Brunswick County hosted counties in VACo’s Region 4 on April 28 for the first regional meeting of 2025, which featured a lively discussion of shared challenges and legislative priorities. VACo was pleased to be joined at the event by Delegate Otto Wachsmann and representatives from the offices of Senator Luther Cifers and Congressman John McGuire. Delegate Wachsmann provided updates on several of his areas of focus, including ensuring the viability of rural pharmacies and improving care in nursing facilities, and stressed the importance of working together to advocate for rural areas of the Commonwealth.
During a roundtable discussion of county priorities, members shared top issues in their localities, with several issues emerging as common themes, including the need for greater state support for K-12, as well as the importance of additional tools to raise revenues at the local level to address school capital needs; members’ strong support for the preservation of local land use authority over the siting of large-scale solar projects; the need for additional transportation funding; and the challenges involved in providing fire and emergency medical services in an era of declining volunteerism and rising costs for equipment. Members also raised concerns about timely permitting by the Department of Environmental Quality, the adequacy of staffing levels recognized by the Compensation Board and the K-12 Standards of Quality, and enforcement mechanisms to counter illegal dumping.
VACo staff provided updates on a variety of recent legislative and budget actions, including a series of bills that would have pre-empted local land use authority over the siting of solar projects and data centers, legislation that would have superseded existing permissive authority for local governing bodies to enter into collective bargaining agreements, and the inclusion of funding in the state budget to functionally eliminate the cap on recognition of support positions in the school funding formula, VACo’s top funding priority for the 2025 session. Staff also highlighted provisions in the state budget that impose a cap on state reimbursement for private special education placements funded through the Children’s Services Act.
VACo is grateful to the members, legislators and staff, and business partners who participated in the meeting, and extends its appreciation to Brunswick County for its hospitality. Information on upcoming regional meetings is available on VACo’s website at this link.
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle