Governor Abigail Spanberger sent the General Assembly fourteen last-minute changes to Virginia’s budget on Friday night.

By Monday, June 29, the Democrat majorities had swallowed every one — mostly along party lines, with little debate. A two-year, roughly $207 billion plan became law that no one would sign.

The Fight Was Never Whether to Tax You. Only How Much.

For three months, Virginia Democrats argued over this budget. Not over whether to take more of your money — over how to collect it.

The result is a record plan that runs through June 2028, finished 100 days late. Republicans voted no. The scene on the House floor Monday said the rest.

House Republicans after the House voted to approve all of Gov. Spanberger’s budget amendments pic.twitter.com/PlqaHP0dNF

— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) June 29, 2026

Virginia Writes Its Budget Two Years at a Time. Democrats Couldn’t Finish on Time.

It works like this. Virginia passes a budget every two years — a “biennial” budget — covering two fiscal years that each run July 1 to June 30.

The governor proposes it by December 20. The House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee rewrite it, a conference committee settles the differences, and the bill goes back to the governor.

From there the governor has four choices: sign it, veto the whole thing, strike individual line items, or send it back with recommended amendments. Spanberger chose the amendments. The General Assembly approved them by simple majority.

So why 100 days late? The regular session ended with no deal. Democrats had deadlocked — with each other — over data centers.

The standoff dragged into a special session and a June 29 vote, and pushed Virginia to the edge of its first-ever partial government shutdown. When the old budget expires June 30, so does the state’s power to spend a dime.

Democrats Spent Months Fighting Each Other Over Data Centers. You Pay Either Way.

Virginia is the data-center capital of the world, and those server farms have long enjoyed a sales-tax break worth about $2 billion a year.

Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas (D) wanted to claw that break back to fund spending. Spanberger and the House Democrats wanted to keep it — the fight that divided lawmakers and ate the spring.

The compromise keeps the tax break — and bills you for it. A brand-new tax on the electricity those server farms burn: $0.011 per kilowatt-hour, capped at $600 million a year for the state treasury. A new Dominion rate class hits your bill in 2027.

Read that again. Lucas wanted the break clawed back. Spanberger wanted it kept. Both sides landed in the same place — a new charge on your power, in a state already paying some of the fastest-rising electric bills in America.

One Republican said it out loud back in March, while Democrats were still fighting over the math.

“Increase Virginians’ electric bills to power the data centers. Now add more taxes to their paychecks and undermine their Second Amendment rights. Raise the legislators’ pay by 300%.

Now tell them the $2 billion for Big Tech donors and data centers is necessary for Virginia to… https://t.co/2n7Az5Jwvk

— Glen Sturtevant (@GlenSturtevant) March 12, 2026

4% for Teachers, a New Charge on Your Power Bill, and a 2A Rollback Delayed — Not Dropped

Strip away the fight, and the budget hits Fairfax households in concrete ways, by the agreement lawmakers approved:

• Raises of 4% a year for teachers and 3.5% for state employees.
• A higher standard deduction — $8,750 to $9,200 for single filers, $17,500 to $18,400 for married couples.
• Legislator pay rising to $50,000.
• Retail marijuana sales beginning July 2027.
• A renewed Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) — the multi-state carbon program — with about a $3-a-month rebate for Dominion customers. Three dollars back in one hand. The new power tax takes more with the other.
• A new firearm restriction in public areas — delayed to July 2027, not repealed.

House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore (R) backed the teacher raises but would not call the rest a win. “We finally passed the budget and got it moving finally today, 100 days late,” he told reporters Monday.

Republicans voted no — 16 in the Senate, 22 in the House. They warned about your electric bills. They warned about your paychecks. The Democrat majority heard every warning and passed it anyway.

The Budget Is Law Now. Spanberger Never Signed.

Because the General Assembly adopted all fourteen amendments, the budget became law without Spanberger’s signature. There was no shutdown. The new spending starts July 1, 2026. No line-item vetoes were reported.

The budget is done. The bill is yours.

Every member of the House of Delegates and all 40 state Senate seats — including Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D, SD-34, Mount Vernon), who helped negotiate it — are on the ballot November 3, 2027. Spanberger can’t run for re-election. They can.

Remember the power tax.