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Virginia delegates reflect on potential federal moratorium on state-level AI regulation
Elected officials in Congress are still considering an amendment in President Doanld Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that would limit states’ abilities to regulate artificial intelligence. It’s a controversial move according to several Virginia elected officials, even as the Senate parliamentarian okayed its inclusion over the weekend despite Senate rule concerns. A former tech lawyer, Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado spoke at the Forum Global’s inaugural USA Artificial Intelligence Summit earlier this month— just as Congress considered adding the ban on states from putting their own limits on AI. “If we don’t have the ability as a state to regulate that, that’s a problem,” Maldonado said.
Amin: For hoteliers like me, reliable energy isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity
For more than 40 years, my family has operated a business that never sleeps. From the front desk and the guest services to the housekeeping and the kitchen and conference rooms, Shamin Hotels runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And every part of that operation depends on one thing most people take for granted — reliable electricity. ... There are only so many ways to generate and deliver electricity, and each comes with trade-offs. We need to take an honest, practical look at our options and invest in what will keep our lights on, our residents employed and our economy strong.
Connaughton: Senate budget plan would decimate Virginia hospitals
At this moment, the future of our health care delivery system is being decided in Congress. Access to care for millions of Americans, and Virginians, as well as the operation of hospitals is hanging in the balance. That is what’s at stake as part of budget reconciliation negotiations now occurring in Washington, D.C.
Yancey: A rewrite of the Clean Economy Act seems increasingly likely. This may pose hard questions for many
This fall, you’re going to hear a lot about the Virginia Clean Economy Act, the 2020 law that mandates a carbon-free electric grid by 2050, and which Democrats say lowers electric bills (because solar is cheaper than other fuels) and which Republicans say is raising them (because utilities have to build new facilities to generate that carbon-free power). Here’s what you may not hear: the conversations behind the scenes about ways to rewrite that law. Republicans, of course, would like to rewrite the whole thing, top to bottom. That’s not happening, not at least for the next two years, while Democrats have control of the state Senate. (Democrats currently control the House, too, but that’s up for election this fall, along with the governorship.)
Virginia’s Democrats in D.C. push back on process behind Iran strikes
Minutes before the news broke Saturday that American bombers had struck Iran without congressional approval, US Sen. Mark Warner was addressing Virginia Democrats gathered at Richmond’s Main Street Station for an annual fundraiser. “God knows, if there's anything we should have learned in this country, it's a hell of a lot easier to start a war in the Middle East than to stop one,” said Warner to applause. But in reactions from Virginia’s congressional delegation in the hours after President Donald Trump announced strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, the state’s Democrats focused most of their criticism on the process behind Trump’s decision to bomb Iran without congressional approval or standard notification — with others also weighing in on whether the US should involve itself further in the war between Israel and Iran.
Virginia Court of Appeals hears challenge in Suffolk case regarding automatic court dates, speed cameras
The Virginia Court of Appeals on Monday heard arguments on whether the city of Suffolk can be sued over its system to use cameras to catch speeders. Attorney Tim Anderson said Suffolk raked in $10 million last year after a third party vendor issued some 130,000 citations from cameras set up in work zones, school zones and other local roadways. But the city is breaking state law in the process, Anderson contends.
Suffolk speed camera case heard by appeals panel
A three-judge panel will decide in the next several weeks if a case challenging work and school zone speed cameras was properly dismissed by a lower court, or if it deserves a full hearing. Monday, the Virginia Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case of Curtis Lytle v. City of Suffolk. Lytle sued the city in 2024 over issue with speed cameras used by the city. He was issued $100 fine by a camera in a work zone and sent the ticket by a third-party vendor. He alleges the city is not following state law by not using the Virginia uniform summons and the local court system for speeding tickets.
Congressman Don Beyer will seek reelection
Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) has announced that he is seeking reelection as U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Alexandria. Beyer, who turned 75 on June 20, has been reelected five times to represent the district, serving since January 2015.
Spanberger bus tour visits Roanoke as election season heats up
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger parked her campaign bus in Roanoke on Monday evening and offered her party’s ticket for state offices as a safeguard against “chaos coming out of Washington.” “We turn on the news and it's one difficult story after next,” Spanberger said. “We have to let it fuel us. We have to say, ‘I do not accept what I am seeing, and therefore I will work to change it.’” Spanberger, a former CIA officer and a U.S. representative for Virginia from 2019 until her run for governor, spoke to a crowd of supporters in the Virginia Museum of Transportation rail yard.
Supervisors to consider tax incentives for data center projects in western Chesterfield
Following recent EDA-initiated rezonings of sites for two code-named data centers developments in western Chesterfield, incentives are being teed up for the planned projects. Proposed incentive agreements between Chesterfield and two limited liability companies – Skyward Holdings and Aeris Investments – would lock in the county’s personal property tax rate for data centers at its current 24 cents per $100 of assessed value for the future projects at sites near Moseley and Westchester Commons for 30 years.