Virginia is poised to raise the felony theft threshold from $200 to $500 according to Governor Ralph Northam and House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox.  Despite repeated attempts by Democrats, this will be the first increase to the archaic threshold since 1980.

As we previously posted, the Senate had passed legislation reforming the felony theft threshold last month; however, concern remained whether the House would do the same.  Ultimately, a compromise was reached with Governor Northam stating, “Both sides have gotten something we fought for.”  Increasing the felony theft threshold comes with agreement to support Republican-backed victim restitution legislation.