VACo held its last regional meeting for 2024 on September 26th in service of VACo Region 8 county members. VACo staff had the honor of hosting local, state and federal elected officials and staff during this virtual meeting. These regional meetings allow VACo staff to hear directly from county staff and elected officials on the important issues facing localities across Virginia.
It was an absolute pleasure to be able to have Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA-11) kick off the meeting. The Congressman, who is a past president of VACo, emphasized the importance of local government and the real impact localities have on the general welfare of citizens. VACo staff would like to give a special thanks to the Congressman for lending some of his time to meet with VACo members.
The meeting then shifted to a conversation with state legislators who represent the region. The legislators were asked to discuss their legislative priorities as we move toward the 2025 Session. Senator Barbara Favola began and discussed her areas of focus, which include education, data centers, housing, mental health support and childcare. Senator Dave Marsden discussed his work on clean energy issues with stakeholders during the interim. Delegate David Reid discussed his opposition to unfunded mandates and encouraged Delegates and Senators on the call to engage with localities before and after Sessions for insight into local problems. Delegate Rip Sullivan discussed his interest in last year’s JLARC education funding report and how he is anticipating the JLARC study this year on data centers and what legislative recommendations that may come from this report. Delegate Vivian Watts discussed reworking and modernizing the state income tax, as well as other issues like education funding and childcare. Finally, Delegate Kathy Tran discussed proposals that focus on economic development, the environment and working families. We were also joined by Senator Saddam Salim and Delegate Atoosa Reaser and a variety of aides and staff to legislators.
After our discussion with legislators, representatives from each county outlined their top issues or legislative priorities within their localities. Issues such as transportation funding, land use authority, mental health and education funding were common topics of discussion. On transportation, counties discussed the challenges they face with high-cost projects and funding decisions related to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Counties are closely tracking the Northern Virginia Growing Needs of Public Transit Joint Subcommittee that came about after the passage of SJR 28 during the 2024 Session. VACo is also tracking this Subcommittee and its recommendations, which are due by the end of 2025. Local land use authority was discussed and how decisions regarding data centers, preserving tree canopy, housing and many other types of land use should remain at the local level. Mental health and education funding were discussed as localities support further state resources to these issue areas.
VACo staff would like to give a special thanks to the VACo members, legislators, partners, and others who attended and participated in the discussion. This meeting concludes the VACo regional meeting calendar for the year and all of us at VACo want to say thank you to all those who hosted, spoke at and participated in these meetings over the last few months. We are looking forward to visiting counties and discussing the issues important to county leaders in 2025.
VACo Contact: James Hutzler