Author: Gage Harter

Key Dates for 2020 General Assembly Session

The House and Senate adopted the procedural resolution governing the schedule for the 2020 General Assembly session on January 10, 2020.  Key dates for the 2020 Session are as follows: January 8: General Assembly convened at noon. Bills that were “prefiled” were due to be submitted by 10 a.m.  Bills affecting the Virginia Retirement System […]

Virginia General Assembly Convenes

The first day of the 2020 General Assembly session was marked by historic changes, as Virginia’s first female Speaker of the House, Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn; first female and first African-American House Majority Leader, Delegate Charniele Herring; and first female and first African-American President pro tempore of the Senate, Senator Louise Lucas, formally assumed their new […]

2020 Senate Standing Committees

(ITALIC indicates new member to committee) AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION, AND NATURAL RESOURCES Petersen (Chair), Hanger, Ruff, Obenshain, Stuart, Marsden, Stanley, Lewis, Suetterlein, Mason, McClellan, Favola, Morrissey, Pillion, Hashmi COMMERCE AND LABOR Saslaw (Chair), Norment, Newman, Obenshain, Lucas, Spruill, Edwards, Deeds, Barker, Marsden, Ebbin, Lewis, Surovell, Mason, Bell EDUCATION AND HEALTH Lucas (Chair), Saslaw, Howell, Newman, Locke, […]

2020 GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONVENES TOMORROW

Look for Capitol Contact on Tuesdays and Thursdays The 2020 General Assembly session will span from January 8 to March 7 as legislators will deliberate on many issues of critical importance to local government, including equal taxing authority, the state budget, broadband, education funding, economic development, public safety, taxes and other policy matters. VACo will […]

Granite Telecommunications Helps VACo Member Save with ‘One Contact, One Bill’

Granite Telecommunications is pleased to be a VACo Associate Member. The $1.5 billion company provides one-stop solutions for voice, data, Internet, wireless, video and network security for government agencies and businesses throughout the United States and Canada. Granite was founded in 2002 and now serves more than 650,000 locations through more than 115 agreements with […]

Visit Patrick County and the Little Mountain Falls

Featured Hike: Little Mountain Falls at Fairy Stone State Park By Shellie Anne | Posted September 12, 2015 Fairy Stone State Park has a special discovery in store for you who like to hike, it’s a waterfall and it is affectionately called Little Mountain Falls. But sometimes it is called “Big Mountain Little Falls” by […]

Finance Forum Previews Busy General Assembly Session Ahead

Approximately 150 participants at the 2020 Finance Forum kicked off the New Year with a deep dive into major financial issues affecting local governments. The event, co-hosted by VACo and VML, was an opportunity for attendees to receive briefings on the Governor’s introduced budget and its implications for local governments, as well as other top […]

VACo County Pulse Podcast | A First Look at the Introduced Budget

VACo’s Katie Boyle talks with economist Jim Regimbal about key elements of the Governor’s proposed budget, which was presented on December 17. VACo’s preliminary analysis of the budget is available at https://www.vaco.org/governor-presents-biennium-budget-proposals. Listen to the Podcast

Governor Presents Biennium Budget Proposals

Governor Northam presented his proposed 2020-2022 biennium budget to the “money committees” on December 17, along with his amendments to the 2018-2020 biennium budget.  The Governor characterized his proposal as a “strong, forward-looking budget” that makes “generational investments” in key areas such as water quality, broadband, early childhood, K-12 education, workforce development, and mental health.  […]

Visit Bedford County and the Thunder Ridge Overlook

The Thunder Ridge Overlook and Trail is an excellent spot to stretch your legs when traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trail is a quarter-mile loop that connects on either end of the parking lot at Milepost 74.7 and takes about 10 minutes to walk. There’s a stone observation deck that shows views of […]

LEDs to light the way ahead for Virginia’s highways

Governor Northam announced this week that his plan for a brighter future in Virginia will include major lighting improvements across Virginia’s roadways. Beginning in 2020, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will partner with Trane to replace nearly 10,000 highway lights with light-emitting diode (LED) products. This large-scale project will include “lights located on limited-access […]

VACo Premier Partner Spotlight Podcast – Aetna

LINK TO THE AETNA PODCAST Welcome to VACo’s Premier Partner Spotlight. In this episode we speak with Aetna – a leading health care company that is helping public sector employees and retirees on their path to better health. Joining host Dean Lynch are Liz Sampo, Sales Vice President for Group Medicare, and Marcus Duckworth, Vice […]

VACo County Pulse Podcast | Connecting the Commonwealth – Expanding Broadband Access in Virginia

Welcome to the County Pulse! In this episode, Evan Feinman, Chief Broadband Advisor for Governor Ralph Northam and Executive Director of the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, and Courtney Dozier, Chief Deputy at Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and Deputy Broadband Advisor, join VACo’s Jeremy Bennett to discuss broadband access and expansion through […]

Crisis Communications Workshop – A matter of when and not if

King George County Supervisor Ruby Brabo kicks off the event. A County’s stability and conditions can suddenly change. Weather and natural disasters, violence, health outbreaks, and public services outages are a few events that can cripple a County’s ability to serve and protect its residents. But with proper preparation, response and recovery – that crisis […]