VACo Opposes Bill Mandating Collective Bargaining and Other Employment Terms for Transportation Services
SB 919 (Salim) / HB 2619 (Helmer) would require the governing body of any county that contracts with a private company to provide transportation services, for the contract to include provisions requiring any employee of the private company be given compensation and benefits that are at a minimum equivalent to the compensation and benefits provided to […]
VACo Opposes Bills to Reshape Water Quality Improvement Grants
HB 2247 (Runion) states that the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is only required to enter into water quality improvement grant agreements with publicly owned wastewater treatment plants that apply for such grants if sufficient and unobligated funds are available in the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund at the time the Director enters […]
VACo Opposes Bill to Limit County Ability to Access Drinking Water
SB 923 (Stuart) would prohibit the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) from issuing a Virginia Water Protection Permit for any surface water withdrawal in Virginia if more than 5 percent of the nonconsumptive volume of water withdrawn will be returned to a different major river basin. VACo opposes the bill on the grounds that this would […]
VACo Testifies in Support of Senate K-12 Support Cap Removal
On January 16, the Senate Education and Health Committee recommended to report and refer SB 977 (Hashmi) on a vote of 11-3 to Senate Finance and Appropriations. The bill, which is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) 2023 report on Virginia’s K-12 Funding Formula as well as a recommendation of […]
VACo Advocates for Removal of K-12 Support Cap
On January 14, the House Education K-12 Subcommittee recommended to report and refer HB 1831 (Simonds) to House Appropriations on a vote of 5-3. The bill, which is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) 2023 report on Virginia’s K-12 Funding Formula as well as a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee […]
Governor Youngkin Affirms Local Land Use Authority in State of the Commonwealth Address
Governor Youngkin offered a firm endorsement of local land use authority in his remarks to a joint session of the General Assembly on Monday. In his annual State of the Commonwealth address, which had been postponed from last week, along with all other legislative business, as a result of a lack of running water in […]
VACo Opposes Mandatory Collective Bargaining Bill
VACo urges opposition to SB 917 (Surovell), which as introduced, would remove local authority by imposing mandatory collective bargaining for local governments if a group of employees petition and vote to form a bargaining unit. The bill would also create a state Public Employee Relations Board with no specified local government representation and impose binding […]
ACTION ITEM: Oppose Bill to Make Accessory Dwellings Units (ADUs) a “By-Right” Use
SB 932 (Salim) mandates all localities permit accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as an accessory use in residential zoning districts. The legislation also prohibits a locality from requiring rear or side setbacks for the ADU that are greater than the setback required for the primary dwelling. ACTION REQUIRED: Call members of the Senate today to oppose […]
VACo Opposes Waterworks Reporting Bill – Sovereign Immunity Concerns
HB 2407 (Scott, P.A.), as introduced, would require waterworks to report any operational anomaly, regardless of severity, that could affect water quality, public health, or service continuity to the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water (the Office) within 24 hours of discovery. This would include instances of pump failures, equipment malfunctions, unusual odors, […]
Public Notice Bill Problematic
VACo opposes SB 876 ( Ebbin), as introduced, regarding public bodies inability to act on amended agenda items until a later meeting. The bill expands current notice information required of Public Bodies providing that the notice shall include a proposed agenda listing all items expected to be considered by the public body at the meeting […]
VACo Analysis of Governor’s Introduced Budget Amendments
Governor Youngkin presented his proposed amendments to the 2024-2026 biennium budget on Wednesday, December 18. As VACo reported in its initial review, the Governor had good news to share with the “money committees,” noting that the overall health of the state’s economy and strong revenue collections in the first part of the fiscal year warranted […]
Visit Prince George County and the Prince George County Historic Courthouse
Location: 6604 Courthouse Road / Administration Drive Built: 1882 – 1883 Style: Greek Revival Architect: F.B. Leavenworth Contractor: J. Chappall Description: The building faces south and is a two story red colored brick structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Prince George to the south of the courthouse. […]
VAcorp’s Stephanie Heintzleman Retires
We all know Stephanie Heintzleman. We talked to her at Regional Meetings. We mingled with her at the Annual Conference. We saw her at the County Officials’ Summit and other events. Stephanie has been a big part of VACo – spanning all the way back to 1987 when she started her career at Charlotte County. In […]
VCU Review and Assessment of the Sufficiency of Fire and Medical Services Report Released
A recent report presented by Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Public Policy provides an independent third-party confirmation of what many in local government already know to be true: localities struggle to fully fund fire and rescue services across the state, especially in rural areas with declining populations. The confluence of current restrictions on funding sources, […]
I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan Updates
Members of the I-81 Advisory Committee from across the Commonwealth gathered in Lexington on December 13, 2024 to discuss the status of the I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan (the Plan). The role of the Committee is to advise or make any recommendations to the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) regarding the Plan. The meeting was positive in […]
General Assembly Convenes, Adopts Schedule for 2025 General Assembly Session
The 2025 General Assembly convened under unusual circumstances yesterday, amid widespread water outages in the City of Richmond resulting from failures at the City’s water treatment plant during a snowstorm earlier in the week. In order to minimize time spent by legislators, staff, and the public in buildings without running water, the legislature convened on […]