Halftime Report: 2026 Virginia General Assembly Session

February 19, 2026

Here in Richmond, time has flown by! Shortly after the start of legislative session, we saw the inauguration of Virginia’s first female Governor, Abigail Spanberger, being sworn in as the 75th Governor of Virginia. In addition, former Senator Ghazala Hashmi was sworn in as Virginia’s second woman Lieutenant Governor, and first Muslim statewide, while former Delegate Jay Jones was sworn in as the first Black Attorney General.

The General Assembly this week has hit “Crossover”, the legislative midway point of the Legislative Session. At this point on the calendar, a bill that started in the House must have passed through the House to then ‘crossover’ to the Senate, and legislation that started in the Senate has to have been passed through the Senate to ‘crossover’ to the House. Once legislation passes from the chamber of introduction, it begins the legislative process over again in the opposite body.

We’re pleased to report that the Virginia REALTORS® legislative agenda remains in strong shape, thanks in no small part to your efforts! Between visiting us here in Richmond as part of our Day on the Hill program and responding to our Call For Action in late January, we and most importantly the legislators have felt your continued support!

With nine bills in each chamber, running eighteen overall pieces of legislation could at times be challenging, but with your help and investments to RPAC, our relationships in the General Assembly are stronger than ever. This puts the Virginia REALTORS® legislative agenda on a strong path for the remaining four weeks of session. Your lobbying team, General Counsel Erin Kormann, Chief Lobbyist Mary Lawson, and Vice President for Government Relations D.J. Spiker, have been a strong, impactful voice for the Virginia REALTORS®.

The Virginia REALTORS®’ Public Policy Committee again has done considerable work during this session, evaluating nearly 150 bills on the PPC Action list, determining whether or not a bill should be supported, opposed, amended, or monitored. It also remains a testament to our incredible General Counsel Erin Kormann who spends an inordinate amount of time meeting with legislators and stakeholders working to amend their bills to negate any impact on Virginia REALTORS®.

We’d also like to give a special thanks to those elected officials who are carrying our Legislative Agenda this session: Delegates Kimberly Pope Adams, Gretchen Bulova, Michael Feggans, Michelle Maldonado, Holly Seibold, Briana Sewell, Marcus Simon and Josh Thomas; Senators Emily Jordan, Jeremy McPike, Russet Perry, Todd Pillion, David Suetterlein, and Scott Surovell.

Also, a big thank you to those of you taken time out of your busy schedules to visit us here in Richmond for our local association Days on the Hill! We enjoyed having you here to visit the Capitol and advocate on behalf of our industry. This year’s program has seen record participation, with 23 of our 28 associations participating. We look forward to seeing many more of you in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned for more updates on our social media platforms, and onto the second half of Session!

Respond

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