State budget proposals, Powhite Parkway tolls and fired VSU researchers

• Data center tax break takes center stage in Virginia budget plans
• Powhite Parkway tolls are about to be a thing of the past in Chesterfield
• The future is uncertain for some Virginia farmers after VSU researchers fired
• Most artificial intelligence legislation in Virginia was tabled until 2027
• ICE enforcement nationwide shaped Virginia immigration bills in real time

Scenes from the Virginia General Assembly

One of the more lighthearted events of every General Assembly session is the Capitol Square Basketball Classic, where teams from various parts of the state government gather at the Siegel Center to raise money for VCU’s Massey Cancer Center.

This year’s classic brought in $70,000 for the Massey Center. In a repeat of recent results, Team Lobbyists took another beating from Team Governor Monday — though Gov. Abigail Spanberger was not there to demonstrate her hoop skills.

And in the main event, the game between the House of Delegates and the Senate came down to the wire, with Virginia’s youngest elected official hitting a clutch shot for the House to send it to overtime before the Senate ultimately claimed its second straight victory.

Click here for more photos from the Capitol Square Basketball Classic — and the rest of the General Assembly session.

BizSense Beat: Sports Backers Stadium, Proctor’s Creek, Virginia’s ‘45% law’

BizSense Beat is a weekly collaboration between VPM News and Richmond BizSense that recaps the region’s top business stories.

This week, BizSense’s Jack Jacobs joins host Lyndon German to talk about Richmond City Council greenlighting a $14.7 million loan to the city’s economic development authority to buy Sports Backers Stadium from VCU, ongoing improvements at a Chesterfield County water treatment plant and legislation that could lower the percentage of sales that some restaurants are required to derive from food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Listen in and read more here.

This week in VPM News Shorts: Virginia budget; Richmond pedestrian safety

What happened this week in VPM News Shorts?

On Wednesday, Jahd Khalil used the magic of science to talk through the competing state budget proposals in the House of Delegates and the Senate. (We also have a clip from Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.)

And Whittney Evans closed the week with a closer look at her reporting for Curious Commonwealth on how Richmond prioritizes road improvements in the city.

Don’t forget, you can watch all our Shorts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

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