Senate finance subcommittee advances several transportation bills, tables others; recommends toll‑relief monitoring

The Senate Finance Subcommittee on Capital Outlay and Transportation met in Richmond on Oct. 24, 2025, and acted on a slate of transportation and capital outlay measures, recommending several for reporting to the full committee while tabling or sending others forward with no recommendation for further information.

The panel recommended reporting on routine and agency-request measures including a DMV voluntary-donation proposal to support the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program, a temporary extension of the public-aircraft definition that affects a Newport News contractor, and changes to capital-outlay timing requirements. It also recommended reporting on a $1 billion special-structures funding substitute and advanced a Department of Aviation fee modernization bill to the full committee. Several bills were passed by for the day or sent with no recommendation so sponsors could supply additional fiscal or implementation details.

Why this matters: the subcommittee’s actions shape which measures reach the full Senate with a positive or neutral recommendation and flag items that need more fiscal or policy clarification. Several items affect localities’ road and rail funding, DMV operations, public-safety communications grants, and a high-profile toll‑relief program that the committee said it will continue to monitor.

Most significant actions and summaries

SB 1024 — DMV voluntary donation for highway safety: Senator Roem introduced SB 1024, which would create a voluntary donation option at DMV driver- and vehicle-renewal transactions to benefit the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program. Roem said DMV estimated a one-time implementation cost of about $35,000 for the narrowed proposal (limited to driver and vehicle renewals) and that the agency expected to implement the change using existing resources; the bill sponsor included a $50,000 budget amendment as a placeholder. Senator Deeds moved that the subcommittee recommend reporting SB 1024; the motion carried and the bill was recommended to be reported to the full committee.

SB 1288 — Town of Newmarket added to local road maintenance option: Senator French presented SB 1288 at the subcommittee’s request from the town of Newmarket. The bill would add Newmarket to the list of towns eligible to receive funds from the commissioner of highways to maintain secondary roads, enabling the town to manage street maintenance directly rather than have VDOT perform the work. Members noted potential precedent-setting effects; the subcommittee voted to pass the bill by for the day to allow time for additional review.

SB 741 — Public aircraft sunset extension for Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC): Senator Locke presented SB 741, a measure extending the sunset date for the statutory definition of "public aircraft" from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2030. Locke said the change is requested by a constituent, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company of Newport News, to allow continued military training operations. The subcommittee voted to recommend reporting SB 741 to the full committee.

Decal elimination bill (introduced as a proposal to remove small DMV decals): Senator Diggs presented a bill to eliminate small registration/inspection decals from license plates, citing a projected DMV savings of about $2.3 million and fewer in-person visits. Several members raised enforcement and revenue concerns; Senator Deeds moved to pass the bill by indefinitely. The motion to pass by indefinitely was approved by the subcommittee.

SB 1473 — Six‑year capital outlay plan timing and reporting changes: Staff described SB 1473 as repealing a requirement that the six‑year capital outlay plan meet on the same day as the governor’s preliminary financial report and removing a formal requirement to submit evaluations and recommendations to the governor and General Assembly. The subcommittee voted to recommend reporting SB 1473.

Commonwealth Rail Fund cap removal (introductory discussion): A bill to remove a $4 million cap on the Commonwealth Rail Fund was discussed; the sponsor asked for additional stakeholder calls and the subcommittee agreed to forward the item to the full committee with "no recommendation" while the sponsor sought further input.

Eminent domain informational changes (committee substitute recommended reporting): A bill the subcommittee reviewed had been revised in prior committee action to remove a provision that potentially created an indeterminate fiscal impact related to eminent‑domain award calculations. VDOT right-of-way staff said the fiscal impact was indeterminate before those changes. The sponsor reported stakeholders (VML, VACO, DOT and rails) worked to address concerns and the subcommittee recommended reporting the revised bill (the vote included one abstention).

SB 1296 — Public‑safety communications fund (no recommendation): SB 1296 would create a fund to provide grant assistance to localities seeking to upgrade public‑safety communications infrastructure; the sponsor said the introduced budget proposal included $2.5 million but the bill itself did not appropriate money and would permit private contributions. The subcommittee heard testimony from a Motorola representative who described interoperability gaps in fiscally stressed localities. Committee members asked how the proposal interacts with the existing 911 Board and recent reimbursement changes; the subcommittee voted to send the bill to the full committee with no recommendation.

Northern Virginia multimodal study direction (NVTA study): A measure directing the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) to review recent capital needs for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in Northern Virginia was presented as a facilitator to convene localities for funding options. The subcommittee recommended reporting the study direction.

Department of Aviation bills — aircraft registration modernization and decals: Senator DeStef presented an agency bill (SB 948) to modernize aircraft registration, permit multi‑year registration, eliminate a paper decal process, and raise fees modestly to cover costs (the department said current processing costs are $25–$30 per registration while fees have not increased since 1979). The subcommittee voted to send the measure to the full committee with recommendation to report.

SB 1265 — "Blue envelope" for callers with communication needs: Senator DeStef also presented SB 1265, a bill establishing an optional "blue envelope" program through DMV so drivers with communication or sensory disabilities can present information to officers in a labeled envelope. The sponsor said DMV estimated implementation costs at about $10,000 and that the bill has support from multiple law‑enforcement organizations and autism advocacy groups. Some members expressed concern that the envelope is available without eligibility verification and discussed enforcement and safety scenarios; the subcommittee voted to recommend reporting the bill to the full committee (one member announced an abstention during the vote).

Special‑structures funding substitute: The subcommittee adopted a committee substitute making the special‑structures program non‑revolving and limited to $1 billion total and $200 million annually. The substitute was recommended for reporting to the full committee.

Lockwood (Owens & Minor) property and VDOT facility plans: VDOT staff updated the subcommittee on the acquisition of the former Owens & Minor building in Hanover (the "Lockwood" property) for VDOT construction engineering relocation and other agency facilities. Committee members expressed concern about taking a large commercial parcel out of private economic development use for government purposes and asked about alternatives; VDOT described plans to consolidate lab and training facilities onto the 22‑acre parcel and said the other parcels in the transaction currently have no planned VDOT use. The committee paused further bill work for rules and agreed to forward related bills to the full committee with no recommendation for additional information.

Quotes from the record

"SB 1024 is a bill that would create a voluntary donation process at the DMV when processing driver renewal and vehicle renewal transaction, toward the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program," Senator Roem said when presenting that bill.

"This proposal would modernize the aircraft registration function, which is currently a paper process for over 4,000 aircraft operators and owners in the state," Craig Campbell of the Department of Aviation said about the aviation bill.

What’s next: Bills the subcommittee recommended for reporting will be considered by the full Senate Finance Committee; items forwarded with no recommendation signal requests for additional fiscal or implementation information. The subcommittee also said it will monitor the toll‑relief program enrollment and funding needs in Hampton Roads as the enrollment grows.

Ending note: The subcommittee completed its October rules hearing and rose to send the advanced measures and requests for additional information to the full committee.