City’s lobbying consultants present draft 2026 legislative agenda emphasizing housing, schools and infrastructure

Devon Cabot of 2 Capitals Consulting presented a draft legislative agenda to the Richmond City Council Organizational Development Standing Committee on Oct. 6, outlining top policy priorities and budget requests the city plans to pursue before the 2026 Virginia General Assembly.

Cabot said consultants have spent about 35 days meeting with council members and staff and condensed priorities into five proposed top legislative items: streamlining religious organizations’ ability to build affordable housing (often described as “Yes in God’s Backyard”), anti‑rent‑gouging authority for local ordinance, continued study of a long‑term owner‑occupancy program (LOOP), restoration of financing and bonding authority for public facilities tied to local sales and use tax, and a school construction proposal that would enable a local referendum for a 1 percent sales tax increase to fund school modernization.

Cabot described additional budgetary asks the administration provided: a $40 million request for water treatment plant funding for each of fiscal years 2027 and 2028, and requests for combined sewer overflow (CSO) upgrades totaling $100 million in the first year and $150 million in the second year of the biennium to close the funding gap on a DEQ‑approved plan.

Why it matters: Council members stressed housing tools such as inclusionary zoning — which Councilwoman Gibson noted is an objective in the Richmond 300 plan and cited code section 15.2‑2304 — and asked that inclusionary zoning be treated as a priority. Cabot said inclusionary zoning and other items can be included among policy positions and that the administration seeks further feedback to finalize a top‑five priorities list before a planned state‑delegation summit.

Cabot explained that the longer list of policy positions (beyond the five top items) serves two purposes: it provides a stand‑alone policy stance for staff to reference quickly when thousands of bills are filed, and it captures items that have momentum but are not part of the top five the city will actively push. The longer list includes subjects ranging from light-technical affordability tools and short-term rental rules to maternal health, CSB funding, Marcus Alert implementation, public safety funding, multimodal transportation items, and concerns about unfunded mandates and pilot payments in lieu of taxes.

Council members asked about timelines for providing additional details to the consultants. Cabot requested that offices provide further information prior to the city’s meeting with the state delegation on Oct. 28 (presentation materials referenced an Oct. 28 summit at the Valentine Museum and a Nov. 3 special meeting where a resolution would be introduced, followed by a Nov. 10 vote on the final legislative package). Cabot also noted the General Assembly session begins Jan. 14 and runs 60 days in 2026, with a new biennial budget to consider.

On inclusionary zoning, Councilwoman Gibson said the Richmond 300 plan (revised 2023) included an objective to “create 10,000 new affordable housing units for low and very low income households over the next 10 years” and called for the city to lobby for powers under Virginia Code 15.2‑2304 to adopt mandatory inclusionary zoning. Gibson asked that inclusionary zoning be treated as one of the top five priorities; Cabot and Council leadership agreed to work to include it in the prioritized package.

Ending: Cabot asked council members for further feedback and materials so staff can finalize draft language ahead of the delegation summit; leadership encouraged members to provide input and noted this is an early example of coordinated council-administration legislative planning.