General Assembly rejects Virginia Gov. Spanberger's amendments to key policy initiatives

Kate Seltzer, The Virginian-Pilot on Apr 22, 2026

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RICHMOND, Va. — The General Assembly effectively rejected a number of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s proposed amendments to key policies, including the creation of a legal retail cannabis market, a ban on assault weapons and allowing public sector employees to collectively bargain. The legislature reconvened Wednesday to take up the governor’s proposed amendments and vetoes.

Both the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates and the Senate voted to pass by those amended bills and others. That means the bills as they initially passed the legislature will head back to Spanberger’s desk for take-it-or-leave-it signing or vetoes — she’ll either have to accept versions of the legislation she was initially unhappy with or risk angering her own party with outright rejections. The governor will have another 30 days to make the decision.

Here are some amendments the legislature shut down Wednesday.

Cannabis

Spanberger’s rewrite of the retail cannabis legislation introduced

new criminal penalties and scrapped language specifying how tax revenue generated from sales would benefit historically disadvantaged groups. The bill’s sponsors initially said they could live with the changes but cautioned there were concerns about fairness and public safety.

If Spanberger vetoes the legislation without the amendments, Virginians’ ability to legally buy and sell cannabis would be pushed off yet again. The commonwealth has existed in a legal limbo since decriminalization was passed in 2021, insofar as Virginians can possess small quantities of cannabis but not buy or sell it.

Likewise, the legislature passed by an amended bill that would create a process for people previously convicted of cannabis crimes before decriminalization to have an automatic hearing to consider sentence modification. Spanberger’s amendments would have created a petition-based hearing system.

Assault weapons

Spanberger’s proposed amendments to a ban on the sale and purchase of assault firearms would have included some additional guns in the ban and exempted some commonly used for hunting turkeys.

Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, D-Fairfax, sponsored the legislation in the Senate and said earlier this week that he intended to vote in favor of the amendments and that they kept with the intended spirit of the bill.

Collective bargaining

Labor advocates have been critical of Spanberger’s significant amendments to the repeal of the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The amendments would not have allowed local government employees to do so until 2030. The governor said the amendments would give localities time and flexibility to implement collective bargaining.

“We’ve fought too hard, for too long, to accept a bill that weakens and delays our rights. We’re grateful to the General Assembly for standing with us and rejecting the substitute bill,” said Jeanne Robinson, a home care worker and member of the Virginia 512 chapter of the Service Employees International Union. “Governor Spanberger now has the opportunity to sign historic collective bargaining legislation into law that delivers on her promise to workers across Virginia. We call on her to sign the bill.”

Health

The General Assembly passed bills requiring Virginia employers to grant paid sick leave, at least one hour for every 30 hours worked. Spanberger’s proposed amendments would have more narrowly defined who qualifies as a family member that employees could use sick leave to care for.

The legislature also rejected amendments to the Prescription Drug Affordability Board, the goal of which is to study the costs of prescription drugs and make sure federally negotiated price caps are applied to state insurance plans. The governor proposed a reenactment clause, which would have required the General Assembly to pass the legislation again next year.

Immigration

Lawmakers voted to accept an amendment to a bill that requires law enforcement agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to agree to certain parameters in order to enter into formal agreements. The agreements, known as 287(g) agreements, deputize local law enforcement officers to act as immigration enforcement agents.

They passed by amendments to two other ICE-related bills, one that prevents law enforcement agents from covering their faces with exceptions for health and safety reasons like protecting from toxic substances, and one that prevents immigration arrests at courthouses and other protected spaces without a valid judicial warrant. Salim, the Senate patron for the bills, said the amendments for the latter bills “fall short of the urgent need to protect immigrant communities and uphold basic principles of fairness, dignity, and public safety.”

The General Assembly was still working through proposed amendments at time of writing. The legislature also has the option to accept some, but not all of the governor’s proposed amendments per bill.

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(Staff writer Emma Rose Brown contributed to this report.)

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