On September 23, VACo held a regional meeting for counties in VACo Regions 6 and 7. This meeting was done virtually, and it was lovely to have such a great turnout and hear the conversations among VACo staff, local leaders, members of the Virginia General Assembly and our federal partners.
The meeting began with Virginia General Assembly members and staff sharing updates on their priorities. Delegate Delores Oates and Delegate Bill Wiley discussed some issues they are looking into for the 2025 General Assembly Session, including healthcare, transportation upgrades and water issues stemming from reoccurring drought in their area of the Commonwealth. Senator Jeremy McPike discussed the need for school capital funding and affordable housing, as well as energy issues, noting that a JLARC report on data centers is to be released in December. Aubrey Hobby from Delegate Amy Laufer’s office said the Delegate is looking into how to balance energy issues with agricultural interests. All General Assembly Members relayed that their respective legislative programs for 2025 are under development and in the meantime, they are listening to constituent concerns to give them insight to the issues Virginians face. All legislators were appreciative of this forum and respected the insight county members had to say. Natalie Stewart from Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s office outlined the work Rep. Spanberger is doing as her term expires and highlighted some legislation like the Social Security Fairness Act, a firefighter support bill and cracking down on fentanyl. VACo was also happy to have Cole Kawugule and Isaac Sarver from Senator Mark Warner’s office attend the meeting and provide updates on work underway in the Senator’s office, including a celebration of reopening of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.
Following the conversation with legislators, Chandler Vaughn and Caroline Luxhoj from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development provided updates on the deployment of Virginia Telecommunication Initiative and federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment funding.
The meeting concluded with a roundtable discussion with representatives from each county outlining the top issues or legislative priorities in their locality. Local land use authority, balancing growth with conservation, development pressures, K-12 education funding and long term drought planning/assistance were common issues identified by county members. Counties in the region discussed that they have felt and continue to feel pressure from many different types of development. While conversations surrounding data centers and utility scale solar development are ongoing, VACo believes this decision should remain local, consistent with its longstanding position in support of preserving local authority over land use decisions. VACo Regions 6 and 7 cover a wide area of the Commonwealth and one that is very agricultural in nature. Long term drought and water conservation planning is something VACo is interested in moving forward as this industry is vital not only to Virginia but the nation.
VACo is grateful to the regional members, General Assembly members, congressional staffers and business partners who participated in the meeting.
VACo Staff: James Hutzler