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The new year brings with it a number of changes, as it always does. This time around, for Buckingham, Cumberland and Prince Edward, along with all of the Commonwealth, multiple new laws will take effect as of Jan. 1., affecting everything from minimum wage to collecting children’s data. 

Let’s start with the one guaranteed to affect business owners and some residents. Yes, the minimum wage is going up in Virginia. Back in 2020, the General Assembly passed what’s known as the Virginia Minimum Wage Act. At that point, it increased the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $12 over the span of three years. That number is going up again on Wednesday for the majority of people, to $12.41 per hour. We say majority because not everyone will qualify for the $12.41 minimum wage. Tipped workers will keep the same salary at $2.13 an hour. So why is it still increasing, even though Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the idea? Youngkin vetoed a much faster way of increasing the minimum wage. That original proposal would have caused a $13.50 minimum wage on Jan. 1 and then a $15 version in 2026. As it stands, the minimum wage will fluctuate now in 2026 and beyond. 

We can’t automatically say how much it would be going up next year or the year after, however. The latest portion of the Virginia Minimum Wage Act, which goes into effect at midnight on Wednesday, will adjust the minimum wage each year according to the Consumer Price Index. That’s a number generated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that examines the cost of food, housing, clothes, transportation, medical care and services. The Commissioner of Labor in Virginia will be responsible each year of setting a percentage, based on the Price Index, of how much it should be changed. 

Minimum coverage, mapping to avoid

Also changing on Wednesday are the minimum coverage requirements for car insurance. As of Jan. 1 in Virginia, a person must carry $50,000 of bodily injury, $100,000 in bodily injury coverage per accident and $25,000 in property damage coverage. That’s a slight bump up from $30,000, $60,000 and $20,000, respectively. 

One of the more irritating things this year for Cumberland and Prince Edward residents has been the repeated power and internet outages. As we now know, that was caused each time by a company hitting utility lines when they dig to try and lay fiber. Now, thanks to another new law, there will be no reason for the lines to be cut. 

As of Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Transportation will be required to create and maintain a public database of all the utility work that is approved and planned in a residential neighborhood. When this is built, companies or even just individual residents will be able to log on and see where the work is happening or expected to happen. The law is very specific, too. For each case, it has to include a map, the location of the lines, the start and finish date. 

New laws for historic rehabilitation, Memory Project

Residents and nonprofits can also get more state tax credits for historic rehabilitation projects. Previously, the cap was at $5 million. Now people can claim up to $7.5 million. Originally, supporters had pushed for a $10 million cap, but a compromise in last year’s Assembly settled at the $7.5 million number. The higher limit goes into effect for the 2025 tax year.

One of the new laws also will establish a new program at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Virginia Memory Project will be part of VCU’s Virginia Center on Aging. The new operation will help collect and analyze data on Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders. The goal is for the Memory Project staff to eventually help develop public policy in this field, while also providing tools and assistance to  those with dementia and neurodegenerative disorders, their families and medical providers. It’s also worth mentioning a key part of the law creating the Memory Project states no information identifying patients by name can be published.

You also may have heard our columnist Mike Wilson talk at times about the joys of waterfowling and what happens after. Now there’s just one more rule for people to follow. If you want a waterfowl blind license, you have to detail the location of your house, to verify that you actually do live in Virginia and where. 

Out of new laws, one focuses on politics

And finally today, out of the new laws taking effect, there’s a political rule taking effect on Jan. 1. If a candidate running in a primary drops out of the race after the 44th day, then the election will be canceled and the remaining candidate will be chosen as his or her party’s nominee. This type of situation affected a local congressional primary, as the Republican challenger decided at the last minute to pul out of the race. However at that point, the ballots had already been printed and it was too late to scrap the primary.