eNews – March 17, 2026
The passed and failed - 2026 session legislative recap, Ask governor to veto SB388/HB1279...and more!
Tuesday, March 17, 2026/Categories: eNews
This edition of eNews is sponsored by the Virginia Risk Sharing Association (VRSA) the first and most financially sound group self-insurance pool in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Learn more >
VML’s 2026 General Assembly resources can be found on our website here >.
In this issue:
Action Alert
Budget
2026 Legislation Recap
VML News
Opportunities
Action Alerts
PLEASE ASK THE GOVERNOR TO VETO: SB388 / HB1279 override local zoning authority
SB388 (McPike) / HB1279 (Cole, J.) Affordable housing; religious organizations and other nonprofit tax-exempt properties.
This legislation overrides local zoning authority and allows by-right development of housing on real property owned by religious and nonprofit tax-exempt organizations without any public input. Furthermore:
- It requires that the implementation and approval of such developments be completed without the planning commission, council/or board – ONLY Administrative review is required.
- If a mixed-use project meets the requirements in the code section, local zoning ordinances shall be DEEMED to allow at a minimum: a height of 40 feet or the height of the tallest existing building within 500 feet; 20 units per acre or the most intensive existing residential unit density within 500 feet whichever is greater, construction of mixed-use developments including detached, attached, and multifamily housing units and residential use of at least 70% of the gross floor area.
- Permitted non-residential uses shall include religious worship space, child care day centers, health clinics, coffee shops and other ancillary uses.
- Only 60% of the housing developments units have to be used for affordable housing.
Action Requested:
Send a message to Governor Abigail Spanberger (abigail.spanberger@governor.virginia.gov) and ask her to VETO SB388 and HB1279. When sending the message, be sure to cc the following individuals:
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Budget
And you thought “March Madness” was about basketball!
Maybe a cooling off period was necessary. After two solid months of legislating, involving countless hours in committees and ever-lengthening floor sessions, the General Assembly’s lawmakers and weary staff finally called it quits after 7:00 pm on Saturday, March 14.
Hundreds of pieces of legislation were discussed and debated during the 2026 Session, and many bills are on the way to Governor Spanberger for her review. But one bill, and it’s a biggie, failed to pass – HB 30 (Torian) – the two-year budget that begins on July 1, 2026.
As things stand, the 2026-28 biennial budget will need to wait another month, maybe more, before it comes together. It’s always a bit anti-climactic and frankly deflating when the session wraps up without a budget agreement. In the parlance of the season: It’s like watching that potential game-winning shot end up an air ball instead of a buzzer-beater.
Based on communications from last Saturday, a Special Session on the budget will commence on Thursday, April 23, one day after the General Assembly takes up amendments at the Reconvened (or Veto) Session on Wednesday, April 22.
What happens in the meantime? No doubt, the budget conferees will exhale and probably take a day or two off. Heck, they may even fill out their NCAA brackets! But before long, they’ll renew their fiscal policy conversations and possibly develop a framework for wrapping up budget negotiations. We can only hope.
But as Senator Lucas mentioned on the floor Saturday night, there remains an elephant in the room: The data center issue. Before a final budget agreement can be reached, the General Assembly will need to decide the appropriate level of taxation on data centers that will both generate needed revenue and keep them around.
Stay tuned, because the madness of March begins soon!
VML Contact: Joe Flores, jflores@vml.org
Budget amendments of note for local governments
Item 1 #5h Legislative Workgroup on Property Tax Exemptions. Requires the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees to establish a joint subcommittee to review the cost of mandatory property tax exemptions for disabled veterans and their spouses and make recommendations to ensure the sustainability of the exemption programs, reduce the fiscal stress these exemptions are having on local governments, and preserve localities' ability to provide local services. Specifically, the subcommittee is required to review the cost of the program since 2011, detail the reasons behind the growth, explain the fiscal implications for local governments, and consider options for state assistance to localities in mitigating the stresses on local revenues. A final report with findings and recommendations is due by October 15, 2026.
Item 25 #3s JLARC: Aid to Localities Report. Requires the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to include an analysis of state spending for aid to localities, at least once every five years, as part of its annual report on state spending. If this provision is adopted, it would be helpful to include the cost of mandatory property tax exemptions that localities must provide and unfunded mandates that the Commonwealth imposes on local governments, since those mandates take away from the positive impact of state spending for aid to localities.
VML Contact: Joe Flores, jflores@vml.org
2026 Legislation Recap
The passed and the failed: Bills that mattered to local governments this session
Use the links below to learn about legislation that passed and failed during the 2026 General Assembly Session:
Cannabis
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
PASSED
SB542 (Aird) / HB642 (Krizek) Cannabis control; retail market; penalties. Establishes a cannabis retail sales market with sales starting as early as January 1, 2027 and empowers the Cannabis Control Authority to develop a process to administer licenses after September 1, 2026 for the distribution of retail licenses for the cultivation, processing, distribution and sale of retail cannabis including licenses for micro-businesses and dual licensure allowing medical cannabis to also sell retail cannabis under certain conditions. Regulations for the distribution of licenses as well as for the operation of licensed facilities including a “seed to sale” cannabis product tracking system will be developed by September 1, 2026.
Requires localities to levy a tax on retail sales by ordinance of 1-3.5% to be paid into the state treasury and distributed to the localities. The bill prohibits localities from prohibiting retail cannabis activities. Authorizes local ordinances to prohibit the public consumption of cannabis on rights of way or on school property and local ordinances to regulate the hours of operation for cannabis retail operations.
Requires the Cannabis Control Authority provide notice to localities for any application submitted in that locality for any marijuana establishment applying for a license to operate.
This legislation does not allow localities to hold a referendum to opt out of the sale of retail cannabis.
Education
VML Contact: Josette Bulova, jbulova@vml.org
PASSED
HB195 (McQuinn) / SB33 (Favola) Programs for at-risk students; permissible uses of funding. Alters the at-risk student funding to include initiatives to support the mental and physical health of students in public schools. This permissive flexibility aims to cover more school employees for schools.
HB544 (Askew) / SB498 (Aird) Commission on School Construction and Modernization; revisions; elimination of sunset eliminates the sunset of the commission and establishes a regular meeting schedule.
FAILED
HB92 (Rasoul) / SB90 (Favola) Equity in public school funding and staffing; special education students; at-risk students; annual report. Would have created and funded the at-risk program, and provide additional funding for English Language Learners and Special Education students. These bills addressed the funding and language in adjusting the SOQ differently after various substitutes were passed but dealt with the same underlying concept. Both bills were a response to the 2023 K-12 Summer JLARC report on education funding.
Both bills were continued to the 2027 General Assembly and have language and funding include in both the House and Senate budgets.
HB412 (Cole, N) Local governing bodies; school division budgets; funding levels. As introduced, would have required the local governing body to grant the local school board whatever funding amount requested by the Superintendent or more, but no less. As amended this bill became a study to determine the feasibility of implementing this concept.
As amended, the study passed the House Education committee but was tabled in House Finance and Appropriations. We expect a similar bill to be introduced again in the 2027 session.
HB1204 (Scott, P) / SB733 (Sturtevant) Local governing bodies; appropriations of local school funds to families for compulsory student attendance in nonpublic school settings. Would have allowed any local governing body to reserve the per pupil amount apportioned of SOQ costs and instead give that amount of funding the parents of students within the local school division to be used in nonpublic schools, such as private schools or homeschool. Although permissive, this would have taken money from the school division and directed funding elsewhere.
Both bills were passed by indefinitely in their respective committees of education.
HB753 (Runion) / HB1101 (Hodges) / HB1167 (Carroll) Public school funding; composite index of local ability-to-pay. Attempted to alter the local composite index (LCI) by including changes for agricultural areas, data centers, and property tax exemption for military veterans. Although each bill was about a different change, all three aimed to change the makeup of the LCI to provide more accurate distribution of funding levels to localities based on true money had.
All three bills failed to pass after being left in House Education and House Appropriation Committees. After failure to pass, it was noted that although simply conversation starters, there would be an overall change to the LCI at once following the 2023 Summer K-12 Education JLARC report.
HB334 (Rasoul) / SB66 (McPike) / SB607 (Lucas) Additional local sales and use tax to support schools; referendum. Would have authorized the statewide authority for any county or city to impose a sales and use tax of up to one percent dedicated solely to school construction if approved by voter referendum. Currently only nine localities have this authority. The passage of this authority is one of VML’s top legislative priorities.
HB334 and SB66 removed the cap on the duration of the tax, allowed towns with a school division to receive a prorated portion of funds, and allowed the tax to be used for previous indebtedness. SB607 did not have any provisions added to HB334 and SB66. However, SB607 did include language disallowing any funding to be supplanted.
HB334 passed the House 70-28 but was continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session in Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. SB66 was incorporated into SB607 which was then left in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.
These bills were left in committee since the language identical to SB607 is in the Senate version of the budget. Although it is not in the House budget, the budget bill is still in conference, and we are waiting to see what language is included in the final version.
HB751 (Runion) School Construction Program; eligibility; projects completed or initiated within immediately preceding 10-year period. Would have allowed public school buildings and facilities eligible for grants pursuant to the School Construction Program to now include any building or facility construction, renovated, or expanded that was completed or initiated within a 10-year period preceding the application. Similarly, HB755 (Runion) School Construction Program; use of grants; debt service would have allowed the School Construction Program to be used for any debt service repayments.
Both bills were tabled in the House Education K-12 Education Subcommittee.
HB1187 (O’Quinn) Localities; issuance of bonds for capital projects for school purposes. Would have allowed any local governing body, with consent of the school board, to issue bonds to finance all or a portion of any school capital projects and use all or any federal, state, or local grant to cover principal and debt service payments on such bonds.
This bill was tabled in the House Education K-12 Education Subcommittee.
Elections
VML Contacts: Josette Bulova, jbulova@vml.org; Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com
PASSED
HB505 (McAuliff) Counties, cities, and towns; dual office holding, etc. As passed by the General Assembly, the bill provides a governing body member will be deemed to have a continuing personal interest in any job they had with the locality for two years following termination of the employment. The bill goes further to restrict activities in one Northern Virginia town. Those provisions do not limit localities in areas other than Northern Virginia (Planning District 8).
HB234 (Pope Adams) Elections; general provisions; electoral board members to wear identification; civil penalty. Requires the Department of Elections to create and issue identification badges to local electoral board members to wear while conducting official duties on the day of the election. Board members that do not wear badges may be fined up to $1,000. The House budget includes funding for the creation of these badges ensuring the financial burden is not shifted to localities.
HB630 (Callsen) / SB176 (VanValkenburg) Elections; conduct of election; ranked choice voting; locally elected offices; report. Expands the eligibility for elections to be conducted utilizing ranked choice voting to all local public bodies, which will now include towns. Currently, only County Boards of Supervisors and City Council can use ranked choice voting.
SB438 (Bagby) Absentee voting in person; available the second and third Sunday before all elections. Requires absentee voting locations in person to be open for a minimum of five hours the second and third Sundays prior to any election.
This bill passed the House and Senate, has been signed by the Speaker and President of the Senate, and is now being sent to the Governor for final action.
FAILED
SB202 (Suetterlein) Elections; filling vacancies in county and city governing bodies. Would have removed the ability of a city council or county board of supervisors to fill a vacancy in the governing body by an interim appointment. Instead, a special election must be held to fill any such vacancy. The bill requires the local governing body to petition the court for a writ of special election within one day of the occurrence of the vacancy and for the court to promptly issue the writ for a special election no more than 45 days from the date the writ is issued.
HB51 (Bloxom, Jr.) Elections; time of certain local elections. Would have repealed the current requirement that all local elections be held at the same time as the November general elections.
HB23 (Helmer) / SB76 (VanValkenburg) Elections; primary dates; presidential year primaries. Would have shifted all primaries for offices to be filled at the November election in presidential election years shall be held on the date of the presidential primary.
These bills were introduced in the 2025 General Assembly Session but were vetoed. They were then reintroduced in the 2026 session but HB23 was stricken from the docket at the request of the patron and SB76 failed to report from the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee.
HB51 (Bloxom) Elections; time of certain local elections. Would have allowed localities to conduct elections for local officials in May by reverting to the law prior to 2021.
This bill was tabled in the House Privileges and Elections Election Administration Subcommittee.
HB71 (Reaser) Absentee voting in person; voter satellite offices; days and hours of operation. Would have authorized the governing body of any county or city to establish the hours and times of operation for satellite voting locations and offices by ordinance. Currently, this authority is granted to the local electoral boards.
This bill was introduced in the 2025 General Assembly Session but was vetoed. This bill was then reintroduced in the 2026 session but was continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session in the House Privileges and Elections Committee.
HB235 (Gardner) Elections; districts, precincts, and polling places; super precincts; pilot program. Would have created vote centers or super precincts available as a pilot program to all localities.
This bill was continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session in the House Privileges and Elections Committee. The patron of the bill has expressed that she will be bringing this bill and concept back next year.
SB202 (Sutterlein) Elections; filling vacancies in county and city governing bodies. Would have removed the ability of a county or city governing body to fill vacancies via interim appointment and instead require an immediate special election be held. The local governing body would be mandated to petition the court to issue a write of special election with the court within 45 days of vacancy.
This bill was continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session in the House Privileges and Elections Committee but will likely be reintroduced in a similar form next session.
General Government
VML Contacts: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org; Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com; Josette Bulova, jbulova@vml.org
PASSED
HB341 (Martinez) Plastic bag tax; distribution to towns. Requires any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax to receive a portion of revenues collected by the county based on the local sales tax distribution formula for town appropriations.
HB505 (McAuliff) / SB648 (Perry) Counties, cities, and towns; dual office holding, etc. As agreed to in the conference report, any member of a local governing body that has been employed by any governmental agency that is part of or subject to the control of that governing body and is a current member, will be deemed to have a continuing personal interest for two years following termination. Additionally, this conference report outlines a course of action in the event that a town officer in Planning District 8 with a specific population is charged with a felony. If that occurs, the court must suspend that officer from their position while proceedings occur. Course of action expires in July 2028.
HB1150 (Hodges) Impersonating any local, town, city, or county elected official; penalty. Makes willfully and intentionally impersonating or falsely assuming the identity of a local government official a class 3 misdemeanor.
HB1401 (Franklin) Eminent domain; certificate of take; description of property. Clarifies that a certificate of take in an eminent domain matter may include a combination of one or more plats, drawings, or plans to provide the description of the property being taken as required by law.
SB779 (Obenshain) Eminent domain; condemnation proceedings; entry of order and recordation of certificate; disbursement of funds by circuit court clerk. This eminent domain bill is mostly technical. The only issue for local governments is removal of the cap of $25,000 for business relocation expenses. The federal limit is $25,000. If a state court grants more, the federal agency will almost certainly not participate in the overage.
HB569 (Feggans) / SB518 (Rouse) Prevailing wage rate for public works contracts; localities. The original versions of the bills would have required all contractors doing work for a city, town, or county to pay the prevailing wage rate, consistent with the federal Davis-Bacon Act. As passed, local governments are excluded from the bills.
HB346 (McLaughlin) Va. Freedom of Information Act; exclusion to application of chapter, public utility account numbers. Public utility account numbers would not be subject to mandatory disclosure under this proposed legislation.
HB1161 (Tran) Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act; dissemination of personal information to the federal government. No agency or political subdivision thereof of the Commonwealth shall collect personal information except as explicitly or implicitly authorized by law. The proposed legislation provides some exceptions for disseminating, defines personal information and provides injunctive relief.
SB132 (Craig) Uniform Statewide Building Code; exemptions for agritourism structures. This bill asked the Board of Housing and Community Development to review the administrative code and the Statewide Fire Prevention Code to consider amending regulations to allow temporary tents used for agritourism purposes to remain in place for up to 12 months.
SB226 (Surovell) Local competitive bidding for compost, etc.; waste disposal infrastructure, civil penalty. Allows localities to require that certain entities separate organic waste from other solid waste and require appropriate disposal. The locality may use a threshold and give bid preference and impose civil penalties.
SB530 (Srinivasan) Conflict of Interests Act, State/Local Govt.; electronic discl. by local govt officers and employees. Requires local government officials with populations of 3,500 or more who have to file disclosure statements would have to file them electronically with the State Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council. In addition, it provides that local government officials have to include their home address. Different population thresholds have a different year in which this is enacted; 250K population or higher beginning Jan. 2028, 100,000 or more Jan. 2029 and less Jan. 2030.
SB699 (Ebbin) Virginia Freedom of Information Act; public bodies to post meeting agendas. This legislation states that when a public body post an agenda (which shall be posted on the government website if available) prior to the meeting and no final action may be taken on items added after the agenda unless they are time-sensitive or are the subject of a closed meeting.
HB177 (Anthony) Fee for passing bad checks to localities; payment order not paid by recipient. Modernizes the ability of localities to impose a fee for passing of an unauthorized fee or payment order to include a bad check.
HB1404 (Guzman) Appointment of youth representative to a local governing body. This bill allows local governing bodies to appoint a youth representative to serve as a nonvoting member of the governing body.
FAILED
SB50 (Rouse) Lobbying; registration; local governments; penalty. Would have expanded the definition of "lobbying" to include influencing or attempting to influence local governments.
HB707 (Hayes) State government; transaction of public business; prohibited website domains. Would have required all public bodies (as broadly defined in the bill) to have a .gov website domain and email address.
Due to the cost and expansion of the bill, HB707 was continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session. In the interim, a letter was sent to the Joint Commission on Science and Technology (JCOTS) to study the cost, implementation, and feasibility of changing all domains. VML expects to be included in the workgroup over the summer. Additionally, this bill will be back for the 2027 session.
SB334 (Roem) Conveyances of interests in real property; public hearing required. Required that a public hearing with two newspaper notices be held whenever a locality is planning to sell land or convey a permanent easement or right-of-way for 1. major transmission lines over 69 kilovolts, 2. data center power lines over 69 kilovolts, and 3. power lines over 69 kilovolts for any commercial or industrial facility.
HB159 (Simon) Va. Freedom of Information Act; proceedings for enforcement, petition for mandamus or injunction. Service of process or a summons for a hearing shall not be required when a petition for mandamus or injunction to enforce rights grants under FOIA has been filed.
HB160 (Simon) FOIA; officers, employees, or members of a public body, alleged willful and knowing violations. Civil penalties may only be imposed on officers, employees, or members of a public body in actions brought against them in their individual capacity. If they are alleged to have acted willfully and knowingly, mitigating factors include good faith reliance on opinions of the Attorney General, court cases substantially supporting such officers, employees, or member’s actions, advisory opinions of the FOIA Council and advice of the counsel of the public body.
HB313 (Wachsmann) Virginia FOIA; public records to be open to inspection, non-citizen property owners. Adds non-citizen property owners (property owned in the Commonwealth) to the list of persons who are entitled to review public records under FOIA.
HB463 (Cohen) Virginia Freedom of Information Act; definitions, meetings, quorum and electronic communication. Amends the definition of “meeting” to state that a quorum assembling constitutes a meeting, not the rule of three. The bill also allows a person participating electronically to count towards the quorum.
HB707 (Hayes) State government; transaction of public business, prohibited website domains. Prohibits a locality from having an official website without a domain ending in .gov; emails for the public body and its employees as well.
HB709 (Hayes) Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions of general application to public bodies; personnel contact information. Exempts personnel information including the home address, personal email address and phone numbers from mandatory disclosure.
HB850 (Krizek) VA Public Procurement Act; additional public works contract requirements; delayed effective date. For capital outlay projects as defined in Virginia Code, a public body shall require contractors/subcontractors to complete outlined safety training, maintain records and participate in apprenticeship training programs. It has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. Incorporated into HB1046 (Carr).
SB56 (Roem) FOIA; procedure for responding to requests, charges, posting of notice of rights & responsibilities. This proposal limits the fees charged for producing public records to the median hourly rate of pay of employees of the public body or the actual hourly rate of part of the person performing the work, whichever is less. It also changes the notices of rights and responsibilities that must be posted on a locality’s website along with other technical amendments.
STUDY
SB525 (Stuart) Mutual aid agreements; public safety radio equipment. Would have required localities that have mutual aid agreements for public safety services to provide access to the information necessary to the radio equipment owned or used by such locality, such as frequencies, security and encryption keys. *This bill will be studied by the Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC) over the summer. VML is a member of the SIEC.
Health & Human Resources
VML Contact: Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org
PASSED
HB862 (Cousins) / SB391 (Stuart) VASAP/ASAP authority and funding. These companion bills rewrite provisions of the Code of Virginia regarding the operations of the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP) and community-based Alcohol Safety Action Programs (ASAPs). They also include revisions regarding governance of community-based/regional ASAP programs and most notably, new requirements for local funding contributions and required local fiscal agent for these programs. VML and VACo got the bills amended to push the local funding components to January 2028, and to add an enactment clause establishing a work group that includes VML and VACo, House and Senate budget-writing committee staff members, and VASAP representatives. That work group will look at the program’s funding structure and sustainability and how other states operate similar programs. VASAP/ASAP is a state-mandated program that is supposed to be funded entirely through state fees paid by program participants. The work group’s report is due by October 2026.
HB681 (Hayes) Retired law-enforcement officers for emergency and temporary detention admissions. Clarifies that retired law-enforcement officers may be used in carrying out emergency custody and involuntary temporary detention orders. This would help remove responsibility from full-time law enforcement personnel who otherwise must spend extended periods of time away from their regular duties to assist individuals subject to these orders.
HB976 (Price) Alternative transportation providers; youth transport and custody. Permits the use of alternative transportation in an emergency custody or involuntary detention situation if the person providing the transportation assistance is 1) an employee of, or contractor with, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, or 2) an employee of a private or state hospital in Virginia. Also addresses allowable uses of alternative transportation providers for transportation and custody of minors during an emergency custody and involuntary temporary detention process.
SB75 (Lucas) Emergency and temporary detention; alternative transportation providers; youth transport and custody. This bill addresses components of both HB 681 and HB 976, clarifying use of retired law-enforcement officers for emergency custody and involuntary temporary detention orders, and addressing permitted uses of alternative transportation as well as allowable use of alternative transportation and custody for minors.
HB225 (Hope) / SB514 (Deeds) Marcus Alert Evaluation Task Force. These identical bills direct the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to update/adjust the membership of a Marcus Alert Evaluation Force as set out in the original Marcus Alert legislation and convene the Task Force to assist in determining the effectiveness of the Marcus Alert system, which creates a statewide crisis response system. The bills as introduced were recommended by the Behavioral Health Commission.
SB270 (VanValkenburg) / HB931 (Simon) Regulation of recovery residences. These bills implement recommendations regarding oversight and regulations for recovery residences that came out of the 2025 study prompted by legislation in the 2025 Session. The bills also clarify the relationship between credentialing entities and facilities to avoid conflicts of interest; direct the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) to develop protocols for certification and oversight; and puts DBDHS in charge of the work group formed in 2025 to further address oversight, data sharing, and transparency issues.
HB222 (Hope) Public pool regulations. Directs the Virginia Board of Health to adopt regulations governing swimming pools and water recreational facilities operated for public use, including those that are part of a tourist facility or health spa. Regulations would cover water treatment and disinfection, posting of water quality data, maintenance and safety of equipment and premises, facility staffing, incident response and other provisions necessary for health and safety. It would not regulate design, construction, or maintenance as governed by the Uniform Statewide Building Code. Localities may adopt ordinances that are equal to or more stringent than any state regulation.
HB879 (Shin) Public notice of requests for numerous public assistance records and information. Requires the Commissioner of Social Services to make a public notice available on the Department’s website of any request for records or information concerning 25 or more applicants for public assistance or child support for a purpose not directly related to the administration of these programs. Local departments are required to report any such requests for information to the Commissioner. As introduced, the bill would have required local social services directors to post such notices.
HB1490 (Tran) Centralized hotline for reports or complaints of child abuse or neglect. Directs the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) to establish a 24/7 hotline for all reports or complaints of child abuse and neglect; determine if a local department shall investigate or if a family assessment is needed; and report any invalid complaints to the local Commonwealth’s Attorney and local law enforcement agency. Local departments will forward all child abuse/neglect complaints they receive to the state hotline; investigate conduct valid complaints received from VDSS; and notify the Commonwealth’s Attorney and local law enforcement of all valid complaints received from VDSS. Child abuse/neglect complaints against any local department employee shall be made to the state hotline; VDSS will forward any valid complaint to the local court where the abuse/neglect took place or where the victim resides; either another local department will be assigned the case, or the judge can assign it to court services unit for evaluation.
Enactment clauses to the bill:
- Direct the State Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations: 1)to respond to cases within 24 hours if the child is less than three years of age (it’s currently two); and 2) to make VDSS responsible for determining validity of abuse/neglect complaints for these young children and for those under 18 years of age with disabilities as defined in the Code. The initial adoption of regulations will be exempt from the Administrative Process Act (APA); public comment shall be allowed before adoption of the regulations.
- Direct the State Board to promulgate regulations to implement the centralized intake system by July 1, 2027; initial adoption shall also be exempt from the provisions of the APA.
- Directs VDSS to contract with a third party to conduct a comprehensive study of the screening process used for CPS complaints; review how local departments apply the process and differences between departments in doing so; as well as other local data about valid/invalid/anonymous reports andreport findings to a work group; identify best practices and make recommendations for most effective/efficient system for intake. The work group will include local and state DSS staff; local law enforcement; General Assembly staff; Office of the Children’s Ombudsman; and advocacy groups. This group will consider costs of recommendations and options for implementation and report back to the General Assembly and Governor by Dec. 1, 2026.
- Directs VDSS to implement a centralized intake system on a phased-in approach beginning July 1, 2028, through July 1, 2030. Local DSS agencies shall retain authority to administer intake until July 1, 2028, or until the Commissioner phases them into centralized intake.
HB1366 (Callsen) Department of Social Services – corrective action plans and control of local boards/departments. Grants the Commissioner of Social Services the authority to create and enforce corrective action plans for any local board/ local department that fails to administer public assistance and programs in accordance with law and regulations or takes action or fails to act in a way that poses a substantial risk to the health, safety or well-being of a child or adult. It also allows Commissioner to use state staff or a private entity to provide public assistance and social services in a locality when requested by a local department.
The bill sets out the steps leading up to implementation of a corrective action plan, including communication with the locality and local board/department and a hearing. It also gives the Commissioner the authority to temporarily assume control of a local department if it doesn’t comply with the corrective action plan; continued noncompliance can lead to withholding of state funds until the department complies.
The bill’s enactment clause:
- Directs the State Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations to implement the bill’s provisions; the initial regulations are exempt from the Administrative Process Act (APA).
- Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a task force to develop a comprehensive improvement plan to address changes needed within VDSS and local departments. Representatives will include state and local DSS staff and Board members; other state agencies; House and Senate budget-writing committee staff; and advocacy groups. The task force will review eligibility and administration of state-administered benefits; other approaches to benefit application/eligibility processes; possible use of CommonHelp platform; and ways to help the user experience for recipients. A third party will be hired to review the current funding sources and the local match for services/administration as well as the funding methodology used to allocate administrative funds. A report with recommendations will be due to Governor and General Assembly by Nov. 1, 2026.
SB640 (Pillion) Department of Social Services corrective action plans and centralized intake system for child protective services reports and complaints. Incorporates both the components of HB 1490 and HB 1366 listed above.
HB884 (Herring) Electric utilities – eligibility for Percentage of Income Payment Program. Amends the Percentage of Income Payment Program (PIPP), which provides electric bill payment assistance to eligible customers, to include (i) reducing the energy burden of eligible participants by limiting electric bill payments directly to no more than three percent of the eligible participant's annual household income if the household's heating source is anything other than electricity and to no more than five percent of an eligible participant's annual household income on electricity costs if the household's primary heating source is electricity. The bill provides that the annual total costs for the Program in current law shall apply through December 31, 2026. The bill amends the eligibility criteria of the Program beginning January 1, 2027, to include any retail electric customer of a Phase I or Phase Utility (Dominion Energy or Appalachian Power) with a household income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill has a delayed effective date of Jan. 1, 2027.
SB683 (Reeves) Appointment of Receiver for public or private waterworks. Authorizes the Commissioner of Health to petition the circuit court for the jurisdiction in which any public or private waterworks is located for the appointment of a receiver for such waterworks. Currently such appointments are done only for private waterworks. The House version, HB1190 (Scott, P.A.), did not advance.
HB728 (Leftwich) Board of Health – permanent pump /haul of sewage for agritourism site. Directs the State Board of Health to amend its regulations to allow an agribusiness activity in Planning District 23 (Hampton Roads) to pump and haul sewage associated with that agribusiness on a permanent basis without the supervision of a government entity when the agribusiness activity is unable to establish and maintain a connection to an existing sewer or onsite sewage system.
FAILED
SB485 (Marsden) Ombudsman oversight of Department of Juvenile Justice. Directed the General Assembly’s Commission on Youth to study the issue of extending the purview of the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman to youth committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice. The bill was carried over to 2027 by the House Rules Committee.
SB468 (Marsden) Statewide plan and designation of local juvenile detention beds. Would have directed the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice to designate the number and location of local/regional juvenile detention facilities and number of beds in each facility as part of its statewide plan a plan for juvenile detention facilities. The bill was carried over to 2027 by the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee.
HB1373 (Carroll) Use of funds for regional special education students and report. Would have directed the Department of Education in collaboration with the Office of Children's Services, staff from the House and Senate budget-writing committees, and other stakeholders to assess potential enhancements and strategies to maximize use of funds for regional special education students (Students with Intensive Support Needs Application program), with the goal of decreasing the number of referrals of students with disabilities into private day school placements. A report would be due by Dec. 15, 2026. The bill was carried over to 2027 by the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee.
SB689 (Mulchi) Oral threat to kill or harm employees of local or state social services. Would have created a Class 1 misdemeanor for anyone who makes an oral threat to kill or injure any employee of state or local social services departments who is engaged in the performance of his/her duties. The bill was carried over in House Courts of Justice. Similar bills (HB1286 – Walker and HB1159 – Cherry) were left in committee.
Labor
VML Contact: Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com
PASSED
SB378 (Surovell) / HB1263 (Tran) Collective bargaining by public employees; Public Employee Relations Board established; exclusive bargaining representatives. The House and Senate agreed to a single bill, SB378 to establish collective bargaining for all local and state agencies. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), which will rule on appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The bill requires public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. Due to the significant steps that the bill requires (setting up PERB, etc.) the law will become completely effective July 2028. The bill provides that any existing collective bargaining agreements will remain in effect until at least that time.
This legislation will cost local governments nearly a billion dollars annually, once the system is up and running and localities become subject to collective bargaining for their employees. VML continues to oppose the legislation. This is a fundamental change in employer/employee relationships in Virginia local government, as well as for the Commonwealth’s agencies.
SB100 (Stanley) Protection of employees; volunteer emergency responders; civil action. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, or penalizing an employee or taking other retaliatory action regarding an employee's compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment solely because the employee fails to report for work because such employee is serving as a voluntary emergency responder, as defined in the bill, and is actively responding to an emergency alarm or during a state of emergency, provided that certain requirements are met.
FAILED
SB32 (Carroll Foy) Denial or abridgement of the right to work; repeal. Would have repealed the right to work laws of the Commonwealth. VML was concerned about applying the repeal to local government employees, especially public works (garbage, water/sewer), police, fire and education.
HB204 (Cherry) Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; emergency dispatchers. Would have included emergency dispatches in the membership of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.
HB205 (Cherry) / HB750 (Runion) Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Would have allowed local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers.
Land Use
VML Contacts: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org; Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com
PASSED
SB504 (Deeds) Vested rights; rulings or orders of the local circuit court. Redefines vested rights in residential projects by adding a rule that a court order concerning the rezoning of more than 25 parcels will not affect the vested rights of a landowner, unless the significant governmental act involved is the direct subject of the court’s order.
HB135 (Simon) Virginia Code Commission; extends subdivision plats work group. This work group met over the summer and needs more time, so it is extended for one more year.
HB4 (Bennett-Parker) Affordable housing; preservation, definitions, civil penalty. This bill has been offered in prior years – it creates a process for localities to preserve affordable housing by exercising a right of first refusal on publicly supported housing.
HB14 (Price) Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; enforcement by localities. Creates a framework for the locality to step into the tenant’s shoes and institute court action to deal with material noncompliance of a lease.
HB356 (Thomas) Local housing policy; expands the range of changes that are required. Adds to the local housing policy changes that are required to be submitted annually in a report to the Department of Housing and Community Development by any locality with a population greater than 3,500 and moves the reporting date from September 1 to August 1 of each year.
SB290 (Aird) Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; enforcement by localities. Creates a framework for the locality to step into the tenant’s shoes and institute court action to deal with material noncompliance of a lease.
SB26 (Carroll Foy) Land development; solar canopies in parking areas. Provides that any locality may include in its ordinances a provision that requires an applicant to install a solar canopy over designated surface parking areas.
SB74 (McPike) Affordable housing; local zoning ordinance authority. Stipulates that all localities in the Commonwealth can provide an affordable housing dwelling unit program by amending its’ zoning ordinance. This bill includes many measures and tools to assist a locality to increase its housing stock.
SB87 (Stanley) Local government sporting events and sporting facilities; automated external defibrillators. Requires localities to ensure that automated external defibrillators are available at local government sporting events and sporting facilities.
SB94 (Roem) Siting of data centers; property zoned for industrial use. Provides that a local government land use application for the siting of a data center shall only be approved if such application is for a parcel of land zoned for industrial use. This is applicable to applications submitted on or after July 1, 2026. There is an extension provision for localities who do not have zoning so that they can create zoning classifications if desired.
SB328 (Perry) Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership and workforce housing alternatives. Eliminates the maximum amount a locality may provide to various employees of the locality for homeownership grants.
SB347 (VanValkenburg) Local regulation of solar facilities; special exceptions. Provides that ground-mounted solar energy generation facilities shall be located on property zoned agricultural, commercial, industrial or institutional
SB425 (Bagby) Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy. Requires cities with populations greater than 20,000 and counties with populations greater than 100,000 to consider at reviews of the comprehensive plan adopting an environmental justice strategy.
SB443 (McPike) Siting of battery energy storage projects; commercial solar photovoltaic generation facilities; permitted accessory use. Deems battery energy storage projects as a permitted accessory use in all zoning districts on any parcel of land that is subject to an approved special exception with other criteria outlined in the legislation.
SB531 (Srinivasan) Zoning; development and use of accessory dwelling units. Requires a locality in its zoning ordinance for single-family residential zoning districts to allow for accessory dwelling units.
HB164 (Thomas) Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership. Eliminates the maximum grant amount authorized for localities to provide to local employees for homeownership.
HB257 (Simonds) Comprehensive plan; social determinants of health. Encourages localities to consider how social determinants of health impact the locality’s overall public health and access to health care services in their comprehensive plan.
HB277 (Seibold) Zoning; wireless communications infrastructure, application process. No locality shall disapprove of an application for wireless communication infrastructure if certain criteria are met and increases the minimum height from 50 feet to 150 feet for non-administrative review-eligible projects.
HB352 (Thomas) Local authority; authorized by ordinance to establish affordable housing performance grant programs. Localities with an Economic or Industrial Development Authority may establish by ordinance an affordable housing performance grant program.
HB388 (Callsen) Powers of service districts; control of invasive plants. Allows local service districts to control invasive plants.
HB594 (Simonds) Expedited approval for certain affordable housing developments. Localities may adopt an ordinance to create an administrative process to approve rezoning applications for affordable housing developments.
HB711 (Herring) Solar facilities; local regulation, special exceptions. Provides that a ground-mounted solar energy generation facility to be located on property zoned agricultural, commercial, industrial, or institutional shall be permitted pursuant to various criteria to be included in a local ordinance, such as specifications for setbacks, fencing, solar panel height, visual impacts, and grading, and a decommissioning plan for solar energy equipment and facilities, unless otherwise permitted by right.
HB802 (Carr) Vacant buildings; registration by registered agents, etc., annually. Allows industrial development authorities to exercise their powers with respect to facilities used to promote safe and affordable housing to include issuing bonds.
HB876 (Shin) Zoning; wireless facilities, temporary support structures. Localities must allow in its zoning ordinances an allowance for the use of temporary support structures for portable wireless communications facilities for a prescribed number of days and a process to extend the time.
HB888 (Shin) Zoning; minimum off-street parking requirements in certain areas. This bill is extremely prescriptive and outlines where and based upon what criteria a locality can require off-street parking along with the number of off-street parking spaces.
HB1130 (Reid) Workforce housing for employees of a locality or school board; lease of surplus property. Allows a local governing body or school board to lease surplus or underutilized property for workforce housing.
HB1144 (Martinez) Water and sewer connection fees; first-time homebuyers, affordable housing. This bill was amended to allow for localities to provide for full or partial reimbursement to a first-time homebuyer of water and sewer connection fees, capital recovery changes, and availability fees. It can include eligibility criteria. If your locality has an affordable dwelling unit ordinance the same applies.
HB1212 (Sewell) Zoning; small lot residential districts. This bill requires localities with a population of 20,000 or more to adopt a zoning district classification that permits single-family dwellings as by-right uses on lots with a minimum lot area not exceeding 3,000 square feet.
HB1234 (Sewell) Land development; solar canopies in parking areas, definition. This legislation sets out the requirements for localities to have the ability to require solar canopies in qualifying parking areas.
HB1463 (Thomas) Zoning; nonconforming uses; manufactured homes. Provides that a landowner may place a manufactured home upon any open lot in a valid nonconforming mobile or manufactured home park regardless of whether a valid nonconforming manufactured home is located on the lot with guardrails.
FAILED
HB197 (Thomas) Board of zoning appeals; appellate jurisdiction upon appeal from the circuit court. Provided that appeals of a circuit court decision about a board of zoning appeals case goes directly to the Supreme Court of Virginia from any final decision of a circuit court on appeal from a board of zoning appeals.
HB143 (Gardner) Surplus real property; prioritization of disposition for affordable and middle-income housing. The Chief Administrative Officer of a locality shall maintain a list of real property owned by the locality that is feasible for development of affordable and middle-income housing. If the property is disposed of it must be offered to public or private entities for 90 days exclusively who would develop affordable or middle-income housing.
HB464 (Cohen) Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Department of; powers and duties of director. Directs DHCD to create an accessory dwelling unit construction guide and update it every 5 years.
SB354 (Salim) Minimum parking requirements; prohibition on mandates by localities. This proposal provides that no locality shall mandate a minimum number of parking spaces for any building.
SB367 (Carroll Foy) Affordable housing; religious organizations and other nonprofit tax-exempt properties. Allows for the administrative approval of development and construction of housing on land owned by property tax-exempt religious organizations or certain property tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. Zoning shall allow for by-right development. Rolled into SB388
HB447 (Simon) Local government or board of zoning appeals land use decisions; third-party standing requirements. Creates standing for any person who does not have an ownership interest in the property that is the direct subject of local government/bza action if such person can meet certain criteria.
SB334 (Roem) Conveyances of interests in real property; public hearing required. Requires a locality disposing of a real property interest (to include easements, license, right-of-way, etc.) for the purpose of allowing electric transmission or distribution facilities, public utility infrastructure, data center operations or supporting utility infrastructure or any commercial or industrial facility to hold a public hearing and no vote may be taken until public comment is received.
HB262 (Simonds) Minimum parking requirements; prohibition on mandates by localities. Removes the ability of localities to require parking spaces for any new or existing building, structure, or other use.
HB278 (Clark) Local anti-rent gouging authority; civil penalty. Allows localities to create an ordinance including anti-rent gouging provisions and adds penalties.
HB370 (Reid) Industrial use facilities; local authority on requiring water consumption in zoning ordinance. Allows a locality to include in it is zoning ordinance the ability to require proposed industrial and commercial facilities to submit water consumption estimates and public resources when applying for rezoning and special use permit.
HB418 (Cole) Zoning; manufactured housing. Amends existing provisions that require localities to permit manufactured housing in areas zoned for agricultural purposes.
HB419 (Cole) Approval of land use applications; residential development. Requires localities to take final action to approve, approve with conditions, or deny any land use application for rezoning or development of property that includes residential within 12 months from the submission of the application.
HB535 (Hamilton) Review of plats and plans by locality; designated agent. Localities with a population of 20,000 or less may use its planning commission as the designated agent for reviewing and acting on plats, site plans and plans of development.
HB611 (Cohen) Zoning; development and use of accessory dwelling units. Localities must include in their zoning ordinances for single-family residential zoning districts accessory dwelling units as a permitted accessory use.
HB708 (Thomas) Timely local decision on certain land use permits; incentives and penalties. Localities shall take final action to approve or deny applications within 12 months.
HB804 (Helmer) Statewide housing targets for localities. Requires localities to increase their total housing stock; provides targets and mandatory plans that have to be implemented.
HB816 (Helmer) Zoning; by-right multifamily development. Requires a locality to add to the zoning ordinance by-right development and construction of multifamily residential areas in commercial or business zoning districts.
Natural Resources & Agriculture
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
PASSED
HB86 (Laufer) Mattress Stewardship Program established; report. Establishes a mattress recycling program and levies a new fee on the sale of mattresses to fund the program with the goal of reducing the quantity of mattresses sent to landfills by recycling mattress components.
HB402 (Callsen) Cottage food laws; sale of certain food over phone and internet; work group; report. Expands sales under cottage laws to include sales to persons in the Commonwealth over the internet or by phone.
HB521 (Hernandez) Marine Resources Commission; powers and duties; wetlands; work group; report. Wetlands Preservation. Requires the Virgina Marine Resources Commission as part of their efforts to protect wetlands ensure that no net loss of wetlands acreage and function is achieved to be accomplished by compensatory requirements for permits for development authorized by the Commission. The bill also directs a stakeholder work group to determine how best these goals can be achieved with a report due July 1, 2027.
HB1072 (Laufer) Local authority to test and monitor the land application of sewage sludge within its political boundaries. Local Authority to test Biosolids for PFAS/PFOA. Establishes local authority to test and monitor land applied biosolids to ensure compliance with all relevant water quality and permitting requirements.
SB197 (Williams Graves) Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund; loan and grant program; deferment of interest accrual and repayment obligations. Defers the accrual of interest on loans received by localities through the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund until completion of the project or study. SB197 will assist localities by providing additional time during the construction of projects funded through the VCFPF before interest on loans accrues nd reduce the up front costs shouldered by localities.
SB386 (Stuart) / HB1443 (Lopez) Owners of sewage treatment works; land application, marketing, or distribution of sewage sludge; perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances; testing requirements. Establishes limits on sewage sludge for land application and testing standards and protocols for Per fluoroalkyl and Poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS/PFOA). Establishes quarterly testing of sewage sludge for land application for PFAS/PFAO using EPA testing methods and provide results of testing to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and limits the land application of any biosolids that exceed limits established in the bill. If certain levels of PFAS/PFOA are exceeded land owners are required to be notified prior to the land application of any biosolids.
SB89 (Salim) Powers of service districts; control of invasive plant species. Expands the Authority of Service Districts to Manage Invasive Species Authorizes service districts to control the spread of invasive species identified by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Expands local authority to use service districts to mitigate invasive species.
FAILED
HB487 (Hernandez) / SB192 (Williams Graves) State-owned bottomlands; localities; property interest. Authorized localities with the necessary authority to establish a property interest in state owned waters, bottoms or subsurface soils necessary for easements during construction of a flood or storm risk management program in partnership with the Department of the Army.
HB1238 (Shin) Local ordinances; regulation of pet shops. Granted local authority to prohibit the sale of animals in pet shops.
HB1436 (Cole) Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program authority; right of entry; performance bond. Eliminated bond requirements for a Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program authority to enter a property to maintain or initiate appropriate action required by VESMP.
SB588 (Marsden) Department of Energy; developing criteria to determine the appropriateness of sites for solar facilities. Required the Department of Energy develop criteria for solar siting in localities.
SB768 (Locke) Commonwealth Flood Prevention Match Assistance Fund and Program; established. Established a cost sharing matching fund to assist localities seeking grant funding for storm and flood risk management projects. This bill would have assisted localities seeking federal grant funds that have significant matching requirements to pursue capital projects that increased local resiliency and mitigated flooding in local communities.
Public Safety
VML Contact: Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com
PASSED
HB273 (Helmer) Law-enforcement officers; duty to render aid upon danger to life or limb; civil immunity. Provides that a law-enforcement officer, while engaged in the performance of his duties, has a duty to render aid to any person that he observes suffering from a serious bodily injury or life-threatening condition as circumstances objectively permit. The bill provides immunity for such officers from civil liability for any acts or omissions that are not due to gross negligence or willful misconduct resulting from the rendering of such aid.
SB647 (Pillion) Use of unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers; search warrants. Allows use of unmanned aircraft systems without a search warrant when law enforcement is surveying the scene of a crime or to respond to a public safety call for service, to locate a person when such person has fled the offense location during the initial response to an incident, or to provide real-time aerial observation to increase on-scene safety and security, deliver essential supplies, and provide enhanced communication for emergency personnel in response to emergency calls. It also authorizes the use of unmanned aircraft systems by law enforcement during large gatherings, demonstrations, disturbances, and other such events in the public domain to aid in maintaining the safety and security of event attendees and members of the public.
HB702 (Cole) Virginia Firearm Give-Back Program and Fund established. This bill requires all city and county law enforcement agencies to adopt a gun buy-back program, with exceptions for weapons that are evidence in a criminal prosecution. This was asked for by the City of Fredericksburg.
FAILED
HB691 (Zehr) Control of firearms by localities. Provided that localities may not prohibit the possession, carrying, or transportation of any firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof in any (i) public park owned or operated by the locality, or by any authority or local government entity created or controlled by the locality, or (ii) public street, road, alley, or sidewalk or public right of way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit.
Sovereign Immunity
VML Contact: Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com
PASSED
SB637 (Ebbin) Virginia Human Rights Act; definition of "employer"; sovereign immunity. The original bill waived sovereign immunity for any violations of the Virginia Human Rights Act. agency. The final version does not contain that waiver.
FAILED
SB228 (Surovell) Localities; liability insurance; certain waiver of sovereign immunity. Would have required that if a locality provides liability insurance for public safety workers (police, fire, EMS, including employees and volunteers if any), then in any action against such public safety workers or the locality, the local government would be deemed to have waived sovereign immunity as a defense.
HB1314 (Maldonado) Civil action for deprivation of rights; liability of persons acting under color of law. The bill would have provided that a person acting under color of law who deprives an individual of such rights and any supervisor of such person who is responsible for directing or overseeing such person's conduct shall be liable to such individual for compensatory damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.
Taxation
VML Contact: Joe Flores, jflores@vml.org
PASSED
SB649 (Obenshain) Real property tax; special assessment for land use; notice requirements; civil penalty. Establishes notice requirements for the sale of real estate that is valued, assessed, and taxed by a locality under a special assessment on the basis of use. The bill directs the Department of Taxation to create a written notice that may be provided to the purchaser of real estate in a land use program. The notice must include disclosures regarding the special classification of the real estate and liability for roll-back taxes if a change in use occurs. The bill is designed to prevent sticker shock for the purchasers of land in rural communities. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
FAILED
HB13 (McNamara) / SB9 (Suetterlein) RS and UT; food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. Proposed to eliminate the remaining one percent local sales and use tax that is imposed on food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products beginning on July 1, 2026. Under current law, no other sales and use tax is applied to such products.
The bill required an equal amount of revenue be distributed to cities and counties to compensate for the lost tax revenue. That amount exceeded $300 million annually, an amount the Commonwealth can ill afford at the present time. The bills were continued to the 2027 Session.
HB703 (Tata) RS & UT; food for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products, delayed effective date. Like HB13 (McNamara) and SB9 (Suetterlein), HB703 (Tata) proposed to eliminate the one percent local option sales tax on groceries and reimburse localities for the lost revenue. While the bill had a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, the annual general fund impact of more than $300 million was unchanged. The bill was continued to the 2027 Session.
HB978 (Watts) Taxation in the Commonwealth. Delegate Watts proposed a more creative, but ultimately unsuccessful, approach to repealing the grocery tax. Her bill expanded the Commonwealth’s sales and use taxes to services, including services that heretofore have not been subject to taxation and modernizing the Commonwealth’s tax system by expanding sales and use taxes to digital services. The latter is like a tax proposal that Governor Youngkin recommended two years ago.
Additional revenues would have been apportioned to transit and transportation services as well as local governments, in part, to offset a reduction in revenues from the elimination of the local option sales tax on groceries. It wasn’t clear, however, if those additional revenues to localities would remain as flexible as revenues that come from the grocery tax. The bill was continued to the 2027 Session.
HB956 (Watts) License taxes; deduction for out-of-state receipts. Would have altered the way that BPOL taxes are assessed at the local level for businesses with operations in other states. Last year, a similar bill required the Department of Taxation to convene a workgroup to assess the impact on local revenues as well as the administrative cost of the proposed changes. The workgroup was unable to reach agreement on the proposed changes. Due to remaining concerns about the impact of revenues losses to local governments at a time of considerable economic uncertainty in our communities, the bill failed to report out of House Finance.
HB960 (Watts) Personal property taxes; valuation. Required that tangible personal property employed in a trade or business be valued by a percentage or percentages of original cost to the taxpayer. Current law requires such property to be valued only as a percentage or percentages of original cost. It was a subtle change that had an unknown but likely negative impact on local revenues. Even though a reenactment clause was added to the bill at the patron’s request, requiring it to be approved in the same form during the 2027 Session of the General Assembly, the bill was carried over by members of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.
SB93 (Roem) Bank franchise tax; retail sales and use tax; tangible personal property tax; data centers. Provided that, if any tenant of a data center is a bank, then the retail sales and use tax exemption for data center computer equipment shall not apply to the data center operator and any tenants of the data center. Further, the bill added computer equipment and peripherals of all banks used in a data center to personal property that is taxable for banks subject to the bank franchise tax in lieu of most other taxes. The patron explained that she was attempting to close a loophole where banks and possibly other entities are setting up shop within data centers to minimize local taxation. The bill was continued until the 2027 Session.
SB712 (Stuart) Tobacco products tax; local tax authority; nicotine vapor products. Proposed to give local governments the authority to impose taxes on the sale or use of nicotine vapor products. The tax could not exceed the lesser of the rate of 10 percent of the wholesale price or eleven cents ($0.11) per milliliter for the nicotine vapor product. The bill also provided localities with the authority to administer and enforce the tax, including “the registration of any distributor, wholesaler, vendor, retailer, or other person selling, storing, or possessing nicotine vapor products within or transporting nicotine vapor products within or into the taxing jurisdiction.” VML supported this local authority to offset lost revenues as smokers have shifted their consumption from cigarettes to vaping products. The bill was stricken at the patron’s request.
SB8 (DeSteph) Real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty. Would have allowed localities to provide a total exemption from real property taxes for dwellings owned by surviving spouses of members of the armed forces beginning in January 2026. Under current law, a total exemption is only allowed for dwellings with assessed values in the most recently ended tax year that are less than the average assessed value of a similarly situated dwelling. Even though the bill’s provisions were optional, the committee continued the bill until the 2027 Session.
HB566 (McNamara) Tangible personal property tax relief; rate of taxation. As introduced, HB566 exempted from taxation, beginning January 1, 2027, the first $5,000 in assessed value of qualifying vehicles. Each tax year thereafter, the amount of personal property (or car tax) relief would grow by an additional $5,000 if revenues in a county, city, or town grow by five percent or more. The amount of the exemption would be capped at $20,000. The cost to localities was not quantified but projected to be significant. The bill failed to pass out of House Finance.
SB799 (Durant) Tangible personal property tax relief; rate of taxation. This bill proposed a different way to phase out the car tax by effectively eliminating it January 1, 2027, by reducing the local tax rate on qualifying vehicles to no greater than $0.00000001 per $100 of assessed value of the qualifying vehicle. At the same time, SB799 removed the current $950 million general fund cap on reimbursement to localities for the car tax, beginning in tax year 2027 and each tax year thereafter. Lifting the current cap was an acknowledgement that the general fund impact of reimbursing localities would far exceed the current general fund limit and approach $3.0 billion annually, a cost too high for the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee that failed to report the bill.
HJ34 (Franklin) / SR6 (Marsden) Study; Department of Taxation; options for abolishing the personal property taxation of certain qualifying vehicles; report. These resolutions would have required the Department of Taxation to study options for abolishing the personal property taxation of certain qualifying vehicles and to evaluate alternative local revenue sources to account for the shortfall in local tax revenues that will result from the abolition of the tax. For years, there has been bi-partisan chatter, mostly on the campaign trail, about abolishing the car tax. Admittedly, it is an unpopular revenue source for local governments. But it’s also the second largest source of monies flowing to localities, estimated to exceed $3.0 billion annually. A review of options to repeal the car tax and what losing those revenues might mean for localities was an idea that VML did not oppose. With the defeat of these resolutions, it appears we’ll continue to have conversations about repealing the car tax.
Transportation
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
PASSED
SB59 (Diggs) / HB684 (Hayes) Training for Photo Speed Violations for Conservators of the Peace. Authorizes conservators of the peace who have successfully completed training to be established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services and who are employed by the locality to swear or affirm violations of automatic traffic violation enforcement devices.
SB84 (Williams Graves) Speed safety cameras; placement and operation; violation enforcement; civil penalties. Authorizes the use of pedestrian crossing monitoring systems in school and active work zones. Penalties, process and requirements to operate such a program are identical to those for operating a photo speed enforcement program. Includes new requirements for photo speed enforcement devices also included in HB1220.
SB219 (Jones) Photo speed monitoring devices; summons; reports. Requires a second notice to be issued for speed violations issued under a photo speed enforcement program and requires DMV place a hold on any new vehicle registration, renewal or issuance of license plates until the penalty is paid.
SB221 (Jones) School crossing zones; active times. Local Option to Increase Duration of School Zones from 30 to 60 minutes
SB436 (Bagby) Photo speed monitoring devices; highway work zones; workers present. Limits use of photo speed monitoring in work zones to when workers are present as affirmed by the operator of the photo speed monitoring devices
HB564 (Reid) / SB583 (Salim) Parking, stopping, and standing enforcement; bus obstruction monitoring systems. Automated Bus Obstruction Monitoring – Authorizes a locality to allow automated bus obstruction monitoring devices to enforce local ordinances related to parking, stopping or standing in bus zones or lanes and further authorizes a locality to enter into a contract for the operation of a bus obstruction monitoring system.
HB994 (Seibold) Photo speed monitoring devices; placement and operation. Expands local ordinance authority to operate photo speed enforcement devices in a “safety red zone” as identified by the Commissioner of VDOT in Planning District 8. Includes most elements of HB1220.
HB1220 (Delaney) Photo speed monitoring devices; placement and operation. This bill originally waived sovereign immunity for any violation of new rules regarding speed camera use. That provision was removed in the final bill version and replaced with specific local government liabilities and penalties.
Directs the Virginia Supreme Court to establish uniform summons to be used for photo speed enforcement violations. Use of the uniform summons is required starting July 1, 2027.
Establishes new requirements for the summons to include information to contesting or paying a civil violation and the opportunity for the inspection of photo speed device speed calibration information within 30 days of the mailing of a summons.
Requires 2 conspicuous signs placed within 1,000 feet of the photo speed device warning of the use of photo speed devices and one of these signs must be a speed display sign that measures the speed of oncoming vehicles and displays that speed in real time to drivers. Signage requirements have a delayed enactment date of July 1, 2027.
Restricts how fines and fees collected from violations may be used by a locality for the planning, design and construction of specified road safety improvements such as traffic safety, speed management, bicycle and pedestrian safety, public transit, and local systemic safety initiatives otherwise eligible for funding under the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program. The bill further requires that these projects be prioritized in those areas where photo speed enforcement is in use in the locality.
Eliminates the ability of vendors to collect any fees for the mailing of violations or administrative fees other than for reasonable postage costs and no more than a 5% processing fee in addition to the civil penalty of $100.
Includes new requirements for vendors to provide calibration data of photo speed devices within 10 days electronically or postmarked within 10 days of receiving the request from a person issued a violation from a photo speed device. Vendors who fail to meet these requirements are subject to a $1,000 civil penalty per violation. Localities in violation of these requirements waive sovereign immunity
Data associated collected by a photo speed enforcement device must be destroyed within 21 days of its capture unless the data is being used for a civil violation under the statute or for the purposes of reporting requirements under the statute.
The bill also includes provisions that require workers are present as documented by photo or video or by a sworn certificate that workers were present at the time of the violation.
Expands the type of information localities must submit to the Virginia State Police and changes the reporting date from January to November.
Directs law enforcement agencies operating photo speed enforcement to develop an emergency action plan in accordance with USDOT guidelines and requires the department or agency to review annually the distribution of photo speed devices to consider the racial, economic, and other equity issues or public concerns.
Requires a locality to publish on social media and websites information to contest violations issued by, answer questions about, publicize changes and new locations for a photo speed enforcement device, which can be satisfied with a link to the website of the vendor so long as it meets all requirements.
Require a 30 day warning period for any device installed after July 1, 2026 where no fine can be levied for violations of a photo speed enforcement device.
Violations by a vendor or a locality of these provisions are subject to a $1,000 civil penalty.
Establishes new penalties and legal recourse for localities operating photo speed programs found by a judge to be operated in willful disregard of applicable law. Localities found to operate in willful disregard of applicable law could also have funds collected through a photo speed program redirected to state funds until the locality comes into compliance with court ordered corrections for a photo speed enforcement program.
FAILED
SB297 (Peake) Use of photo speed monitoring devices; repeal. Eliminate local authority to operate photo speed enforcement.
SB306 (Peake) Use of violation monitoring systems to enforce traffic light signals and certain traffic control devices; repeal. Eliminated local authority to operate photo red light enforcement.
HB311 (Wachsmann) Required information be included in any mailing for a violation of photo speed enforcement program including the effect of a violation on the driver’s insurance, operating record, how to contest a violation and an explanation of penalties.
SB428 (Bagby) Photo speed monitoring devices; summons by mail; certain information to be included. Authorize institutions of higher education to operate school zones.
HB818 (Carr) Photo speed monitoring devices; reduced-speed segments. Expands local authority for towns without police departments to operate photo speed monitoring program.
HB821 (Carr) Photo speed monitoring devices; historic district segments. Expanded authority to operate photo speed enforcement programs in historic districts.
HB900 (Sullivan) / SB730 (Surrovell) Would have raised more than $1 billion in new revenues for transit statewide, including operating and capital funding for WMATA, through adjustments to the sales tax rate and creation of new fees and taxes on delivery services and the expansion of the sales and use tax to services.
HB1179 (Tran) / SB638 (Ebbin) Sales and use tax on taxable services and digital personal property; taxes levied in certain transportation districts; funding for transportation. Would have created new taxes levied on transportation network companies, commercial parking and delivery services for transit primarily in Northern Virginia.
HB1330 (Seibold) Speed safety cameras, pedestrian crossing violation monitoring systems, and stop sign violation monitoring systems; placement and operation; violation enforcement; civil penalties. Pedestrian and stop sign violation automated enforcement (House Companion to SB84).
VML News
Small Towns Conference and “Local Workshop” coming to Chincoteague May 13-15
The Small Towns Conference provides an overview of topics related to local government management specifically geared towards small town issues. This conference invites elected officials, including council members and mayors, town managers, and leadership staff to learn, network, and share resources and ideas.
This year the Small Towns Conference will be held May 14-15 at the Chincoteague Center.
Lodging options, registration, and more information about the 2026 Small Town’s Conference is available on VML’s website here.
Pre-Conference Offering – May 13
We know that Chincoteague is a bit of a drive for many of our members, so for those arriving early there will be a special afternoon of programming on May 13 beginning at 1:00pm followed by a reception that evening. Please join us if you are able!
Local Workshop: Tools & Materials for Building Communities
What are the tools and materials used for building and revitalizing communities? How can you make informed decisions that positively affect the growth of your community? This interactive workshop will provide a better understanding of the many components of community building, such as zoning & land use, transportation, historic preservation, placemaking & open space planning, and economic development.
VML Contact: Rob Bullington, rbullington@vml.org
“If I Were Mayor” essay contest deadling to submit entries is March 23
The Virginia Municipal League (VML) invites all eligible Virginia 7th and 8th Graders to join its “If I were Mayor” essay contest.
Regional winners selected from around the state will each receive a $150 gift card and a plaque. One statewide winner chosen from the regional winners will receive a $250 gift card and a plaque. The runner-up from the region that receives the statewide award will become that region’s winner.
Winning essays will be featured in the May/June issue of VML’s magazine Virginia Town & City.
Learn more about the contest and how to submit entries here >.
VML Contact: Manuel Timbreza, mtimbreza@vml.org
Opportunities
2026 Virginia Recovery Conference happening June 15-17
The 2026 Virginia Recovery Conference, hosted by the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority’s (OAA) non-profit foundation, will take place June 15–17, 2026, at the historic Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center in Roanoke, Virginia. This inaugural statewide gathering will highlight best practices in substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery. Featuring four general sessions and 20 breakout sessions, this event showcases real‑world examples of how Virginia communities are putting opioid settlement funds to work to save lives and strengthen families.
Because interest in this conference is exceptionally high, attendance is capped at 400 participants, and it is expected to sell out quickly. To ensure that Virginia’s public-sector professionals have the first opportunity to attend, registration for state and local government employees is being opened early, ahead of all other registrants. This early-access registration window is available now through April 6. After this date, registration will open to all remaining interested parties on a first‑come, first‑served basis until capacity is reached.
We strongly encourage you to register as early as possible to secure your spot.
Special Benefits for 2026 Attendees:
- Opportunities for statewide networking and collaboration with leaders in prevention, treatment, recovery, and community partnerships as well as vendors and suppliers from across the Commonwealth.
- Access to practical tools and innovations communities are using to address the opioid epidemic.
- A complimentary professional portrait/headshot, taken onsite and provided at no additional cost.
Use of Opioid Settlement Funds:
Conference registration fees, hotel lodging, meals, and related travel expenses qualify as an allowable use of opioid settlement funds, as the event directly supports capacity-building, training, and knowledge-sharing related to substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery initiatives statewide.
Event & Registration Details:
OAA Contact: Tony McDowell, tmcdowell@voaa.us
Virginia Municipal Clerks Association Annual Conference: April 15-17
The Town of Blacksburg and members of the Virginia Municipal Clerks Association (VMCA) Region IV are pleased to host the 49th Annual Conference of the Virginia Municipal Clerks Association, to be held April 15–17, 2026, at The Inn at Virginia Tech.
The preliminary agenda is available here >.
Registration and additional information, including a link to reserve rooms, are available on the VMCA website here >.
VMCA Contact: Lorranie Spaulding, lspaulding@blacksburg.gov
Free webinar March 25: Continuing education for law enforcement and public safety professionals
Join VML Community Business Member organization* American Military University (AMU) for Education in Action: An AMU Alum Spotlight, a live webinar for law enforcement officers and public safety professionals.
*AMU is part of the American Public University system.
During this session, AMU alumnus Henry J. Giammarco, Jr., Chief of Police for the Yeadon, Pennsylvania Police Department, will share his career journey and how his AMU education helped him reach his goals in public safety.
- Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2026
- Time: 2:00 PM EST
- Registration: Register here >
What you’ll learn:
- How AMU's flexible online format fits into the life of a working public safety professional
- Ways to save on career-relevant education
- How education can support your career goals
Promotional flyer available here >.
Save your spot today to hear one professional’s experience firsthand.
AMU Contact: Matt Hoffman, mhoffman@apus.edu
Main Street Now 2026: Discounted rate for civic leaders
Civic leaders can attend the 2026 Main Street Now Conference in Tulsa, OK (April 13-15) for as little as $200. The civic leader rate also includes tailored content, special sessions, and invaluable network-building opportunities.
This is a professional development opportunity for civic leaders looking to boost their impact and role in the success of their local Main Street:
- Connect with hundreds of elected officials and government administrators from across the county
- Explore proven strategies and innovative solutions to address pressing issues in communities of all sizes — choose from 100+ sessions, including a curated civic leaders education track
- Learn strategies for building durable Main Streets through civic leader support at this year's Civic Leaders Forum, featuring a dynamic panel discussion with local Oklahoma officials:
- Heather Turner, Deputy CEO, Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Executive Director, CORE
- Representative Mark Lawson, Majority Leader, Oklahoma House of Representatives
- Canaan J. Duncan, Deputy Secretary of State, Cherokee Nation
- Anthony Archie, Councilor, District 2, Tulsa City Council
- Kelsey Wagner, Mayor, Ponca City
SIGN UP HERE >
DETAILS:
- When: April 13-15, 2026
- Where: Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Civic Leader Rate: $200 online (open through April 6), $299 on-site
- Who Qualifies: Elected officials and senior government staff, including mayors, county executives, city councilmembers, elected municipal leaders, staff at the director level and above in Main Street-related departments (i.e., economic development, planning, historic preservation, etc.).
Have questions? FAQs available here >
Main Street Contact: info@mainstreet.org. Kindly allow up to 72 hours for a response.
Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative: Free workshop in Williamsburg April 21
The Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative is hosting a free workshop on Tuesday, April 21 for a workshop discussing NOAA’s updates to geodetic vertical datums and tidal datums.
Vertical datums are the baseline standards from which we derive land elevation and marine-based measurements like mean low water, mean high water, and mean sea level. NOAA and the National Geodetic Survey are in the process of updating vertical and tidal datums. Several of these derived measurements are addressed in state a local government codes and ordinances.
This workshop will focus on a project funded by NOAA through the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, where references to tidal datums, vertical datums, and their derived measurements were catalogued and assessed for potential impacts from pending updates.
Topics will include background on datums and their use in state and local codes in Virginia; how the VCRC, VIMS, and CBNERR-VA approached this research and catalogued references; the results of an analysis of these changes on Virginia state and local laws; and discussion on possible ways to address these impacts.
The workshop will be held from 9:30am to 1:00pm at William & Mary’s School of Education at 301 Monticello Ave, Williamsburg, VA 23185. Registration is free and lunch will be provided. Following various presentations on aspects of the project and preliminary conclusions, ample time for discussion is built in to garner feedback on next steps and address questions. We encourage you to share this event with your networks, particularly state and local government officials and employees, and planning district commissions who will see the most impact from these updates.
REGISTRATION: You can use this link to register for the workshop.
FLYER: A PDF promotional flyer is available here >.
AGENDA: A PDF of the workshop agenda is available here and on the VCRC website.
Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative Contact: Thomas Ruppert, tkruppert@wm.edu
NeighborWorks Ground-Up Emerging Developers Training in Richmond: March 30 - April 3
Virginia Housing is proud to partner with NeighborWorks America to host the NeighborWorks Ground-Up Emerging Developers Training in Richmond from Monday, March 30 - Friday, April 3.
This multi-day professional development experience is designed to support aspiring affordable housing developers across the Commonwealth. The training will feature industry experts who will give emerging developers the tools, strategies and technical knowledge needed to deliver successful, sustainable affordable housing projects.
Topics include strategic thinking, building a development team and progressing from initial concept to final blueprint.
Registration is required to attend, and capacity is limited!
Register and View Trainings here >.
Virginia Housing Contact: Housingeducation@virginiahousing.com