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Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed 25 bills into law on May 13, including six major measures led by members of Fairfax County’s legislative delegation.
The locally driven laws address insulin and diabetes costs, data center infrastructure expenses, health insurance coverage, firearm restrictions and marijuana resentencing.
Changes Affecting Household Costs and Health Care
HB 1214, sponsored by Del. Karrie Delaney, D-Chantilly, caps insurance cost-sharing payments for insulin and diabetes equipment and supplies at $35.
Delaney, whose child has Type 1 diabetes, said she knows how expensive continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps and other equipment can be. She described the unanimously approved law as a meaningful change for Virginians.
“We are taking action to bring down healthcare costs,” Spanberger said.
HB 1191, sponsored by Del. Irene Shin, D-Herndon, requires high-energy-use facilities to undergo local reviews intended to prevent infrastructure expenses from being shifted onto residential utility customers.
Del. Rip Sullivan, D-McLean, sponsored HB 328, which directs Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance to choose a new benchmark plan for essential health benefits. The expanded baseline coverage will include services and treatments such as hearing aids, infertility care, doula services and donor breast milk.
Sullivan called the measure a major step toward making health coverage more responsive and affordable for Virginians.
New Public Safety and Justice Laws
HB 217 and SB 749 prohibit future sales, manufacturing, importation and transfers of firearms defined as semi-automatic assault weapons. The legislation also restricts ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds.
The measures were sponsored by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Clifton, and Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, D-Vienna. Salim said supporters of an assault-weapons ban helped make its passage possible after previous versions failed.
HB 229, co-sponsored by Del. Laura Jane Cohen, D-Springfield, and Del. Holly Seibold, D-Vienna, restricts firearms in hospitals and psychiatric facilities in an effort to reduce workplace security incidents.
Another pair of measures, HB 26 and SB 62, creates a court hearing process for reviewing sentences tied to marijuana offenses that were legalized or decriminalized by changes enacted in 2021. Shin and Salim co-sponsored the legislation.
Spanberger said decades of marijuana enforcement disproportionately affected minority communities and communities of color, worsening inequities in Virginia’s criminal justice system.