Virginia Board of Education Meets for Annual Retreat, Action on School Construction Related Items
From Tuesday April 23 to Thursday April 25, the Virginia Board of Education (VBOE) met for their annual retreat in Richmond. In addition to receiving briefings and taking action items such the approval of new Laboratory Schools, VBOE took action on two items of particular interests to local governments; first and final review of recommended […]
Visit Mathews County and the Mathews County Historic Courthouse
Location: 27 Court Street / Church StreetBuilt: 1792 – 1795Style: FederalArchitect: Richard BilupsContractor: Richard Bilups Description: The building faces east and is a one story red colored brick structure. The “T” shaped building is located on the landscaped grounds at the northeast corner of the Courthouse Square with other county buildings in the center of […]
Dominion Engages Stakeholders to Develop Long Range Energy Plan: VACo Participating
On March 28, Dominion Virginia Energy held an initial meeting of stakeholders who will provide input in their next Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to be filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) later this year. The IRP is a long-range planning document that looks at providing energy reliability over a 15-year timeframe. The stakeholder […]
US EPA Mid-Atlantic Summit on May 16
On Thursday, May 16, 2024, starting at 10 AM EDT, EPA Mid-Atlantic Region will host their virtual summit, “Empowering Communities for Environmental Equity.” The summit is an opportunity for everyone to gather and exchange ideas about equitable access to healthy and sustainable communities. It features an opening plenary with state environmental state secretaries and concurrent […]
Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program Applications Open
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary program with $5 billion in appropriated funds over 5 years. The SS4A program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. Funds for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 SS4A grant program are to […]
Pierce Insurance
Lonnie Pierce, CEO/President Lonnie@pierceins.com Direct Telephone # 252-725-3064 Donna Pierce, Client Relations Donna@pierceins.com Direct Telephone # 704-576-0934 Pierce Insurance Agency 3766 S. Main Street Farmville, NC 27828 pierceins.com
General Assembly Considers Vetoes and Amendments at Reconvened Session, Sets the Stage for May 13 Special Session
Legislators met in Richmond on Wednesday to act on the Governor’s vetoes and amendments to legislation from the 2024 regular session. In advance of the reconvened session, speculation ran rampant as to whether the legislature would reject the Governor’s amendments to the FY 2024 “caboose” and 2024-2026 biennium budgets, potentially courting a rare veto of […]
Visit Madison County and the Madison County Historic Courthouse
Location: 1 South Main Street / Church StreetBuilt: 1828 – 1830Style: ColonialArchitect: Malcom F CrawfordContractor: Malcolm F Crawford, Richard S Boulware and William B Phillips Description: The building faces southeast and is a two-story red colored brick and wood structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Madison. The walls are […]
2024 Stormwater Local Assistance Fund Needs Survey
In 2019, the Stormwater Management Act (Code of Virginia § 62.1-44.15:24 et seq.) was amended to require the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to annually determine an estimate of the amount of Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) matching grants expected to be requested by local governments for eligible projects related to planning, designing, and implementing […]
2024 Water Quality Improvement Fund Needs Survey
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) seeks your input to identify future funding needs for point source WQIF eligible projects in the Commonwealth. The DEQ has prepared a survey to solicit your input. To aid in completion of the survey, attached is the WQIF guidance memo #06-2012 amendment #1, #06-2012 amendment #1 addendum #1, as […]
Governor Proposes Budget Rewrite
Governor Youngkin proposed 233 amendments to the biennium budget bill that was passed by the General Assembly on March 9, as well as nine amendments to the “caboose” bill amending FY 2024 appropriations. In his remarks announcing his budget proposal last week, the Governor indicated that his amendments would produce a budget with neither tax […]
U.S. EPA Finalizes First-Ever Enforceable Limits of PFAS in Drinking Water
On April 10, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS. This is the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard designed to protect communities from exposure to harmful per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” According to the EPA, the final […]
Governor Vetoes Bill to Expand Optional Affordable Dwelling Unit Program to All Localities
SB 597 (McPike) expands to all localities the ability to provide optional increases in density to meet affordable housing needs in the Commonwealth. Currently this authority is only provided to seven jurisdictions and has proven successful in developing affordable housing units where developers have chosen this option. The legislation also lays out additional implementation measures […]
Governor Proposes Amendments to 2024 Legislation
In addition to proposing a significant rewrite of the General Assembly’s budget and issuing 153 vetoes, Governor Youngkin recommended amendments to 116 bills. The legislature will consider these amendments at the reconvened session alongside the Governor’s budget amendments and vetoes; if the General Assembly rejects amendments to a bill, the measure is returned to the […]
Vetoed Bills of Interest to County Governments
In addition to vetoing HB 805 (Rasoul)/SB 14 (McPike) and SB 597 (McPike), as discussed above in Capitol Contact, Governor Youngkin issued vetoes for 150 bills, for a total of 153 vetoes. The legislature will have the opportunity to override these vetoes at the April 17 reconvened session; a supermajority vote of two-thirds of members […]
Capitol Contact ALERT! Governor Vetoes School Construction Financing Bills
Contact Your Delegates and Senators Now to Support Override Vote! On Monday night, April 8, Governor Youngkin vetoed HB 805 (Rasoul) and SB 14 (McPike), which passed the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support and at least two-thirds of each chamber voting in favor of the bills (71-26 and 27-13, respectively). This was in […]