clarity on gun types and seeks exemptions for certain semi-automatic shotguns used for hunting.
Spanberger signed Ebbin’s bill and a companion House bill to enter the National Popular Vote Compact, an interstate initiative to elect the president by popular vote. According to the legislation, the compact could take effect if a majority of the United States’ electoral votes — 270 of the total 538 — have joined the compact.
“We know that every vote is not equal … throughout the country in voting for president,” Ebbin previously said on the Senate floor. “Presidential candidates concentrate their campaigns on winning closely divided battleground states.”
Bennett-Parker’s housing bill, now signed into law, will allow localities to preserve publicly supported multifamily rental properties that would lose their affordability restrictions. The governor also made amendments to Bennett-Parker’s bills requiring a payment plan for eligible tenants who owe one month or less of rent and more upfront eligibility information on rental applications.
A housing bill from Ebbin will require landlords to accept periodic rent and security deposit payments by check and money order and ban landlords from requiring a tenant to pay any fee exceeding third-party processing fees charged to the landlords. It also prevents landlords from charging tenants fees for maintenance and repairs unless they arise from a tenant violation of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Spanberger signed several energy-related bills from House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-4) and amended one that seeks special exception processes from localities for solar facilities.
One of the approved bills provides discounted rates for low-income utility customers and specifies that utilities can recoup the costs from commercial and industrial customer rates. Other bills allow limits on electric bills for eligible households and require reports on how many electric utility customers were disconnected from service. All three bills will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Another bill will create a Solar Interconnection Grant Program for local governments and schools looking to offset energy costs with solar projects. That bill will expire on July 1, 2027.
Other notable bills from legislators will expand a restriction on publicly disclosing Virginia Lottery winners to all lottery winners (Ebbin), provide personal property tax extensions to furloughed employees during federal government shutdowns (Lopez), require public bodies to not take action on items added to an agenda during a meeting unless it is time sensitive or a closed meeting subject (Ebbin) and extend motion picture tax credits (Herring).
Alexandria’s legislators also sponsored constitutional amendments that will go to voters on Nov. 3, 2026 — addressing reproductive rights (Herring), voting rights restoration for felons (Bennett-Parker) and same-sex marriage (Ebbin).
Legislators are expected to reconvene in Richmond on April 22 to address Spanberger’s actions, and the following day for a special session on the state budget.
