New governor, new budget, same work: SWVA legislative delegation preps for 2026 General Assembly

RICHMOND – Southwest Virginia's delegation to the 2026 General Assembly is getting ready for a new governor and new budget biennium as they get ready to advocate for the region in 2026. Gate City Del. Terry Kilgore, R-45th, and Abingdon state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-6th agreed Friday that the legislative process is as much a matter of cross-party relationships as the advent of Democratic control of the top three state elected offices and majorities in both houses. "Of all the caucuses in the General Assembly, we've been able to cross party lines," said Kilgore, who is starting his 16th term in January, "and I've had good conversations with Governor-elect Spanberger." "I've been in the Senate for five years and starting my sixth year, and I've still been able to be fairly effective," said Pillion. "I've worked with Democratic and Republican governors and in Republican and Democratic majorities. I'm thankful for relationships I've built across the aisle, and there's too much work to be wallowing in political spectacle." Noting that more than 90% of General Assembly legislation passes unanimously or with large majorities, Pillion said there is plenty of room to find common ground among legislators across the state. Energy priorities Affordable electric power is still key for residents and for economic development, said Kilgore."Spanberger says she wants to lower electric rates and, while the government can't actually set the rates, we can set up avenues where it doesn't cost as much," Kilgore said.One of those avenues is to look at the state's Clean Economy Act and find ways to authorize more natural gas-fired power plants for growing energy demand from date center growth."Nuclear power is not a quick fix," Kilgore said of calls to build small modular reactor plants in the state. "The technology is getting better, according to people at Oak Ridge I've talked with, but Tennessee will probably be the first out the gate with SMRs. I encourage folks to look at natural gas plants as a faster solution."Kilgore said he also supports solar and wind power development to help supplement the power grid in Virginia. Natural gas is still needed to meet industrial demand, he added.The call for data center expansion beyond Northern Virginia into Southwest Virginia will mean a need for billing and rate structures to keep the costs of new power plant development from being passed onto residential customers, Kilgore said."Looking at 'behind-the-meter' billing could be one way to ensure that data centers pay their fair share of electricity and power plant development," Kilgore said. "We need more power to attract other industries and businesses to the region, and bringing in a date center can as much as double a locality's property tax revenue." Inland Port Development of a proposed second Inland Port along Interstate 81 between Bristol and Abingdon could see up to $35 million in development money under outgoing Governor Glenn Youngkin's proposed $210.9 billion biennium budget, and Kilgore and Pillion both hope to keep that in the final two-year budget plan.An Inland Port facility already operates in Warren County, providing a rail connection to Norfolk port facilities to import and export goods while eliminating some highway congestion and delays along Interstate 95."It will help local businesses get improved access to import and export markets and help attract new businesses to the region," said Kilgore."Spanberger has said numerous times that she supports the Inland Port," said Pillion, "and it will help in recruiting other businesses that could benefit from the port's export and import capacities." Transportation Building up funds for unpaved rural roads is on Kilgore's agenda in 2026. The subject comes up monthly at the Scott County Board of Supervisors meetings, where Snowflake Road resident Peggy Tice repeats calls for local and state officials to support more funding to pave dirt roads."We're considering ways to shave off some transportation funding to build up the state Rural Improved Road fund," said Kilgore, "There's still a lot of unpaved roads in Southwest, Southside and the Shenandoah Valley regions. Increasing that fund would help address some of the needs, but the demand still would be spread across those regions."Passenger rail development is still on the Southwest delegation's to-do list, Pillion added. With prior legislative action to designate Christiansburg as a passenger rail terminal, extension of rail, service through Bristol is still a possibility."I know it's a very expensive effort, but hopefully it will happen in my lifetime," Pillion added. Child and health care Pillion said he has focused on health and childcare issues through his chairmanship of the state's Opioid Abatement Authority and in connection with his day job as a pediatric dentist.Recent federal court developments have overhauled the Purdue Pharma settlement over the company and owning family's responsibility to fund settlement monies to impacted states. Pillion said it should not affect the Virginia authority's ability to get funds into communities to help address addiction, recovery and other related issues.Foster care in Virginia needs a system-wide overhaul, Pillion said."Department of Social Services workers are doing the best they can with the resources they have available," said Pillion, "but there's definitely a need for increased oversight and streamlining along with partnerships with private organizations."Part of the need to improve foster care includes a lack of placements for children once social services takes custody of children, Pillion said.Medicaid is also becoming a growing budget issue as the federal government puts new requirements on the program for Virginia and other states, Pillion said."Virginia has operated with a surplus for several years," said Pillion. "However, we are seeing strains from the federal House Bill 1 re-benchmarking education and on Medicaid, We will have to look at the budget to deal with those areas."Federal Medicaid policy changes are putting strains in rural hospitals across the U.S., Pillion said, and Lee County Community Hospital reopened I part because of a Biden administration commitment to Medicaid funding as part of its COVID recovery efforts."I'm hearing Lee County Hospital is outperforming in all its metrics, and it is a needed facility in this area," said Pillion. "People may be disappointed that their party did not win the election," said Pillion, "but there's too much work to wallow, and that's where relationships matter."