If you don’t think what is happening in Virginia will impact you, you are wrong.

Leave a CommentIf you don’t think what is happening in Virginia will impact you, you are wrong.Commentary, Food for Thought

If you don’t think what is happening in Virginia will impact you, you are wrong—conservative critics warn that Governor Spanberger’s rapid push for new taxes, gun restrictions, and progressive policies is serving as a deliberate test run for Democratic agendas in other blue-leaning states nationwide.

During her 2025 gubernatorial campaign, CIA operative (that’s never good), Abigail Spanberger positioned herself as a pragmatic Democrat focused on affordability. Her Affordable Virginia Plan emphasized lowering costs in healthcare (cracking down on pharmacy benefit managers to reduce drug prices), housing (cutting red tape to boost supply and homeownership), and energy (promoting efficiency to cut utility bills). She pledged bipartisan solutions, no broad tax hikes, and that families shouldn’t choose between prescriptions and groceries.

Day One Actions and Overturning Youngkin Policies

Since taking office in January 2026, Spanberger signed 10 executive orders on Day One targeting affordability, including agency reviews for cost reductions in housing, healthcare, and energy. However, she quickly rescinded Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order 47, which directed state and local law enforcement to assist ICE on immigration enforcement. This reversal, fulfilling a campaign promise, drew GOP criticism for prioritizing federal resistance over public safety.

Spanberger also moved to undo Youngkin-era education policies, such as DEI restrictions, and supported advancing gun safety measures (e.g., assault weapon bans and storage requirements) that Youngkin vetoed.

Key Proposed Bills and the “Affordable Virginia Agenda”

With Democratic majorities, Spanberger’s agenda advances through legislation. Core proposals include:

  • Rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which Youngkin exited—critics call it a “carbon tax” adding fees to electricity bills, potentially costing households hundreds annually.
  • Raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2028.
  • Creating statewide paid family and medical leave (possibly via payroll taxes).
  • Housing reforms: extending eviction notices, enabling localities to buy affordable units, and creating loan funds for mixed-income developments.

A particularly contentious element targets the gig economy and everyday personal services, with Democrats introducing over 50 tax proposals that would expand sales and use taxes to a wide array of previously untaxed or lightly taxed activities. These include new levies on dog walking and grooming, gym memberships, dry cleaning, home repairs, vehicle repairs, counseling, event admissions (such as concerts), storage facilities, and non-medical personal services like hair care, nail care, tanning, and landscaping. Delivery services face hits too, with proposed fees on Amazon, DoorDash, Uber Eats, FedEx, and UPS orders—especially in Northern Virginia—while rideshare platforms like Uber and Lyft could see a statewide 4.3% tax plus an additional 1.9% surcharge in high-demand areas, totaling up to 6.2%.

Critics slam these as nickel-and-dime grabs that directly burden gig workers, small businesses, independent contractors, and middle-class families relying on flexible, app-based services for convenience or supplemental income. Republicans label the package a blatant “tax grab” that contradicts Spanberger’s no-broad-tax-hike pledges and affordability rhetoric, arguing it will raise costs on routine tasks and discourage entrepreneurship in the growing gig sector.

In addition, she is planning higher income brackets (up to 10% for millionaires), expansions to sales taxes, and targeted taxes on deliveries or firearms. These contradict no-tax-hike pledges, with Republicans labeling it a “tax grab.”

Subsidizing government workers

Under Spanberger’s agenda, Virginia Democrats have advanced legislation like House Bill 164 and Senate Bill 328 that removes the previous $25,000 cap on taxpayer-funded homeownership grants, allowing local governments to provide unlimited grants (using local funds, often derived from taxpayer dollars) to buy homes for their own employees—including teachers, bureaucrats, firefighters, and other public sector workers—to help them afford housing in high-cost areas. Critics argue this prioritizes government workers over private-sector Virginians, potentially driving up housing prices through increased demand while burdening everyday taxpayers who foot the bill without similar assistance. (Seniors may recall the “Zil lanes” for favored Soviet bureaucrats.)

Outlook for Virginia Taxpayers

Proponents argue these policies deliver long-term savings through efficiency, housing supply increases, and energy programs funded by RGGI proceeds (e.g., for low-income efficiency and flood mitigation). Yet critics highlight immediate burdens: RGGI could raise utility rates significantly, while payroll taxes for leave and new service taxes strain middle-class budgets.

Amid federal policy shifts, Spanberger avoids broad general fund hikes but relies on fees, mandates, and targeted levies. Early polls show voter skepticism if everyday costs don’t drop soon. Republicans warn of eroding her centrist image through progressive shifts.