Virginia General Assembly nears second half with approach of Crossover Day

The United States of America has many levels of government and they all fit together one way or another. While attention continues on sweeping changes at the federal level and localities contend with budget preparation, the Virginia General Assembly continues to do its part toward updating laws.

This newsletter mostly focuses on six local governments with a primary focus on Charlottesville with Albemarle County right behind. But after years of doing this work, I push myself to understand even more. That has meant the occasional story about what’s happening with the legislative session underway.

However, there is no ability to stop the world so I can catch up, so I have to take snapshots of where things are at key points before them. February 4 is one of those as it Crossover Day. That is when bills have to have passed one Chamber in order to be considered by the other.

As of 7 a.m. this morning, a total of 435 pieces of legislation have passed one of the two chambers and 1,894 bills are still pending. A total of 617 bills have “failed” one way or another.

Here is the status of several bills related to affordable housing.

• SB1313 from Senator Jeremy McPike (D-29) would amend state code to allow any locality to create affordable housing requirements and expand some of the powers available to cities and counties. Some places are currently blocked from doing so. The Senate Committee on Local Government reported this out on an 8 to 6 vote with one abstention. The full Senate voted 20 to 19 to approve the bill with one Senator not voting.
• HB2245 from Delegate Katrina Callsen (D-54) would require real estate assessors to use an alternate method to calculate assessments for affordable housing projects. Assessments would be based on how much income the property generates, which would provide a lower value and be an incentive for keeping projects affordable. This made was reported from the House Finance Committee on a 15 to 7 vote and is waiting a third reading.
• SB832 from Senator Mamie Locke (D-23) would create a rental assistance voucher program. This made it out of the General Laws and Technology Committee on a 9 to 4 vote on January 15. An impact statement found that three employees would need to be hired to administer the program at a cost of $359,000 a year. The bill is waiting action in the Finance and Appropriation Committee which meets Tuesday at 9 a.m.
• HB1879 from Delegate Briana Sewell (D-25) is the House version of SB832. The Housing/Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the General Laws Committee voted it out 6 to 2 on January 23. Five days later the full General Laws committee voted 13 to 9 to report the bill out and to assign it to the Appropriations Committee. That group was to have meet today but the meeting was canceled.
• HB1973 from Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5) would allow localities to pass an ordinance requiring a right of first refusal for any property that has been funded with public money. The “Preservation of Affordable Housing” Bill was reported out of the House General Laws Committee on a 12 to 9 vote on January 3 and is waiting a vote in the full House.
• HB2149 from Delegate Betsy Carr (D-78) would create the “Zoning for Housing Production Pilot Program” which would provide funding to localities who change their zoning to allow for by-right development of affordable housing and mixed-income housing projects. This made it out of the House Appropriations Committee on a 15 to 6 vote on January 29 and is waiting a vote in the full House.
• HB2128 from Delegate Wendell Walker (R-52) would expand the authority localities have to impose civil penalties for derelict buildings. Under this legislation, the definition would be extended to non-residential properties. This passed the House 86 to 11 on January 23 and is before the Senate Committee on Local Government.

Here are some other bills of note:

• HB2438 from Delegate Candi Mundon King would require localities to permit ground-mounted solar energy facilities on agricultural, commercial, or industrial land if they meet the criteria in an ordinance. This passed the House of Delegates on a 48 to 46 vote with six abstentions.
• HB2096 from Delegate Patrick Hope (D-1) would create the Intelligent Speed Assistance Program as an alternative punishment for those convicted of reckless driving for driving over 100 miles per hour. Such drivers would install a system to cap their speed. This passed the House of Delegates on a 81 to 16 vote.
• HB2080 from Delegate Terry Austin (R-37) would eliminate the need to put decals on license plates stating when the year and month when registration requires. This passed on a 96 to 1 vote with Delegate Amy Laufer (R-55) being the lone vote against.

Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the February 3, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first