Grab your popcorn: Gov. Abigail Spanberger will give the Democratic Party’s rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday. And the legal saga over state Democrats’ redistricting push continues. 

Below, I share an update on Virginia Democrats’ push to lower the cost of living in Virginia. 

And I share how union membership is developing in Virginia as Trump attacks labor rights. 

The Virginia House of Delegates on February 19, 2026. (Michael O’Connor/Dogwood)

I drove to Richmond today hoping to write a story on legislation that would let domestic workers get overtime pay. 

But the committee that had the bill on the docket didn’t offer much by way of news, so I shifted gears and decided to work up an update on Democrats’ affordability agenda. (Stay tuned for my coverage of that legislation for domestic workers).

I caught the eye of state Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling (D-Henrico) and asked her if she could offer a “general update.” 

“A general update?” she said, breaking into laughter alongside state Del. Michael Feggans (D-Virginia Beach). 

I had to laugh too: It was a broad question, and Democrats’ affordability agenda covers so many topics. It was kind of like asking for a general update on the Trump administration: where to begin? 

Still, being on deadline has a way of making you buckle down, so I tried again. 

And I got some good comments from LeVere Bolling and Feggans about their party’s efforts to lower the cost of energy, health care, and housing.

• Two state lawmakers told me that the conversation isn’t over about which workers get covered by the public sector collective bargaining legislation Democrats are trying to pass. Labor advocates hope home care workers and higher education workers get included.

• State and local officials announced plans to redevelop historic structures at Fort Monroe into housing, Toby Cox at WHRO reports. 

• The Virginia House passed a data center tax exemption with conditions, Charles Paullin at Inside Climate News reports. 

United Campus Workers of Virginia rallying in Richmond in January. (Michael O’Connor/Dogwood)

Yesterday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report on union membership. 

It found, as the Economic Policy Institute reports, that in 2025, 16.5 million workers in the United States were represented by a union—an increase of 463,000 from 2024 and the highest number of unionized workers in the US in 16 years.

In Virginia, the number of workers represented by a union rose from 229,000 in 2024 to 244,000 in 2025. 

Those numbers could rise significantly if Democrats expand collective bargaining rights to thousands of Virginia state and local government workers.  

Unsplash/K. Mitch Hodge

My new favorite podcast is just a guy talking about how myths explain everything. 

It’s called the Living Myth Podcast and the guy doing the talking is named Michael Meade. 

In the latest episode, he tells the story of an old woman making a garment in a cave. A dog destroys the garment. As the old woman looks at the threads, she envisions an even more beautiful garment to make. 

The lesson for today? We will build a better world from the broken pieces of this one. 

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