Gov. Abigail Spanberger lays out 'Affordable Virginia' agenda in joint address

Gov. Abigail Davis Spanberger addressed the General Assembly in a joint assembly at the Capitol in Richmond on Jan. 19, 2026, urging legislators of both parties to pass what she called an "Affordable Virginia" agenda aimed at lowering costs for families in health care, housing and energy.

Spanberger, who noted she had been in office 48 hours, said her administration had already issued executive actions ordering cabinet secretaries and agency leaders to identify ways to reduce costs and to submit reports within 90 days. "We need to cut red tape," she said, describing a new commission on unlocking housing production and a multiagency review of regulations and permitting that she said impede housing construction.

The governor walked through priorities she said required legislative action: reforming pharmacy benefit manager practices so rebates "go back to patients, not corporate middlemen"; targeted premium assistance to stabilize Affordable Care Act marketplace costs; and investments to strengthen the health-care workforce in underserved areas. On energy, Spanberger said Virginia would expand energy storage and weatherization programs and would rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), arguing the program previously generated "hundreds of millions of dollars" used for flood mitigation and efficiency programs.

On housing, she proposed extending the statutory response window for tenants from five days after a landlord files to two weeks to give families more time to respond, empower local governments to adopt tailored affordable‑housing programs, and create a revolving loan fund to support mixed‑income development. "We have a housing shortage in Virginia," she said, adding that these steps would help retain graduates and workers.

Spanberger also announced an economic resiliency task force to coordinate the state's response to federal funding cuts and said her administration would pursue paid family and medical leave, guaranteed paid sick days, expanded child-care subsidies and a $15 minimum wage. She framed the agenda as pragmatic, appealing to both parties to work together to deliver results for Virginians.

The address included multiple policy claims and statistics offered by the governor (for example, that "more than 70% of Virginians say they can't find housing they can reasonably afford"). These figures were presented as part of her remarks and were not accompanied by source citations during the speech.

Spanberger closed by invoking civic duty and a call for respectful, bipartisan governance. The joint assembly received her remarks, then adjourned; the Senate returned to its chamber and later adjourned for the day.

Sources: remarks delivered by Governor Abigail Davis Spanberger to a joint assembly, Jan. 19, 2026.