The partisan distribution of the current Virginia General Assembly has been reflected in many votes this session as an augmented Democratic majority has the numbers to change the Commonwealth’s policies.
In 2020, Democrats controlled both chambers as well as the Governor’s mansion when the Clean Economy Act was passed, legislation that allowed Virginia to join an interstate compact known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
RGGI is a system where power generators pay to exceed emissions thresholds in auctions with proceeds going to member states. By the end of 2021, Virginia had participated in four events and brought in $227.6 million and nearly half of that money went to programs to prepare communities for floods. Fifty percent goes to a fund to help low-income households become more energy efficient.
In November 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin won election and Republicans regained a majority in the House of Delegates with 52 of 100 seats. One of Youngkin’s first executive orders was to direct his administration to exit RGGI. Legislation to do so was also filed.
However, Democrats had won a majority that November in the Virginia Senate with 22 of 40 seats. That meant a bill to undo the General Assembly’s previous action failed.
Youngkin moved forward anyway with a plan to leave RGGI administratively, arguing that the system was unfair to ratepayers. At the time they put their plans in motion in late summer of 2022, Virginia had collected $378 million.
In June 2023, the State Air Pollution Control Board voted 4-3 to exit the RGGI administratively. Several groups including the Southern Environmental Law Center sued, arguing that only the legislature had the power to leave the compact.
Virginia participated in its last auction in December 2023 and collected $97.4 million, for a total of $825.8 million.
Last November, a circuit court judge in Floyd County Judge agreed with the plaintiffs but the Youngkin administration planned an appeal and did not take steps to rejoin.
On March 2, the Virginia Senate adopted HB397 on a party-line 21 to 19 vote. The vote in the House of Delegates on
An impact statement included in the legislative history for HB397 notes that Virginia sold an average of 5.67 million “allowances” at each quarterly auction.
“With current trends, participating in RGGI could result in annual proceeds of approximately $115.6 million per auction or $462.6 million per fiscal year, with additional revenues resultingfrom interest,” reads the statement.
The vote in the House of Delegates on February 3, 2026 was 63 to 35 with a member of each party not voting.
On February 20, Spanberger signed the budget bill that deals with the current fiscal year. That included new directives for the Virginia Department to begin the process to rejoin RGGI. Details in the image below.
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