2026 General Assembly Session Overview
In even-numbered years Virginia has a “long” legislative session – a 60-day sprint through thousands of bills and an opportunity to approve a new two-year state budget. On January 22nd, VFTA held its annual “Arts Advocacy Day” visiting numerous legislators and staff in support of the arts and funding for the arts.
This year the General Assembly began January 14th and ended on March 14th. More than 2,000 bills and resolutions were considered, including amendments to Governor Youngkin’s outgoing two-year budget. The House and Senate both offered their amendments to that budget but were unable to agree on a conference report to send to the Governor for consideration. As a result, the members had to return in June for a Special Session to address the budget.
While there were no additional funds provided to the Virginia Commission for the Arts to support the Commonwealth’s arts community and grants to a number of organizations, VFTA was able to secure budget amendments in the House and Senate that provided an opportunity for VFTA to engage members and staff on the need for additional grant funds. Additionally, HB1108 passed, making technical changes to the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
It is worth noting that this was the first Session for Governor Spanberger and her Administration. Outreach has been made to the key members of the Administration to ensure they are aware of the outstanding work VFTA and its member organizations do for the Commonwealth.