The Virginia Legislature on Monday passed a bill cementing the commonwealth’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, one of several parallel moves by Democrats to return to the Northeast’s cap-and-trade system for electricity.
HB 397 passed the Senate on a party-line 21-19 vote. The bill passed the House in February, also on a party-line 63-35 vote.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who campaigned on returning to RGGI, is expected to sign the legislation.
Former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin halted Virginia’s participation in RGGI in 2023, calling it a carbon tax the state couldn’t afford. That effort — which hinged on ambiguities in the wording of state law — was challenged in court, and the case remained pending when Democrats reclaimed the governor’s mansion and the legislature in last year’s election.
