Virginia House advances hundreds of bills on Crossover Day; sharp debates on offshore wind, paid leave and housing targets

RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia House of Delegates spent Tuesday, Feb. 4, passing hundreds of bills on Crossover Day while members debated several high-profile measures, including legislation on offshore wind workforce development, paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave for workers, statewide housing targets and new energy-storage requirements for utilities.

The House approved dozens of bills across policy areas, moving many to the Senate in what lawmakers call the annual Crossover Day push. While much of the calendar advanced in large uncontested blocks, several items prompted extended floor debate as members from both parties pressed competing concerns about economic costs, local control and worker protections.

“By every way that we would judge this, it's going in the opposite direction of where Virginia is going,” Delegate Griffin (Bedford County) said of state support for offshore wind as he urged colleagues to oppose HB 1616, which would direct the state Department of Energy to develop workforce training resources for the offshore wind industry. “Virginia's Clean Economy Act is a failure,” Griffin said on the House floor.

Delegate Doug Fagan (Virginia Beach) countered, arguing the sector has produced jobs and local economic activity. “This wind turbine thing has been great for our economy,” Fagan said, urging passage of HB 1616 as a way to support job growth in Hampton Roads.

Paid leave also drew heated exchanges. Delegate McNamara spoke against House Bill 2531, a proposal…