Local elected officials preparing for 2026 General Assembly

There are over a hundred days left until the 2026 session of the Virginia General Assembly and less than two months until legislators can begin to pre-file bills.

Across Virginia, localities are determining what priorities they would like to see turned into legislation.

At their meeting on September 15, Charlottesville City Council went through a long list of suggestions from the Planning Commission, the Human Rights Commission, and the Office of Sustainability.

“Energy prices are going up,” said Kristel Riddervold, the city’s sustainability director. “Legislative priorities related to expanding distributed energy, meaning solar, all over the place in different ways.”

Riddervold said city priorities are for the Virginia General Assembly to maintain the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act, full funding for the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank, and reform of rules for construction of data centers. You can see the full list here.

The Human Rights Commission submitted a three page list including a request for legislation for expanded rights for those who rent, a request for localities to have right of first refusal to purchase supported housing units, and a $60 million state fund for housing assistance to support 5,000 families. Another legislative request is to require all Virginia localities to maintain a public homeless shelter. You can view this list here.

Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston said many of those ideas seem very aspirational and may not take into account political realities.

“The one that says here, ‘require that each county and city in Virginia maintain a public overnight homeless shelter or fund a private equivalent,’” Pinkston said. “I mean, that would be lovely because we’re, we’re doing this. I have a sense for neighboring counties and communities, the work that we’re doing here. But does that have any hope of being passed?””

City Councilor Michael Payne said many of the Human Rights Commission’s requests are part of statewide efforts and many of the aspirations could get through depending on who holds the majority in 2026.

“There definitely [are] some that potentially I think really could get passed this year, including like the 5,000 family funds or first right of refusal, but for example, the homeless shelter one you mentioned. I mean, I would feel. I think we could all feel confident saying there’s no chance that passes this year.”

The Planning Commission submitted a list of 15 potential pieces of legislation. The first addresses the section of state code that is at the heart of the lawsuit against the city’s zoning code. Number six is a reintroduction of failed legislation that would allow localities to tax land and improvements at different rates. (view the list)

Council will have a further discussion on October 6 before adopting their legislative agenda on October 20.

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