David Suetterlein
Senator
The 2026 General Assembly Regular Session is racing towards its scheduled March 14 “Sine Die” adjournment. The Virginia Senate and its committee system is working through the 849 House bills that earlier passed the House of Delegates while the 520 advanced Senate bills are similarly being considered by the House of Delegates.
Bipartisan Career & Technical Education Bills Advance
The House of Delegates has already passed five of my Senate bills with bipartisan support, including two that expand career and technical education. Senate Bill 10 expands apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities for 16+ year old students in information technology and culinary fields. Senate Bill 203 expands some avenues to ease the licensure of career and technical education teachers. Both bills are strongly backed by our local Chamber of Commerce and local public schools. I’m optimistic that the success of these programs will allow us to further expand opportunities in other fields in the near future.
VA Senate Tax and Spending Votes
Both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates considered a number of tax and spending proposals on Thursday. Tax and spending proposals require 21 affirmative votes in the Virginia Senate as well as passage by the House of Delegates before being advanced to the Governor. Notable votes include:
Eliminate Car Tax & Backfill Localities
19 Yes – 21 No — I voted Yes — Failed
Eliminate Grocery Tax & Backfill Localities
19 Yes – 21 No — I voted Yes (this was my proposal) — Failed
New 11% Gun and Ammo Tax
21 Yes – 19 No — I voted No — Passed
3% Teacher Pay Increase
40 Yes – 0 No — I voted Yes — Passed
360% Legislative Pay Increase
21 Yes – 19 No — I voted No — Passed
$100 Taxpayer Rebate
40 Yes – 0 No — I voted Yes — Passed
Extend & Increase Standard Deduction
40 Yes – 0 No — I voted Yes (this was in part my proposal) — Passed
New Employer & Employee Payroll Tax
21 Yes – 19 No — I voted No — Passed
Reinstate Carbon Tax
21 Yes – 19 No — I voted No — Passed
Prescription Drug Affordability Board
31 Yes – 9 No — I voted Yes — Passed
End Data Center Tax Exemption
28 Yes – 12 No — I voted Yes — Passed
End College Tuition Cap
21 Yes – 19 No — I voted No — Passed
Additional Local Rescue Squad Support
40 Yes – 0 No — I voted Yes — Passed
The proposals that passed are now heading to the House of Delegates’ Appropriations Committee. I am happy to work with anyone to lower costs for working Virginians. During this General Assembly, I have appreciated collaborative efforts with Senator Creigh Deeds and Delegate Sam Rasoul to lower electric bills and make prescription drugs more affordable and with Senator Louise Lucas to extend the standard deduction. Each of these efforts is ongoing and I sincerely appreciate their support.
At the same time though, it is incredibly disappointing that no Senate Democrats were willing to join efforts to finally end the car tax or fully eliminate the grocery tax despite Governor Spanberger’s rhetoric. Instead, Senate Democrats have been working on a partisan basis to create a new payroll tax, reinstate the misguided carbon tax that increases electric bills, end the college tuition cap, and triple legislators’ own pay.
Gerrymandering Referendum Voting Begins Friday, March 6
Television is being flooded by ads from out-of-state groups advocating a Yes vote so their preferred politicians can run in rigged, gerrymandered districts. Virginians in every community except Arlington, rightfully voted to end politicians drawing their own districts in 2020 and these out-of-state groups are trying to bring back gerrymandering.
Former Fairfax Democratic State Senator Chap Petersen and former Roanoke Valley Republican Delegate William Fralin have teamed up to lead a bipartisan effort to uphold the anti-gerrymandering constitutional provision adopted by voters by a two-to-one one margin in 2020. Visit NoGerrymanderingVA.org to learn more about the bipartisan effort to defeat the gerrymandering effort by voting No.
Voting on the Gerrymandering Referendum will begin on March 6 at local Registrar offices. Visit the Virginia Department of Elections website to see where you can vote.
Share Your Views & Track Legislation
There are still hundreds of votes that will be taken during the General Assembly and we want to hear from you. You can share your views by emailing David@Suetterlein.com or by calling 540-302-8486. You can also read every bill and track votes through the Legislative Information System at https://lis.virginia.gov.
