THANK YOU
for helping to ensure that Southwest Virginia always has a voice at the table in Richmond
CONTRIBUTE TO TODD PILLION
March 6, 2026
Budget conferees named; Austin and Pillion among the negotiators
Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, and Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, are among the conferees tasked with hashing out the differences in the House of Delegates and state Senate biennial budget bills. Those proposals, presented by each money committee in February, differed widely — the House proposal outlines $71.5 billion in appropriations over the biennium while the Senate proposed spending roughly $74 billion.
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July 29, 2026
State budget funds dental hygiene training, targets new Southwest Virginia program by 2027
The Commonwealth of Virginia is pushing to improve the state’s gap between patient demand and equipped dental hygienists.
This year, the state budget includes $20 million to support the expansion of career and technical education programs in the Virginia Community College System, including dental hygiene. The budget also includes $1 million to establish a dedicated fund to support the expansion of dental hygiene education programs in Virginia.
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August 31, 2026
Southwest inland port gets $20M state boost
For years, Southwest Virginia lawmakers have pushed for adding a second inland port to the Port of Virginia system, saying it could bring jobs and investment to their corner of the state, which has suffered from the coal industry’s decline.
State Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Abingdon, served this year as a budget conferee. “I kind of made sure that this project stayed at the forefront,” he says, “so I’m excited.”