Spanberger details affordability measures in health care, energy, housing (copy) (copy) (copy)
Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger on Thursday unveiled a series of specific, often highly technical bills aimed at reining in rising health care and energy costs and at expanding affordable housing.
The legislation tackles medication costs, rising Affordable Care Act premiums, help with insulating homes to cut utility bills and help for renters facing eviction.
“Our mandate is to get things done. Not to grandstand, not to gloat, but to come together for a stronger, safer, and — importantly — a more affordable Virginia,” Spanberger said.
Democratic lawmakers said the measures are needed in response to President Donald Trump's health care cuts and tariff increases.
"Thanks for nothing, Mr. Trump, we got it. You can focus on building a ballroom, we'll focus on lowering costs for working families,” said House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth.
“Today we stand united, House, Senate, a brand-new, shiny governor, behind the affordable Virginia agenda. We're taking on the bills families feel every single month. We're working to lower those bills,” he added.
Some of the legislation is already filed, some is revived from last year after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s vetoes and some of it is new.
House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, said: “After some irresponsible vetoes by Governor Youngkin, I'm excited to see us work to lower prescription drug costs and to work to navigate access to health care and make it easier by addressing prior authorization."
Health care
On health care, Spanberger and Democratic legislators will push legislation to cut the power of pharmacy benefit managers, the firms that insurers and employers hire to run their prescription drug benefits.
This bill would bar pharmacy benefit managers from steering patients to their affiliated pharmacies. It would require that drug rebates be passed through to health plans or patients.
It would also set new rules for how pharmacy benefit managers deal with pharmacies, which have complained they’re being squeezed by the benefit managers' unfair dealing.
Another health care measure would limit how often insurance companies can make patients get special approval before getting medicines for chronic conditions as well as for some cancer-related care.
"We will hold pharmacy benefit managers accountable for hiking up drug costs. We will make it easier for Virginians to see the provider they need," Spanberger said.
Spanberger also wants to see a pilot program to provide assistance with premiums for Virginians likely to drop Affordable Care Act coverage as their bills soar with the expiration of enhanced tax credits.
Noting that Trump and Speaker of the U.S. House Mike Johnson never acted to extend the credits, Spanberger said the resulting spikes in Obamacare coverage "don't just impact those who utilize those subsidies ... overall cost for everyone will go up."
She also wants to revive a measure, House Bill 1639 from the 2025 session, that would bar insurers from applying a surcharge on tobacco users’ premiums.
The aim was to encourage smokers to get insurance and so bring down the cost for all. Youngkin vetoed the measure, saying it would require non-smokers to subsidize smokers’ generally costlier care.
Energy
For energy, Spanberger called for regulation changes to allow small-scale plug-in solar panels – the kind of panels that can be installed on an apartment balcony, for instance.
An already-introduced measure, House Bill 2, is part of her energy agenda. The bill would require electric utilities to expand programs that help low-income customers improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
So are House Bill 3, and Senate Bill 5. They would direct the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to establish a task force to develop a plan to eliminate barriers to current energy efficiency programs.
Spanberger wants to bring back last year’s vetoed measures to set energy storage system targets for electric utilities, House Bill 2537 and Senate Bill 1394. This idea won unanimous support in the state Senate and bipartisan backing in the House of Delegates.
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Youngkin vetoed it, saying the “Virginia Clean Economy Act is failing Virginians. Adding in requirements for the petitioning of additional storage technologies will not change the fact that the law is misguided and does not work.”
Spanberger’s energy package also includes highly technical bills about forecasting demand for power and tracking load on the transmission lines.
Housing
On housing, Spanberger wants to revive a measure from the 2025 session that has already emerged for the 2026 session as Senate Bill 48. It would extend the grace period that tenants facing eviction have to come up with overdue rent.
Youngkin vetoed the bill from the 2025 session, saying that “since tenants may already halt eviction proceedings by paying any amount of overdue rent, this bill is unnecessary.”
Spanberger also wants to expand a pilot program that provides flexible financial assistance to prevent vulnerable Virginians from getting evicted.
Another housing measure, already filed as House Bill 4, would give local governments a first right of refusal to acquire affordable multi-family housing when the owner wants to sell or convert a project supported by tax credits.
Other housing programs include establishing a revolving loan program that provides lower-interest loans for builders of mixed-income developments and increasing bond financing for affordable housing projects.
Spanberger also wants to revive a 2025 measure, Senate Bill 1313, that said any locality can amend its zoning ordinance to create an affordable housing program by allowing more dense development. Currently only Albemarle and Loudoun counties can do this, along with Alexandria, Charlottesville and Fairfax City.
Youngkin vetoed this idea, saying it was unnecessary.
Spanberger said Thursday: “We will give every locality the option to increase the supply of affordable housing in their community. We will protect the long-term availability of affordable housing, and we will cut the red tape and bureaucracy in order to make it easier for companies to build housing that first-time homebuyers and future workforce members can actually afford,” Spanberger said.
House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said the proposals "appear focused on the right priorities," but added "we have serious concerns about how these problems are being addressed."
He said the housing proposals don't appear to him to be focused on increasing the supply of new homes while he believes setting targets for battery storage could boost electric rates.
Dave Ress (804) 649-6948
Times-Dispatch reporter Michael Martz contributed to this report
