New year, new Virginia laws going into effect
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- New year, new laws. Virginia is ringing in the new year with laws that will take effect starting New Year's Day. One of the most anticipated laws is the increase in minimum wage. Virginia’s minimum wage is going up 41 cents an hour. That's an increase from $12 to $12.41 an hour. This comes from a bill passed during the 2020 General Assembly requiring that the minimum wage be adjusted for inflation. Research director at the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis Levi Goren spoke with 8News back in August and said the increase will put about $852 in minimum wage workers’ pockets. “The $12.41, while a modest improvement, is not enough to make ends meet in Virginia even for a single person who is not supporting any children,” Goren said. In fact, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Project found that a single person in Virginia needs an average of $24 an hour. The 2020 bill said Virginia’s minimum wage will continue to rise with inflation in the years to come. It’s important to note that in March, Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed bills that would have raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. Another law going into effect as the ball drops at midnight is ending the California Electric Vehicle Mandate. At the beginning of 2024, Virginia was on board to mandate that, by 2035, all new cars sold would be electric vehicles. But in June, Governor Youngkin announced Virginia would not follow the mandate in the new year. In addition to the mandate calling for all new cars sold by 2035 to be electric vehicles, auto manufacturers would be required to pay a fine upwards of $20,000 per vehicle sold if found to be out of compliance. "The idea that government should tell people what kind of car they can or can’t purchase is fundamentally wrong," the Governor said.
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- New year, new laws. Virginia is ringing in the new year with laws that will take effect starting New Year's Day.
One of the most anticipated laws is the increase in minimum wage. Virginia’s minimum wage is going up 41 cents an hour. That's an increase from $12 to $12.41 an hour. This comes from a bill passed during the 2020 General Assembly requiring that the minimum wage be adjusted for inflation.
Research director at the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis Levi Goren spoke with 8News back in August and said the increase will put about $852 in minimum wage workers’ pockets.
“The $12.41, while a modest improvement, is not enough to make ends meet in Virginia even for a single person who is not supporting any children,” Goren said.
In fact, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Project found that a single person in Virginia needs an average of $24 an hour.
The 2020 bill said Virginia’s minimum wage will continue to rise with inflation in the years to come.
It’s important to note that in March, Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed bills that would have raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026.
Another law going into effect as the ball drops at midnight is ending the California Electric Vehicle Mandate.
At the beginning of 2024, Virginia was on board to mandate that, by 2035, all new cars sold would be electric vehicles. But in June, Governor Youngkin announced Virginia would not follow the mandate in the new year.
In addition to the mandate calling for all new cars sold by 2035 to be electric vehicles, auto manufacturers would be required to pay a fine upwards of $20,000 per vehicle sold if found to be out of compliance.
"The idea that government should tell people what kind of car they can or can’t purchase is fundamentally wrong," the Governor said.
