The 2026 Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly is well under way. Before gaveling in the new session on January 14, we adjourned the 2024 Special Session that had been meeting intermittently since the spring of 2024. We then quickly got to work, advancing the constitutional amendments that have been before the House and Senate for the past year and a half.
This is an exciting year. We inaugurated a new governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general on Saturday. As a member of the Inaugural Committee, I had to don a traditional morning suit and had a front row seat as our new statewide elected officials were sworn in. This event is historic for several reasons.
First, Abigail Spanberger is the first woman inaugurated Governor of Virginia. She has had a career of service, culminating in three terms in the United States House of Representatives. There she proved to be an independent thinker and a legislator who worked across the aisle, bringing members of both parties together to advance legislation. I am confident she will bring that same initiative to the Governor’s office.
The second historic aspect is that Ghazala Hashmi, our new lieutenant governor, is the first Muslim woman to be elected statewide in the United States. Ghazala has proven herself as a capable politician as a member of the Senate of Virginia for six years. She is a good friend who will lead the Senate forward.
Jay Jones is historic in his own right. He is the first African American to be elected attorney general in Virginia. Jay comes from a family of highly respected and historically significant lawyers. His grandfather was a civil rights lawyer in Norfolk. His father, Jerrauld Jones, was a Delegate and Judge. Jerrauld was my seatmate when I was elected to the House of Delegates in 1991. He was one of the best thinkers and orators of his time. Jay will be a successful attorney general, and I wish his dad could have been there to celebrate the day with all of us.
Constitutional Amendments
While the first few days of the legislative session are often dominated by procedural resolutions and deadlines, this week saw the passage of constitutional amendments that have been recurrent themes in legislative debate over the past several decades.
The first amendment passed was the one to enshrine reproductive freedom in Virginia’s Constitution. This amendment came to the forefront after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The government’s role in reproductive health care has long been the subject of debate. The Roe decision ensured a woman’s access to abortion services throughout the country. When the decision was overturned by the United States Supreme Court, the matter was sent back to the states. The best way to stop government interference in healthcare decisions and to protect healthcare providers was to amend our state Constitution. The amendment will protect our freedom to access to vital reproductive healthcare, including contraception, fertility, prenatal care, abortion, miscarriage management, childbirth, and postpartum care.
The second amendment we passed relates to the voting rights of former felons. The 1902 Constitution gave the Governor the sole authority to restore the political rights of individuals who had been convicted of felonies. Over the years, governors have taken very different approaches. Every governor from Mark Warner to Ralph Northam, including Bob McDonnell, worked to restore more people and allow greater access to the ballot box. Governor Youngkin took a different tack returning to a very slow-paced restoration process akin to what we saw under Governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore. This amendment will provide for the restoration of rights in a timely, orderly manner after the individual has been released from incarceration. Virginia has one of the most restrictive laws in the country, and it is time we right this wrong.
The third constitutional amendment involves the right to marry who you love. Virginia passed a constitutional amendment in 2006 to prohibit same sex marriage. In 2014, in the Obergefell decision, the United States Supreme Court overturned state laws, including Virginia’s, that prohibited same-sex marriage. In a concurring opinion on the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the ruling on marriage equality should also be overturned. This amendment will repeal the 2006 changes and will guarantee that two adults have the right to marry, regardless of sex, gender, or race.
The fourth, and final, amendment relates to redistricting and does not have the same long history. In the last year, we have seen President Donald Trump go from state to state urging legislatures to redistrict before the 2026 midterms in order to preserve his own political power. Since the Baker v. Carr decision in the early 1960s and the era of modern redistricting, mid-decade redistricting of congressional districts, not ordered by a court, has occurred five times. Four of those times occurred in 2025, because of President Trump’s call for action. In order to defend our Democracy and fight back, we have fashioned a very limited Constitutional Amendment that will allow Virginia to redistrict congressional district between now and 2030 in response to the action of other states. The amendment will expire in 2030. So it is very limited in time and scope to meet the moment. Importantly, it keeps in place the Virginia Redistricting Commission.
This will be an incredibly busy session. While I am in committees or in the Senate Chamber for large chunks of the day, I always try to meet with constituents. Some of our local realtors were among the many visitors this week. If you would like to visit the Capitol or the General Assembly Building to watch us work, you can find information here.
I will use future newsletters to discuss some of the important issues that will be before us as we move forward. Thank you for allowing me to serve you in the Senate of Virginia. If I can be of service or if you have questions or comments, please contact us at (804) 698-7511 or senatordeeds@senate.virginia.gov.
Sincerely,
