Dear ,
We are overjoyed to share a landmark victory for working families across the Commonwealth: Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed legislation into law that guarantees Virginia workers up to 5 paid sick days per year, making Virginia the first state in the South to require businesses to offer this essential benefit.
After nearly a decade of tireless advocacy, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy led a broad statewide coalition that helped turn this moral imperative into reality. Paid sick days are not only good for workers and their families; they are good for business and for the health of the entire Commonwealth.
This new law will make an immediate, concrete difference in the lives of Virginia workers, who currently lack access to paid sick leave. Under the legislation, workers will earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with part-time workers accruing benefits proportional to their hours. The coverage will extend to workers in some of our most essential and vulnerable sectors, such as food service and personal care, where the lack of paid leave has long forced people to choose between their health and their paycheck. Senator Barbara Favola, one of the bill's patrons and legislative champions, said, "Virginia workers deserve to be treated with dignity."
None of this would have been possible without you. Over the years, your prayers, your testimony at the General Assembly, your phone calls/emails, and your signatures on petitions helped build the momentum that helped win this fight. As Ramón Zepeda Ramos, VICPP's economic justice organizer, expressed so well: "This is an earned benefit that will positively impact working families across the Commonwealth and protect the public from the spread of illness." This victory belongs to all of us, and on behalf of everyone at VICPP, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued partnership in the work of justice.
In Solidarity,
Keisha
Rev. Dr. LaKeisha Cook
Executive Director | 
