| January 17, 2022
By Meagan Flynn
More than a year since Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) first put forth legislation that would ban members of Congress from trading stock, a flurry of action in the Senate in recent days has injected some momentum into the proposal. While it’s traditionally tough to get Congress to police itself, Spanberger and her co-lead on the legislation, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) — an odd couple, no doubt — have built a bipartisan coalition around the issue spanning the ideological spectrum after several stock-trading controversies during the pandemic raised eyebrows.
| January 13, 2022
By News Staff
Representative Abigail Spanberger helped lead a bipartisan effort to make investments in local police departments in Virginia and across the country. The Invest in Law Enforcement Act would ensure police officers in smaller communities and rural areas have resources, recruiting tools and training.
| January 3, 2022
By Audie Cornish, Noah Caldwell, Courtney Dorning
Representatives Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., reflect on the ways their military and intelligence training aided them during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
| December 17, 2021
By Culpeper Star Staff
Homegrown beef and poultry will get a big financial infusion from guaranteed federal loans for meat processing included in the American Rescue Act. U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, visited Gordonsville on Thursday with federal Agriculture Department brass to meet with livestock producers and highlight private investment in local processing and food-supply chain infrastructure. Spanberger serves on the House Agriculture Committee, chairing its Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee.
| December 15, 2021
By Clint Schemmer
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released $163 million in CARES Act emergency aid to help Virginia’s health-care workers and patients as they combat COVID-19, Rep. Abigail Spanberger announced Wednesday. The award will enable health-care providers and senior-living centers to recruit and keep staff, buy masks and other supplies, modernize facilities and cover other expenses from the coronavirus pandemic. HHS said it will begin paying providers this week.
| November 23, 2021
By Jackie DeFusco
With the holiday travel season in full swing, President Joe Biden is tapping into the country’s emergency oil reserves in hopes of bringing down gas prices. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District, is among eight members of the House of Representatives who pushed President Biden to take that step in a letter earlier this week.
| November 15, 2021
By Jakob Cordes
In an interview with 8News on Monday, Representative Abigail Spanberger (D – Henrico) sat down with 8News to discuss the infrastructure bill headed for President Joe Biden’s desk on Nov. 15. The legislation, officially billed as the 'Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,' totals $1 trillion in spending over the next ten years, or $100 billion per year – about 1/7th of the government’s annual spending on defense.'Really, the benefits are in the name,' Spanberger said. 'We are making investments in our nation’s infrastructure, and we are investing in job creation and in the future of our country.'
| November 8, 2021
By Culpeper Star Staff
U.S. Representatives from Virginia Abigail Spanberger (D-7th) and Ben Cline (R-6th) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen federal efforts to rescue U.S. children from sexual exploitation and abuse, according to a release Monday from the congresswoman’s office. Technology companies reported more than 45 million photos and videos online of children being sexually abused in 2018, according to The New York Times. This is more than double found in 2017.
| October 22, 2021
By Joi Bass
U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger announced a new federal grant to help strengthen telehealth services to UVA Health System on Friday.
| October 12, 2021
By Samantha McGranahan
Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger joined Governor Ralph Northam and union leaders at the Virginia Capitol on Monday to lobby for the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is currently stuck in the House.
| October 9, 2021
By Abigail Spanberger
I represent 10 counties across central Virginia that are geographically, economically and politically diverse, and my constituents — no matter where they are on the political spectrum — tell me the same thing: They want to rebuild from the pandemic and keep our economy strong, but they are wondering why Washington has not delivered on its long-awaited promise of an infrastructure investment.
| October 8, 2021
By James Baron
Rep. Abigail Spanberger is pressing the U.S. Postal Service to find out why many Spotsylvania County residents are still plagued by poor mail delivery service, or in some cases, no mail delivery at all.
| September 27, 2021
By John Reid Blackwell
New legislation co-sponsored in Congress by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, would direct the federal government to create a national strategic reserve of ingredients for essential medicines, a step that could bolster the development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical products in the Richmond region.
| September 23, 2021
By Colin Allred, Cindy Axne, Sharice Davids, Andy Kim and Abigail Spanberger
We represent a geographically diverse share of the American people — but in each of our districts, we hear a collective concern. The high cost of prescription drugs is hurting families — and it is long past time to bring those prices down.
| September 22, 2021
By Laura McFarland
Powhatan’s local, state, and federal elected representatives gathered last week to celebrate a recent initiative that should see county residents fully served with broadband internet within the next three years. On Tuesday, Sept. 14, the county held a press conference attended by Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Del. Lee Ware, R-65, as well as all five supervisors and one school board member. The purpose was to highlight Powhatan County’s efforts to extend broadband coverage to all of its residents and businesses through partnerships with Dominion Energy and Firefly Fiber Broadband.
| August 21, 2021
By Editorial Writer
During a Tuesday roundtable at Lickinghole Creek, we saw the potential for how to meet that public demand for competency. U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th; Evan Feinman, chief broadband adviser for Gov. Ralph Northam; Gary Wood, president and CEO of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative; and Goochland County leaders discussed the series of factors helping rural communities inch toward achieving digital tasks without great angst.
| August 20, 2021
By Editorial Writer
With mental health a top topic in Virginia politics and health care today, Rep. Abigail Spanberger is turning attention to substance abuse recovery. Substance abuse is treated as a mental health issue. The 7th District Democrat from Henrico has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that would require states to spend a portion of their federal substance abuse aid on recovery and prevention programs. These programs would be means-tested for effectiveness.
| August 5, 2021
By Maggie Miller
A group of bipartisan House and Senate lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation intended to help the federal government better track and analyze cyber crime following a sharp increase in cyberattacks over the past year. The Better Cybercrime Metrics Act would kick off the process of improving how the government and law enforcement agencies collect data on cyber crime, with many crimes currently going unreported or untracked and making it more difficult for the government to take action.
| July 21, 2021
By Scott Bass
His life started spiraling after he fell 32 feet from a utility pole. In 2003, Kevin Peterson was working as a lineman repairing power lines during Hurricane Isabel when he slipped and fell, seriously injuring his back. After two years on pain medication, he became addicted to opioids and eventually switched to a cheaper alternative – heroin. The spiral continued, landing him in the Chesterfield County Jail in November 2019, on credit card fraud charges.
| July 16, 2021
By Amelia Heymann
Rep. Abigale Spanberger and the Virginia War Memorial held a ceremony for Atomic Veterans Day on Friday. The day honors those who participated in nuclear tests, served with U.S. forces at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan before 1946 or were held as prisoners of war there. Many of these service members were exposed to harmful levels of radiation.
| July 13th, 2021
By Alex Thorson
On Tuesday, she and other eligible parents joined congresswoman Abigail Spanberger for a roundtable discussion on the tax credits. .”For some families, it’s a choice of what food, and how and when to put food on the table,” Spanberger said. The congresswoman said this is a big step in lifting countless children “out of poverty.”
| July 11th, 2021
By Abigail Spanberger
Across Virginia, businesses are reopening, COVID-19 cases are plummeting, and families are gathering in person with their loved ones for the Fourth of July, family barbecues, and long weekends at the lake or the beach. These developments are good news, and our progress should be celebrated.
| July 7th, 2021
By John and Kim Conway
Kudos to U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger, chair of the House’s Agricultural Committee conservation and forestry subcommittee! Her work on the Growing Climate Solutions Act will be of great benefit to farmers in Virginia’s 7th District. We live in Spotsylvania County on Lake Anna on a more than 200-year-old family farm. We are not your traditional large-scale farmers, but have an organic produce business. However, most of our 62 acres are in forest. We are in the county’s forestal district which helps conserve forests, and we are also under conservation easements.
| June 28, 2021
By Michael Page
The House of Representatives is currently considering a bill from one of Virginia’s members about the use of military force. Back in 1991, Congress passed an authorization for use of military force against Iraq, one that’s still active today. Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger says it’s time for Congress to repeal that resolution.
| June 22, 2021
By Michael Martz
TFaced with a partisan divide over how to encourage people to return to work, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, is proposing a ‘transition payment’ of $180 a week for people who accept a new job. Spanberger introduced the SUPPORT for New Workers Act on Tuesday as a way to use a portion of the federal unemployment benefits provided to people who lost their jobs during the pandemic to pay them a weekly stipend to return to a workforce that badly needs them.
| June 11, 2021
By Scott Wise
The post office on Sycamore Square Drive in Chesterfield was officially named in honor of former Midlothian resident Dorothy Braden Bruce on Friday. Bruce, who passed away in 2019 at age 99, was a top-secret World War II code breaker
| June 3, 2021
By Patrick Larsen
Catherine Cary has worked at Bremo Pharmacy, a Henrico family business started by her father, for her whole career. Now president and CEO, she’s seen the market price of drugs rise steadily in that time.
| May 14, 2021
By Brendan King
America’s other public health crisis, the opioid and drug epidemic, has only gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Carey Colvin has experienced the heartbreak caused by this crisis firsthand. In January of 2020, the Richmond-area mother found her daughter, Summer, dead from a drug overdose.
| May 10, 2021
By Adele Uphaus
James Monroe High School is just over the border of U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s legislative district, but when she learned about the Fredericksburg school’s Teachers Academy from Principal Tim Duffy at a meeting of the National Principal’s Association late last month, she made plans to visit. ‘I’ve visited a lot of CTE programs, but this one sounded so unique and exciting,’ Spanberger said during an interview at the high school Monday afternoon.
| April 3, 2021
By Clint Schemmer
Spotsylvania’s Wilderness area may be far from the madding crowd, but it can now boast the same internet amenities as any urban locale. For what county officials say is a first for rural Virginia, 5G telecom service is newly available to residents of this enclave on the Wilderness battlefield near Spotsylvania’s border with Orange County. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger helped county officials unveil Data Stream Broadband’s 5G network at Spotsylvania Fire and Rescue Company 7’s station near Lake Wilderness.
| April 1, 2021
By Laura Perrot
Some federal relief could soon be heading to local restaurants. Rep. Abigail Spanberger met with local restaurant owners at the Tazza Kitchen in Short Pump on Thursday to discuss the American Rescue Plan, which she voted to pass last month. The plan includes a $29 billion fund to support restaurants with fewer than 20 locations.
| March 24, 2021
By Yahoo Finance Live Team
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, (D) Virginia, joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down her thoughts on the bipartisan push for workforce training.
| March 19, 2021
By CJ Paschall
Two U.S. lawmakers from Virginia are teaming up to boost job training across the country. They say increasing access to career and technical education will help workers, businesses, and the economy as a whole.
| March 18, 2021
By Celine Castronuovo
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) on Thursday condemned the Republican lawmakers who the day before voted against a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to law enforcement who responded to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, arguing the officers ‘saved democracy that day.
| March 11, 2021
By Abigail Spanberger
One year ago, I wrote an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch in response to the arrival of an unfamiliar and dangerous virus in central Virginia. COVID-19 had brought chaos to our long-term care facilities, and our front-line health care workers — many lacking the personal protective equipment (PPE) they desperately needed — worked around the clock to save lives. Dedicated volunteers sewed thousands of homemade masks, food pantries welcomed hungry families, local distilleries tackled a hand sanitizer shortage and K-12 students relearned how to raise their hands during class — this time through a computer screen.
| March 9, 2021
By Scott Detrow
The Biden administration is on the verge of its first major legislative accomplishment. The House will vote soon on a $1.9 trillion relief package. Biden’s American Rescue Plan passed the Senate by just one vote this weekend, and it will likely become law without a single Republican supporting the measure. The massive price tag is a big point of contention for Republicans and some moderate Democrats. Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger of Virginia voted for the House bill last month. But as a Democrat in a purple district, she likely understands some of those concerns from conservatives. She joins us this morning. Good morning, Congresswoman.
| February 28, 2021
By Clint Schemmer
Legislation to enlarge two wilderness areas in Virginia’s George Washington National Forest is on its way to the U.S. Senate, thanks to Rep. Abigail Spanberger and her allies. On Friday—George Washington’s birthday—the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass Spanberger’s amendment to the Colorado Wilderness Act of 2021, itself a component of the larger Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act.
| February 8, 2021
By Rebecca Kaplan
Two lawmakers from opposite coasts and different parties want to ease the burden on local governments and small businesses of operating during the pandemic by helping them purchase personal protective. equipment and rapid testing equipment. The Getting Americans Safely Back to Work Act, introduced Monday by Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger and California Republican Young Kim, would create a $1 billion block grant program for such purchases to be administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local health departments. A quarter of the funds, $250 million, would be set aside to help small business like restaurants fully reopen. The bill was first reported by CBS News.
| January 29, 2021
By Sam Brodey
The senators who sold off millions of dollars worth of stock holdings at the beginning of the pandemic may have avoided charges following federal investigations, but to many lawmakers, the episode further tarred the reputation of an institution that already suffers from abysmally low levels of public trust. As a result, a bipartisan group of House members decided that the only way to stop the appearance of corruption is to eliminate any possibility of a conflict between members’ official duties and their personal financial interests.