The senators and delegates of the 2026 General Assembly and our newly elected governor are hard at work, and so is the conservation and environmental advocacy community! The Virginia Conservation Network released its annual environmental briefing book, Our Common Agenda, to highlight the biggest issues for environmental policymaking in 2026. You can find links to the white papers of the issues most relevant to Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s mission and values here.
This year’s long session will see a new governor’s budget and a sizable number of bills as we undergo a transition in administration. The hot-button issue from last year is back in full force this session: potential data center reform legislation sits at the forefront of many conversations this year. See these, and all of the bills we’re tracking, on our LWC Bill Tracker. We’ll also keep you posted here on relevant budget items.
Why Does It Matter? Why do we as a local organization focusing on Loudoun County need to be involved in state-level policymaking? Virginia is a Dillon Rule state – localities cannot carry out policy that is more restrictive than what is expressly permissible by the state code. Practically, this means that if a county wants to put regulations in place to protect the environment in a specific way (say, for example, restricting data centers from being placed in proximity to conservation areas), legislation must first be passed by the General Assembly granting the permission to do so.
This bill tracker identifies key bills to follow that will affect our wildlife in Loudoun. Now is the time to engage with your legislators on the issues you care about! As we approach crossover on February 18th, legislators need to know what bills to support that have made it to the opposite body! Keep a close eye on our bill tracker as we head into the second half of this year’s session, and get ready to tell your senator and delegate to vote in favor of your favorite bill from our list! To find your legislator and their contact information, use this Who’s My Legislator tool.
LWC representatives took part in 2 lobby days this year: VCN’s Conservation Lobby Day on February 4th, where environmental organizations from across the state advocated for conservation-friendly policies. Data Center Reform Lobby Day was on February 9th, where we presented our priority bill positions on one of this session’s biggest topics: Data Center Reform.
Be sure to also check out VCN’s bill tracker for all the environmental bills to watch. We will be regularly updating our LWC list of bill positions following the crossover cull, and weekly beyond that, so please continue to check this page for updates.
Reach out to your representatives — remember that your legislators serve you as a constituent! Contact us for more information on how to get involved to protect wildlife at the state level this General Assembly Session. For questions about our advocacy, contact Conservation Advocacy Coordinator Trinity Mills: tmills@loudounwildlife.org.
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