Spanberger’s plan would revive proposals that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed or underfunded last year
“It doesn’t matter, whether in Northern Virginia or Southern Virginia, starting in January we will give each locality the opportunity to increase the supply of affordable housing in their community,” she said at a news conference in Richmond.
What Spanberger suggested
Spanberger’s new “Affordable Virginia” package includes multiple housing bills, coupled with a broader 17-bill affordability push on health care, energy and the cost of living.
In the area of housing, she supports legislation to:
- Give localities a stronger “first look” or first purchase option when subsidized affordable properties come up for sale, so cities and counties can keep those homes affordable instead of losing them to market-rate conversions.
- Requiring each locality to identify concrete options to increase the availability of affordable housing, effectively forcing local governments to put pro-housing tools – such as zoning changes, preservation strategies or incentives – on the table rather than treating affordability as optional.
- Create a revolving loan fund to support mixed-income developments by offering below-market financing to builders offering affordable units and easing the pool of capital for projects that would otherwise be too thin to draw out.
- Expand the Virginia Eviction Reduction Program and transform what was a limited pilot into a larger anti-eviction tool that provides flexible financial assistance to keep vulnerable tenants housed.
- Leverage more of the government’s bond capacity for private housing development activities by directing additional bonding authority to the Department of Housing and Community Development, for the express purpose of encouraging affordable manufacturing.
Spanberger and Democratic leaders say some pieces — such as preventing evictions — would have a quicker impact. Others, such as conservation and financing instruments, would work over a longer period of time
“It is clear that we cannot accept the status quo when it comes to the high cost of living,” Spanberger said. “It is harming the financial security of our economy, our communities and our neighbors, and changing the status quo starts next month.”
Republicans can join in
Republican House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore said in a statement that while his members are still reviewing the proposals, at first glance they appear focused on the right priorities.
But Kilgore noted that Spanberger’s proposals focus on preserving existing housing rather than increasing supply. “If you don’t build enough houses, housing becomes expensive,” he said.
Across the country, creating a better environment for building more housing – such as measures to add “missing middle housing” – has been a key tactic in improving affordability.
In Virginia, however, such efforts have faced significant legal challenges from residents opposed to increased housing density
Arlington County took the step two years ago and is still fighting it in court. Neighboring Alexandria won a two-year battle over reform that abolished single-family-only zoning
In November, Charlottesville settled a lawsuit with homeowners who filed suit in 2024, arguing the city failed to follow proper procedures in passing an ordinance to end exclusive zoning for single-family homes.
In New Jersey, Sherrill’s platform focused heavily on housing supply, especially on the missing middle housing units. She pledged to expand production of missing centers, repurpose underutilized buildings for housing and provide buyer assistance of up to about $22,000, explicitly formulated as an affordability strategy.
Mamdani focused on expanding rent stabilization and building additional affordable housing. But his efforts could hit a major hurdle if a federal lawsuit succeeds arguing that part of New York’s 2019 law that closed a loophole in rent-stabilized unit renovations is unconstitutional.
The Spanberger plan stands in stark contrast to Youngkin’s vetoes
The clearest point of contrast is not that Youngkin opposed every pro-housing idea, but that he used both his veto button and his line-item veto to block or shrink some of the tools Spanberger is now trying to scale up.
In the 2024-2025 state budget, Youngkin vetoed funding for a subsidy program for new homebuyers and a rental assistance pilot, along with other housing investments, even as rents and home values rose faster than most other states.
Youngkin also rejected at least one major policy bill, HB 1398That would have strengthened the preservation of government-subsidized affordable housing — the same space Spanberger is targeting with her new “primary opportunity” proposal for municipalities to keep properties affordable when they change hands.
Another 2024 bill to expand an optional affordable housing program to all localities also died under Youngkin’s veto, limiting the menu of local pro-housing tools that Democrats had tried to offer statewide.
Giving new life to rejected ideas
Spanberger’s package effectively revives that line of thinking by putting local empowerment, conservation authority and revolving capital at the center of her first round of bills.
Youngkin’s final budget decisions last year reduced or scaled back direct housing assistance, such as targeted aid for first-time buyers and renters. Spanberger wants to rebuild these support points and connect them to sticks and carrots for local governments to make more room for housing.
That contrast provides a clear narrative for her first session as governor: Democrats tried to pass and fund more aggressive affordability tools under Youngkin, saw them vetoed or nullified, and are now returning with a governor who puts the same concepts at the center of an “Affordable Virginia” agenda.
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