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Virginia Beach delegation bills on stormwater, workforce and STR platforms move in Richmond; council authorizes local positions
Summary
City legislative liaison briefed council on several General Assembly bills and budget amendments affecting Virginia Beach; council authorized staff positions of support or opposition on specific measures.
Brent McKenzie, the city’s liaison in Richmond, told Virginia Beach City Council Tuesday that several bills and budget amendments important to the city had advanced in the General Assembly while others stalled—then asked council to authorize positions on select measures.
"SB 972 is our Good Friday first responders fund," McKenzie said, noting that the bill had cleared the General Laws and Technology Committee unanimously and moved to Finance and Appropriations, which will decide funding. Funding, he said, is the key to whether the proposal will become law.
Highlights from McKenzie’s briefing
- Budget amendments and workforce: Delegation members filed several budget requests that would benefit the region, including $500,000 for a Hampton Roads Workforce Council health‑care talent pipeline and $1,000,000 to the Department of Energy for an offshore wind workforce program. Senator D'Esteff introduced multi‑region amendments that would put roughly $10 million toward stormwater projects, $1 million for bike and trail improvements and $5 million for IT upgrades in his districts.
- Stormwater and regional projects: Delegate Bulova requested $50 million for the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund. McKenzie also noted Norfolk’s $50 million request for its CSRM project—an example of how coastal infrastructure requests are being pursued statewide.
- Legislation updates: McKenzie said HB 1690 (eminent domain clarification) passed out of the Courts of Justice Committee 22‑1 and headed for a House floor vote; HB 1925 (ABC store larceny) was scheduled for committee action; HB 1868 (property tax exemption language for surviving spouses of service members who die by suicide) was under consideration for clarification of current law; and a proposed charter amendment by Delegate Kelly Converse Fowler had cleared a subcommittee on a partisan 5‑3 vote and faced a full committee hearing.
- Land‑use bills: McKenzie reported that two bills that would have limited local land‑use control, SB 839 and SB 975, were defeated in committee. He also described bills affecting approvals and plan checks (SB 974 and HB 2331) that city staff recommended opposing because they would shift local review power to outside professionals in some coastal and Chesapeake Bay review areas.
Council authorization and next steps
After the briefing, council members voiced support for McKenzie’s recommendations and confirmed that staff should proceed with the positions he requested—supporting some budget items and opposing proposals that would reduce local land‑use control or divert EMS funding to regional councils.
Council did not record a roll‑call vote on each bill in the transcript; the mayor summarized council direction to move with the staff recommendations and the liaison said he would act accordingly.
Why it matters: The General Assembly’s funding decisions and statutory language on matters such as stormwater, workforce development and platform liability for STR listings can materially affect the city’s capital planning, enforcement capacity and local zoning authority.
