Hello, 

Abigail Spanberger was inaugurated as Virginia’s new governor over the weekend. In the early days of her administration, Spanberger is moving fast to undo the conservative interventions into Virginia’s higher education system. And the state is bracing for some serious winter weather. 

Below, I report on the start of what Democrats are hoping is the final push to make a $15 minimum wage a reality in Virginia. 

Plus, a Virginia connection with the late David Berman of indie rock fame. 

This Oct. 24, 2016 file photo shows dollar bills in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Should there be a state minimum wage? And if so, what should it be?

Those are the two questions that Virginia Democrats can answer: Yes, and $15 an hour by 2028. 

But Republicans can’t seem to answer those basic questions. They say only that the minimum wage should not be raised because, they claim, it will hurt businesses, communities, and ultimately workers. Their position is to leave the status quo unchanged, or as the Republicans put it in the last election cycle, keep a good thing going. 

No wonder they lost so badly at the polls. 

More people moved out of Virginia in 2025 than moved in, according to data compiled by U-Haul. Another Virginia manufacturing plant is laying off hundreds of workers and weighing whether to shut down its operations as President Donald Trump fails to deliver on his promise of revitalizing American manufacturing. 

And the cost of his tariffs is being paid for by the very people a raise to the minimum wage would help, as new reporting from The Wall Street Journal shows. 

What more evidence do Republicans need that something is needed to stitch together a stronger social safety net for Virginians? What proof do they have that giving a free pass to businesses helps the people at the bottom? 

This session is being defined by a debate over the best way to help Virginians live with dignity and control over their destinies. 

Tuesday’s debate at the House Labor and Commerce Committee offered a preview of what’s likely to come: Democrats advancing a concrete policy aiming to put more money in people’s pockets over the objections of largely powerless Republicans. 

• Joe Dodson at Courthouse News Service reports on the push by Virginia home care workers to win collective bargaining rights and higher wages. 

• Natalie Anderson at The Virginian-Pilot has a story on a new report finding that Hampton Roads lost more than 6,000 federal civilian jobs in 2025.

• $1,408,500,000: that’s how much richer Trump is one year after he was sworn in for a second term, the New York Times reports.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers her State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virignia General Assembly at the Capitol Monday Jan. 19, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Yesterday offered a split screen on Virginia’s debate over “right-to-work.” 

On the one hand, you had Spanberger giving her first address to a joint session of the General Assembly where she tried to straddle the line of her pro-business, pro-worker centrism. 

“I said clearly along the campaign trail, I will not repeal Virginia’s ‘right-to-work’ status,” Spanberger said. “But I want to be direct about something else: being pro-business and being pro-worker are not mutually exclusive.”

Spanberger went on to say Virginia can be the best state for both workers and businesses, a nod to Virginia’s much-watched status in CNBC’s rankings of the best state’s to do business. 

To make Virginia better for workers, Spanberger urged lawmakers “to create a statewide paid family and medical leave program, guarantee paid sick days, increase access to Virginia’s child care subsidy program,” and raise the minimum wage as I mentioned above. 

On the other hand, there was state Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Woodbridge) celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day by highlighting the civil rights icon’s opposition to “right-to-work.” 

“Let’s celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by honoring his words during the 2026 Virginia General Assembly session by repealing the so-called Right-to-Work,” Carroll Foy posted. 

Despite opposition from Spanberger and House Speaker Don Scott, and even with union leaders prioritizing other policies like public sector bargaining rights, it would seem Carroll Foy wants to keep debate over “right-to-work” alive. 

Álvaro Serrano/unsplash

I’m going to have more on this later this week, but I covered a rally last week of campus workers looking to restore public sector bargaining rights in Virginia. 

One of the campus workers I spoke to was Gabriel Costello, a poet and instructor at the University of Virginia. He shared with me that one of his favorite poets is David Berman. 

I know Berman from his legendary song “Random Rules,” and was pleasantly surprised to learn he also studied poetry at UVA. 

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