Governor Abigail Spanberger signed twelve bills into law on a Monday afternoon in late April. She did this in the Roanoke Higher Education Center, a building that most Virginians have probably never heard of. Don’t do any crazy press stunts. It didn’t go viral. A stack of bills from both parties, a few lawmakers from each party standing behind her, and a group of middle schoolers watching from the front row. She had been governor for a hundred days, which said a lot about the kind of leader she wants to be.
In his first hundred days in office, Spanberger didn’t get the national attention that some new governors try to get. There were no executive order shows or fights between cable news networks. Instead, things went more slowly in Richmond, where the governor seemed to come with a list and spend three months going through it item by item. The most important thing was her Affordable Virginia Agenda, which was a set of bills she and the General Assembly announced in December for housing, health care, and energy. All of them had been signed into law by April. Just that is strange. When running a state with complicated political geography, most governors don’t get their whole legislative agenda done all at once.
A more specific story is told by the bills signed in Roanoke on day one hundred. These bills show how Virginia feels about work, education, and the gap between the two. The law makes it easier for people who already work in a trade to get their license and start teaching Career and Technical Education. It lets high school students who aren’t planning to go to college for four years get apprenticeships in IT and culinary arts. Also, the Appalachian College of Pharmacy is added to the board of the Roanoke Higher Education Authority. These aren’t measures that will make the news. They are the kind of plumbing rules that change how systems work in the real world.
The bills were backed by Senator David Suetterlein, a Republican from the 4th District. It’s worth mentioning how he framed it. He talked about making it easier for people who want to change careers to get and keep their licenses. He also talked about building something that would last for fifty years and still help people in the Roanoke and New River Valleys. That kind of thinking about the future doesn’t always make it through the legislative process, but it did in this case. Every bill that Spanberger signed that day was supported by both Democrats and Republicans. Several were approved by everyone.
All of this is happening at a time that feels less ceremonial and more important because of how it affects real life. Spanberger’s office said that over 3,000 new jobs and more than $4.7 billion in new business investments would be made in her first hundred days in office. On paper, those numbers look good, but they also put pressure on people. Workers who are trained are needed in new factories and distribution centers. The investment doesn’t last if there isn’t a way to get people to work. It’s possible that Spanberger knew about this tension early on and chose to put the workforce law in front of other bills for that reason.
At the same time, things have been messy at the federal level. Spanberger admitted in public that changes in Washington, D.C.—such as fewer federal funds for the ACA and changes to recent laws—are having a big effect on Virginia. She wasn’t nice about it. As she spoke to the press, she made it clear that Virginia can’t make up for the lost federal dollars and needs to take strong action to fix the problem. The new governor is still building political capital, so that’s a tone that stands out. It seems like she’s less interested in presenting things in a positive light and more interested in dealing with the real consequences.
The Community Builders Pilot Program in Roanoke City Schools was given permanent funding, which was one of the less flashy things she did while she was there. The program’s goal is to keep middle schoolers away from gang violence by giving them hands-on career exploration and community service opportunities. The signing was attended by students from the program. It’s hard not to see the meaning in the fact that the governor chose to celebrate her 100th day with twelve-year-olds learning about their futures instead of business leaders or party donors.
Still not sure if all of this adds up to something that will last. Legislative wins in the first hundred days don’t mean the rest of the term will be successful, and things change quickly in Virginia’s politics. But the early results point to a governor who sees workforce development not as a talking point but as infrastructure. You build it slowly, with help from both sides, before anyone really pays attention.
