Affordability was the theme of the 2026 legislative session. The investments Virginia made in healthcare, housing, and energy were all designed to help you navigate today’s high cost of living. One of the most important outcomes for Falls Church is the Commonwealth’s continued commitment to Metro and regional transit. Metro is essential to how residents reach jobs, schools, medical appointments, and businesses throughout Northern Virginia and the Washington region.

This year, Virginia leaders moved forward with the regional DMV Moves framework, which calls for Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to jointly provide about $460 million per year in new dedicated capital funding for Metro, indexed at 3 percent annually. Virginia’s budget includes an additional $153 million in operating funding for Metro, a major commitment to preserving system reliability and preventing deeper infrastructure backlogs. For this major new funding to emerge from a difficult budget cycle shows how important DMV Moves is to the future of Virginia and our region.

This is part of a broader transportation funding picture. Virginia’s long-term transit program directs billions toward rail and public transportation, including substantial support for Metro, Metrobus, Virginia Railway Express, and local transit systems. This helps protect reliable service, reduce the risk of cuts, and sustain the transit network that supports the local economy and regional mobility.

The 2026 session also produced meaningful outcomes on affordability beyond transportation. The budget delivers 4 percent raises for teachers over the biennium, helping school divisions recruit and retain strong educators, 3.5 percent raises for state employees, and increases to the standard deduction. These investments put modest but meaningful relief into household budgets. 

The General Assembly expanded tools for eviction prevention, mixed-income housing development, and local affordable housing initiatives, giving communities more capacity to keep people housed and reduce displacement. For a region like Northern Virginia, where housing costs are one of the biggest pressures on working families, these investments are especially significant.

On energy costs, Virginia adopted a new statewide energy consumption tax on data centers that is expected to generate about $600 million per year, with 45% of those revenues invested in lowering residential power bills. This approach is designed to make large data center operators and big businesses pay the costs they impose on the grid, while shielding households and small businesses from rising utility bills.

 Richmond may be out of session, but the work of implementation is underway now. As always, I invite you to stay engaged. Residents can track legislation and budget actions through the Virginia Legislative Information System, and you can reach my Senate office at senatorsalim@senate.virginia.gov or (804) 698‑7537 if you have questions, concerns, or ideas about how these policies are affecting our community.