Virginia Sen. Lucas talks FBI raid, data centers and recreational cannabis

For the first time Monday, Virginia State Sen. Louise Lucas answered questions about the FBI raid on her private business and her district office.

She said it’s awfully coincidental that it came on the heels of her push to redistrict Virginia in favor of Democrats.

“No arrests, no charges made, nothing,” she told News4.

Lucas is arguably the most powerful statewide politician in Virginia, holding the purse as the chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, which is what brings her to Northern Virginia on a rare statewide tour in the ongoing battle over data centers. That battle has Virginia just two weeks away from what would be the first ever state government shutdown.

Democrats have found a way to work cannabis into the budget after the governor vetoed the bill that would’ve established a recreational market this year.

When asked by News4 if she stands to benefit financially or personally from a recreational cannabis market, Lucas said, “I only have a little CBD shop. I have not applied for a license. Matter of fact, I don’t even run the shop, I have other people who do. So maybe, maybe not.”

But that budget’s deadline is approaching and negotiations are going up in smoke — not because of weed, but because of data centers.

The data center industry has long enjoyed a sales tax exemption that Senate Democrats said is costing the state nearly $2 billion in tax money every year. House Democrats and the governor want to keep the exemption in place. Some data center developers have threatened to pull out their planned projects in southern parts of the commonwealth if the exemption is repealed.

“While other localities, like Loudoun or like others, are able to lower their property tax because of the monumental impact of revenue coming in from data centers, other localities are just now starting to see that benefit or are on their way to seeing that benefit, and what I am hearing from them is that it is an outrage that after years and years and years of having some localities benefit, it might just get cut off at the knees and their communities might never feel that positive benefit,” said Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

Lucas has drawn a line in the sand and said she doesn’t believe these tech companies are going anywhere, and it’s time for them to pay the same sales tax that the rest of us pay.

“This is as much about policy for data centers as it is getting a budget.” she said. “I don’t know how we move forward with our heads in the sand acting like we don’t understand the environmental impacts that the data centers are having on our communities as well as the fiscal impact because we’re having to pay for the forgone taxes that they’re not paying. They’re freeloading us.”

Lucas will be joined by other Senate Democrats Monday night in Manassas where she’ll listen to voters and pitch her plan to tax data centers more.