Virginia Democratic Senators vote themselves a 278% pay raise

ABC News 7 On Your Side ^ | 02/27/2026 | Thomas Mates

[Republican Wildcat]

RICHMOND, Va. (7News) — Legislators in Virginia could see a nearly 300% pay increase if an amendment added to the budget by Democrats in the state Senate makes it to Gov. Abigail Spanberger's desk.

The Democrat controlled Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have both passed their versions of the commonwealth's budget, largely along party lines.

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TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: abigailspanberger; affordability; affordabilitylol; democrats; dempolicies; lolaffordability; lolaffordabilitylol; theyvotedforthis; virginia; woke; yikes

[southernindymom]

It just gets better and better. My sister will be moving out one of these years....

[an amused spectator]

LOL affordability LOL

[butlerweave]

THIEVES

[sport]

Good for them. They should have made it 300%. 500% would have been better. The people of Virginia have a lot of money they don’t need. If they are stupid enough to elect Democrats to govern them......

[JSM_Liberty]

“Currently, senators make $18,000 a year and delegates make $17,640”

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Virginia is dominated by government civilian employees (federal, state, and local) more so than any other. If you include government-adjacent workers (NGO’s, etc.) It’s even worse. I think that’s what has tipped them blue.

[Texas Eagle]

Spamburger is making Virginia affordable again. For politicians.

[fhayek]

Those are ‘pre-graft’ numbers…

[citizen]

This should not be a problem to pay for, b/c the Democrats have 80 or so new or raised taxes. (you voted for this, Virginia)

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Gotta spend all that tax money on something.

[Whatever Works]

Yeah, it ‘s Trump killing the economy .... Right.

[MtnClimber]

Looting the public treasury.

[faithhopecharity]

good for them! it is encouraging to see that somebody’s managing to keep up with the real rate of inflation (federal dollar depreciation policy of these past several years)

it gives us hope. to survive this federally-imposed poverty cycle, all we need to do is whore ourselves out to get installed in the legislature

[piytar]

Well that does put a different light on things.

[Carl Vehse]

Virginia: It’s not a State; it’s not a Commonwealth; it’s a loony bin run by Demonicrat inmates.

[Political Junkie Too]

Paid for by new taxes on:

• Haircuts, nail care, and skin care services
• Beauty, tanning, and weight control services
• Piercing, tattooing, and other cosmetic body modifications
• Dog grooming and pet boarding
• Dog walking (companion animal care)
• Gym memberships and fitness/recreation facility fees
• Dry cleaning and laundry services
• Garment and shoe repairs and alterations
• Residential cleaning services
• Landscaping services (including use of electric leaf blowers and electric landscaping equipment)
• Home repair and maintenance (not requiring a permit)
• Vehicle repair, maintenance, painting, and engine cleaning
• Repairs and alterations to personal property
• Storage unit/storage facility fees
• Travel, event, and aesthetic planning services
• Counseling and nonmedical personal counseling services
• Delivery and shipping services
• Delivery tax on Amazon, FedEx, and UPS orders (Northern Virginia)
• Delivery tax on Uber Eats and DoorDash orders (Northern Virginia)
• New personal property tax on electric leaf blowers and electric landscaping equipment
• Event/concert tax
• Fantasy sports operator tax
• Gun and ammunition tax

That's going to really drive affordability!

-PJ

[Republican Wildcat]

And probably with a nice pension if you serve just a few terms...

[john drake]

Democrats doing what they do best, steal from the citizens and engorge themselves in fraud, graft and corruption. As they say in Chicago, democrat controlled since 1931....”shut up and pay your taxes....or else.”

[gibsonguy]

The rats ran on being common sense moderates and the idiot Virginia voters fell for it all the way. They are getting it good and hard.