Virginia’s minimum wage is nearly $13 an hour, but legislation that got out of the House of Delegates Tuesday will see that number jump to $15 by 2028.
Hampton Democratic Delegate Jeion Ward led the charge as Virginia’s House of Delegates voted along party lines to pass a new minimum wage Tuesday. It’ll bring the lowest possible pay in the Commonwealth to $15 an hour by 2028 and set the minimum wage to the consumer price index after that.
Ward’s effort comes after former Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed her same effort in recent years, what she said was the first veto of legislation she sponsored in her over 20-year career in office.
“I kept thinking, I’ll be back and he won’t,” Ward said outside the House chamber Tuesday.
She also said it fits into Governor Abigail Spanberger’s affordability agenda.
“She wants an affordable Virginia, one where all hardworking people can make a living," Ward said of the bill that was listed among Spanberger's legislative asks. "Not only to live, but to thrive in this Commonwealth.”
Every Republican in the chamber voted against the measure. Bristol Delegate Israel O'Quinn said most employers, even in his rural section of the state, were likely already paying more than $15 an hour, but he still worried for small business owners along the state’s borders.
“In our area, where Tennessee is just mere steps away, there are people who are actively looking at that. Because not all parts of the Commonwealth aren’t exactly the same," O'Quinn said. "And you can get hokie and use alliteration, which I’ll do: Bristow isn’t Bristol, Arlington isn’t Abingdon.”
The bill now heads to the Senate where it’ll likely also pass along party lines.
