On April 9, Gov. Abigail Spanberger fulfilled a vow to sign House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, which will raise the Commonwealth’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next three years. According to Delegate Jeion Ward (D-Hampton Roads), the bills would raise the wages across several professions which would affect 412,000 people.
Ward is the chief patron of the house bill, which has been publicly endorsed by a number of workers unions, including the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Virginia state Senator L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) is the chief patron of the senate version of the bill.
The bill will begin by codifying the currently set wage of $12.77 an hour, which was passed in 2025 and would be followed by two raises over the next couple of years. Specifically, the wage would be increased to $13.75 at the beginning of 2027 and raised again to $15 at the beginning of 2028.
The house version of the bill passed easily, with Democratic members of Fredericksburg region delegation — Stacey Carroll, Josh Cole, Nicole Cole and Margaret Franklin — voting in favor, and Republicans Phillip Scott and Hillary Pugh Kent voting against. It faced a steeper challenge in the Senate, where Republicans Tara Durant, Bryce Reeves and Richard Stuart opposed that’s chamber’s version of the bill, which ultimately passed, 21-19.
Spanberger discussed signing the then-incoming bill in a press release on Feb. 16, stating that she had talked to Virginians who had voiced concerns about living paycheck to paycheck and still not making enough to cover home expenses and prescriptions.
“Every Virginian who works full time deserves the financial stability to support their families, plan for the future, and continue building a life here in the Commonwealth. But Virginians’ wages have not kept up with rising costs. I look forward to signing this legislation into law to give Virginia workers a pay raise, and I’m grateful to the members of the General Assembly who have made stronger wages for working Virginians a priority.”
The bill also requires the minimum wage to be adjusted to reflect increases in the consumer price index, meaning that it would be adjusted to current inflation. The bill also brings farmworkers under the minimum wage format.
Josh Summits, the director of Economic Development and Tourism in the city of Fredericksburg, confirmed that the minimum wage bill is one of many bills within the 2026 Virginia General Assembly legislative session that he’s had his eyes on.
Summits said that, in general, an increase in wages can have a stimulating effect on household incomes and the local economy. He explained that this take the form of increased disposable household income, which theoretically leads to higher consumer buying power and spending at local businesses.
He said that increased wages additionally have the ability to provide greater workforce stability, improve employee retention and reduced workforce turnover.
According to the most recent data from United for Alice and the Rappahannock United Way, more than 52,000 households or 38% of households in the Greater Fredericksburg Region live at or below the minimum income needed to afford basic necessities.
Among that number, 48,000 households earn above the Federal Poverty Level but below the region’s cost of living. United for ALICE calculated in 2024 that a single adult would have to earn, depending on the specific county, approximately $17.10 to $20 per hour just to cover the basics.
In addition to the city, the region includes the counties of Stafford, King George, Caroline and Spotsylvania. Fredericksburg has the highest percentage of households living below the threshold at 44%, with Spotsylvania County at 43%, Caroline County at 40%, Stafford County at 34% and King George County at 30%.
But while workers would benefit, Summits said there could be consequences for the business community. He said that increased labor costs have the potential to create greater pressure on small(er) businesses particularly those with tight profit and loss margins, reduced hiring or slower expansion for cost-sensitive businesses, as well as ongoing pricing adjustments for goods and services to offset increased labor costs.
“Ultimately, the net impact will depend on how businesses of all scales adjust through pricing, staffing, and/or operational changes,” Summits said. “We are confident that the City of Fredericksburg and our surrounding region will continue to have a resilient and thriving business community.”
Another voice within the region’s business community was Susan Spears, President and CEO of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce. Spears also expressed concern for how the bill could affect local businesses — particularly smaller employers.
“The Fredericksburg Regional Chamber remains concerned that increasing the hourly minimum wage would disincentivize employers from hiring new and unskilled entrants to the workforce and would increase the cost of doing business, especially for small employers,” Spears said.
Curry Roberts, former president of Fredericksburg Regional Alliance at the University of Mary Washington, also weighed in on the effect of the bill. He highlighted that food service would be particularly affected by the rise in wages due to its reliance on part-time workers.
Roberts said that because the cost of living in the Fredericksburg region has come closer to that in Northern Virginia, the number of full time employees impacted by the raise would be minimal. He used the example of the alliance’s own interns, two students from the University of Mary Washington who are paid $15 an hour.
Local restaurateur Rami Hamrouni said his business would be negatively affected by the increase in the minimum wage since it would increase their operating costs on an already small profit margin. Hamrouni, who is the operating manager of Primavera Pizzeria and Grill, says that those costs have already been raised due to recent changes in the economy. This affected the food, gas and power to run the restaurants.
“The food costs are already up,” he said. “Second, we are obligated to cut staff hours and reduce new hires in the future. We usually use younger people like high schoolers during the summer who look to earn some money for vacations. Third, [with] the added labor of costs we’d have no choice but to consider a small price increase.”
Another aspect to look at in regards to the effect of a raise in the minimum wage for Virginia workers is mental health.
According to Jacque Kobuchi, clinical services director for the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board, an individual’s mental health is significantly affected when they are unable to have their basic needs met.
Kobuchi said that uncertainty around adequate food, housing and other basic needs exacerbates symptoms of depression and anxiety and may create barriers to treatment. The director said that increased wages alone can create stability while also freeing up mental space and resources to actively work on improving one’s mental health.
Michelle Wagaman, RACSB’s director for prevention and early intervention services, which oversees the board’s suicide prevention programs, said that studies support that increasing minimum wages can lead to a decrease in suicides.
“We all feel better when our basic needs are being met,” she said. “Increasing the minimum wage will hopefully allow relief of some financial stressors and as a result improve mental wellness.”
