Dear Friend-
It is time for my annual General Assembly session recap. Settle in — there is a lot to report!
Virginia appropriately began this historic year for our country — our 250th anniversary — by making some history of our own: our first woman Governor in Virginia’s 400+ year history.
It’s about damn time.
A General Assembly session is like jumping on a moving rocket. We have eight weeks to do all of the business of the Commonwealth, and the velocity at which we work is remarkable. We passed approximately 1200 bills (compare that to the current Congress, which passed 77 bills in its first 15 months!). Of those, roughly a third passed unanimously, and another third passed with bipartisan support. So two thirds of the legislation we passed was bipartisan. We are proud of the fact that we do much better than our friends across the Potomac when it comes to partisanship.
But that is not to say the hyper-partisanship that is afflicting our country does not exist in Richmond. And that affliction was certainly exacerbated when the question of whether to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts before the national midterms -– in response to the President’s actions -– was injected into the debate.
Despite all that, we completed what I believe was an enormously consequential session, in which we addressed many of the important issues Virginians have been facing in their daily lives. That was made possible, of course, by the Democratic majorities we have in the House and Senate and with Governor Spanberger in the Governor’s mansion — all focused like a laser on the affordability agenda which was the centerpiece of last year’s campaign.
I hope that you and your household can take some time to read about the legislation my team and I worked on this year. Though lengthy, this letter is a thorough overview of the progress made this session for the benefit of the 6th District and all Virginians.
I had nineteen bills become law out of the thirty-one I introduced. One remains in limbo as the budget negotiations continue. More on that later.
Illegal, Loud, Annoying Mufflers (HB 55): This one required persistence. Not only did Governor Youngkin veto it last year, but it came close to dying in the Senate when I brought it back this year. But it eventually passed and Governor Spanberger has signed it. We have all endured the incredibly loud sound of after-market mufflers, which are not only illegal but a nuisance having an enormous impact on our quality of life. Working with the Fairfax Board of Supervisors — who made this bill one of their priorities — Fairfax (and several other localities) will now be able to pilot new technology to identify and ticket (and thus deter) offenders. Music to our ears!
Expanded Internship Opportunities for Young Virginians (HB 54): This law will create new opportunities for students to get internships throughout our state government, helping them expand their work experiences and strengthen our state government employee workforce development efforts.
Improving Virginia’s Red Flag Law (HB 901 and HB 896): Virginia’s Substantial Risk Order law (also known as the Red Flag Law) has been saving lives since I passed it in 2020. But its use has been spotty around the Commonwealth, and it is clear that most Virginians still don’t know it is a potential life-saving option when a family member or friend is showing signs of causing harm to themselves or others with a firearm. HB 901 will make the process more accessible to ask a judge -– after hearing evidence -– to temporarily remove a gun from someone the judge finds to be a risk to self or others. HB 896 will create an education program to ensure that our law enforcement, medical and mental health professionals, educators, and the general public know how to access the process. Together I know these laws will help avoid needless tragedies throughout Virginia.
Energy Storage (HB 895): This bill is among the most consequential bills we passed this session. The rapidly growing demand for electricity — mostly from data centers -– has created new challenges to the reliability and affordability of our grid and made our road to a clean energy economy even steeper. When I passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) in 2020, which set Virginia on a course to 100% clean energy by mid-century, data centers were not yet having the enormous impact on our grid that they are having now. But we knew from the beginning that the VCEA would need to be flexible and would necessarily have to adapt to changing circumstances and technology. HB 895 does just that: it adapts, strengthens, and improves the VCEA.
HB 895 is founded on the growing consensus that the ability to store more energy will enhance grid reliability and affordability and be essential to meeting our energy needs. It makes Virginia the national leader in developing short and long duration energy storage. It requires our utilities to accelerate their development of battery and other energy storage assets so that we can store energy when it is abundant and less expensive and use it when demand increases and electricity becomes more expensive -– keeping Virginians’ electricity bills low. It also adds flexibility and reliability to the grid when demand spikes during heat waves, cold snaps, or other grid-stressing events, providing immediately dispatchable energy when and where it is needed. HB 895 is a game changer and passed with bipartisan support.
Compensation for Messiah Johnson (HB 1472): Readers of this space know that throughout my General Assembly career I have been involved in the process by which the Commonwealth compensates people wrongfully imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. We can’t right the wrong — we can’t go back in time and give these people back the portion of their lives they have missed — but we can compensate them to help them put their lives back together. I have lost count, but I have carried compensation bills for more than a dozen wrongfully incarcerated Virginians.
Messiah Johnson is one such Virginian. In 1998 he was convicted of a robbery he did not commit and sentenced to 132 years in prison. He maintained his innocence throughout and served more than 20 years before receiving an absolute pardon based on his petition for a writ of actual innocence. HB 1472 compensates Mr. Johnson for those lost years, and he is now back in his community with his family, and running his own business.
Data Center Reform (HB 323 and HB 897)
The impact of data centers on our commonwealth, our communities, and our power grid was one of the dominant issues of the session. I carried two bills intended to make the data center industry become part of the solution to the challenges they have created.
Waste Heat Reuse (HB 323): Data centers create enormous amounts of heat, and cooling them is one of the main drivers of their huge energy consumption. In many places around the world and around the country -– but not yet in Virginia -– the heat produced by data centers is reused in other nearby buildings. At last year’s Olympics in Paris, for instance, the swimming pool was heated by a nearby data center. Factories, schools, commercial buildings or even housing can be heated using the waste heat from a data center. And reusing its heat can reduce a data center’s power demand by up to 30%, lower costs for the recipient, and reduce the carbon footprint for both. The technology is relatively simple; it’s the policy driver that has been missing.
Virginia needs to become a leader in identifying and facilitating opportunities to reuse data center heat. HB 323 directs our Department to Energy to focus on this untapped potential.
Data Center Clean Energy Requirements/Energy Efficiency (HB 897): I have worked on HB 897 for two years. If data centers are going to be here in Virginia benefitting from our generous tax exemption, they need to step up and be part of the solution to the energy and environmental challenges they have created. HB 897 would require data centers, in return for receiving our tax exemption, to wean themselves off dirty and loud diesel-powered back-up generators, use and facilitate the creation of more clean energy in Virginia, and be as energy efficient as technologically possible.
HB 897 failed in the Senate, but a version of it was included in the House budget. As I write this letter the House and Senate are still at an impasse on our budget, with data centers at the heart of the disagreement. I hope that, as part of the eventual agreement, data centers will be held to strong environmental standards like those in HB 897 to ensure economic, environmental, and grid-enhancing benefits for all Virginians.
Shared Solar (HB 807 and HB 809): Six years ago we authorized initial, modest shared solar programs for both Dominion and Appalachian Power. Shared solar allows homeowners, renters, and businesses to subscribe to a shared solar project and receive credits on their electric bills for the power generated. It provides a way to access solar energy without installing roof panels, and to reduce electric bills. HB 807 and HB 809 significantly expand the Dominion and ApCo programs and make solar power available to more Virginians.
Bullying in Private Schools (HB 894): The idea for this bill was brought to me by constituents who tragically lost their son to suicide after he was bullied at his school and online. They never knew about the bullying. While our public schools are required to have anti-bullying policies which include parental notification of such incidents, private schools are not. Until now. HB 894 requires private schools in Virginia to have anti-bullying policies in place and to include notice to parents of confirmed cases of bullying against their children. Charlie’s parents hope their family’s tragedy and this new law will spare another family in the future.
Health Insurance Essential Health Benefits (HB 328): I chair the Health Insurance Reform Commission (HIRC), and this bill was the result of its hard work over the last several years analyzing numerous bills brought in the General Assembly which would require insurance coverage in the exchange plans for various medical conditions. The bill requires the Bureau of Insurance to select a new essential health benefits benchmark plan for the 2028 plan year that includes, in addition to the essential health benefits package already in the existing benchmark plan, coverage for:
(i) doula care services
(ii) the treatment of iatrogenic infertility
(iii) fertility treatment and diagnosis (including IVF)
(iv) hearing aids for individuals of all ages
(v) pasteurized donor human breast milk
(vi) the treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (commonly referred to as PANS and PANDAS)
(vii) the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome.
The new benefits will make an enormous difference in the lives of Virginians facing these health issues.
Relatedly, we also passed my HB 813 and HB 826, which make certain clarifying technical changes to the role and duties of the HIRC going forward, and HB 327, which directs the State Corporation Commission to apply for an extension of the existing State Innovation Waiver. That waiver allows the Commonwealth to implement its reinsurance program, which helps keep health insurance premiums low. The bill also removes the 20 percent upper limit of the premium reduction goal under the reinsurance program.
Mental Health Awareness Training for our Firefighters (HB 325): I was honored to bring this bill at the request of Fairfax Firefighters Local 2068. Our firefighting heroes work under enormous stress and risk their lives for us every day. The incidence of PTSD and other mental health issues facing firefighters is staggering. HB 325 directs the Department of Fire Programs to develop a standardized training program on mental health awareness tailored to firefighters. We owe them nothing less.
Performance-Based Regulatory Tools (HB 903): This bill was a recommendation of the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (on which I sit) and builds on the work done by the SCC which was required by a bill I passed two sessions ago. Based on the results of the SCC’s successful study, HB 903 directs the SCC to take the next step and consider whether elements of an effective performance-based regulatory framework to improve electric utility performance and cost control incentives are in the public interest, and to develop legislative recommendations for the General Assembly. Under the current regulatory framework utilities only make money by building new generation facilities and selling more electricity. Those are the wrong incentives. We need to change those incentives and reward our utilities for being more efficient, building lower-cost generation facilities, and selling less electricity because they promote energy efficiency, all while maintaining reliability. The bill requires the Commission to report its findings and recommendations by July 1, 2027.
Reform of Divorce Law (HB 303 and HB 304): HB 303 makes the divorce process less confrontational, less harmful to children, and less expensive. It does not make it easier or faster to get divorced or reduce the opportunity for reconciliation. It also creates a work group to consider whether to eliminate fault-based grounds for divorce in Virginia and to submit its report no later than December 1, 2026.
HB 304 addresses a common problem facing divorcing couples: keeping the family home. It requires lenders to include provisions in Virginia mortgages to make them assumable by either spouse at the existing interest rate upon a divorce, so long as the assuming borrower qualifies for the loan. Too often divorcing couples are forced to sell the family home because the mortgage is not assumable. HB 304 fixes that problem.
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There were many other session highlights. I suspect you already know, for instance, that Governor Spanberger vetoed the Tysons Casino bill! In the more than 50 years I have lived in McLean I have never seen an issue galvanize our community like this one has. I suspect the bill’s sponsors will try again, so stay vigilant. We may face this issue again.
We also approved four proposed amendments to Virginia’s constitution. In addition to the redistricting amendment Virginia voters passed on April 21, there will be three proposed amendments on your ballot this November: one protecting a woman’s reproductive rights, one preserving voting rights, and one removing the current prohibition on same sex marriage (yes, that is still in Virginia’s constitution!?) and replacing it with an amendment protecting the right to marry whomever you choose.
I was also involved as chief co-patron in a variety of other important bills, including bills promoting small solar installations in more urban and suburban parts of Virginia (solar panels on apartment balconies and over parking lots), encouraging agrivoltaics (the pairing or solar and farming), requiring data centers to be flexible in their energy demands, and reducing access to assault weapons.
Thank you for reading this far. As regular readers of this space have come to expect, and new readers have now realized, this letter is too long. But I have found 6th District residents to be very engaged and eager to know about developments in their General Assembly. And I had a lot to report!
I want to close by emphasizing how proud I am – and I hope you are – of the work that was accomplished by your representatives in Richmond this session. We addressed energy costs, making health care more accessible and affordable, the housing shortage, child care, family leave, and many other issues facing Virginia’s families. Virginians will be feeling the positive impacts of the actions we took this session for years to come.
And while the 2026 General Assembly has come to a close, my team and I will continue to work with constituents on issues important to you, and engage with the 6th District community. And we are already preparing for another consequential General Assembly session in January 2027.
My staff and I are here to help the residents of the 6th District. If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to call my office at 571-210-5876 or email me at
delrsullivan@house.virginia.gov.
For more information, please visit my website: www.ripsullivan.com. You can also follow
me on X (twitter) at @Ripsullivan6, on Facebook at facebook.com/RipSullivanVA, or on Instagram at @ripsullivan6.
My best wishes to you and yours. I hope you have a great summer.
Best,
Delegate Rip Sullivan
6th District of Virginia