Virginia

Household water bills rose 62% on average from 2015 to 2025 across the nation’s 500 largest community water systems, the Virginia Mercury reports.

Those systems serve about 155 million people. The increase ran faster than overall inflation and more than twice the rate of grocery price increases over the same period. Bills also rose 19% faster than household incomes. In Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire and West Virginia, water bills grew about twice as fast as incomes. Average annual costs ranged from $286 in Idaho to $1,383 in West Virginia. For-profit providers charged more than publicly owned systems.

Virginia Republican leaders asked Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Tuesday to call a special session and suspend the state gasoline and diesel taxes for 90 days, WTOP reports.

“This is about giving our voters, our constituents, Virginians, a temporary pause in the gas tax, so that life becomes more affordable,” House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said.

NextEra Energy must provide records about accusations of political misconduct in Florida by Thursday as Virginia regulators review its proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy, The Center Square reported.

Chief Hearing Examiner D. Mathias Roussy Jr.’s Friday ruling gives the companies four business days to supplement answers to Clean Virginia. He granted some requests and rejected others. The records include a memorandum said to have gone to then-chairman James Robo about Florida Power & Light officers and consultants, if it exists and the companies have it; records of an internal investigation Robo discussed on a January 2022 earnings call; contracts and payments involving Matrix LLC, Canopy Partners and related entities; and records given to Jacksonville’s special committee on the proposed sale of JEA.

Seven Virginia hemp businesses are asking a federal judge to block new restrictions set to take effect Saturday that would limit hemp products to 2 milligrams of total THC per package, eliminating the existing 25-to-1 CBD-to-THC exception, The Center Square reported. The change was included in the state budget passed in June without public hearings or industry input, and the companies argue it leaves them with previously legal products they can no longer sell.

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday in Roanoke on their request for a temporary restraining order. Plaintiffs, including Northern Virginia Hemp & Agriculture, say they stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory under the new rules.

“Virginia’s 3-Day Sales Tax Holiday runs August 7-9, 2026, starting at 12:01 a.m. Friday and ending at 11:59 p.m. Sunday,” Virginia Tax reported. Shoppers can buy qualifying school supplies ($20 or less), clothing and footwear ($100 or less), certain hurricane and emergency preparedness items, and Energy Star or WaterSense products ($2,500 or less) without paying state sales tax.

The holiday offers Northern Virginia families a timely chance to save on back-to-school essentials and preparedness gear as the new school year approaches. Full lists of eligible items are available in the official Sales Tax Holiday Guidelines on the Virginia Tax website.

“More than a week after a statewide injunction halted enforcement of Virginia’s new assault weapons ban, parts of the legal fight have entered a holding pattern as state and federal courts await guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court,” The Center Square reported. Washington County Circuit Judge Jeffrey L. Campbell expanded the injunction statewide on July 21 and later paused the case while the high court reviews similar bans in Illinois and Connecticut; the injunction stays in effect until further order or no later than 60 days after those decisions.

The law, which took effect July 1, prohibits future sales and transfers of certain semiautomatic firearms and magazines holding more than 15 rounds while allowing continued possession of those already owned. Most firearms dealers have resumed selling the affected items under the injunction, according to the Virginia Citizens Defense League, though a separate challenge in Lancaster County remains active with a hearing set for Aug. 21.

“Virginia voters won’t have to wait until Super Tuesday to pick a Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee proposed Virginia as the sixth state on the early presidential primary calendar in 2028, with the election scheduled on Feb. 29 — leap day. It will follow Democratic presidential primaries in South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Michigan under the calendar adopted Friday,” Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, Sen. Lamont Bagby and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe praised the move as recognition of Virginia’s diverse electorate, strong election administration and national political weight, giving the commonwealth an earlier platform for candidates ahead of Super Tuesday.