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Hampton staff brief council on 2026 General Assembly priorities ahead of tonight’s consent agenda
Summary
Consultant Ed Reed told council the draft legislative priorities for the 2026 General Assembly were updated to remove a TNR item and add study language on a disabled veterans tax-exemption, opposition language to mandatory local collective bargaining, and a request to limit local liability for wrongful incarceration compensation; the package will be on the consent agenda tonight.
Consultant Ed Reed told the Hampton City Council at a work session that staff has updated the city’s proposed 2026 General Assembly legislative priorities and will place the document on the consent agenda for the evening meeting.
Reed said the changes include one deletion in the resiliency section — an item related to trap-neuter-release (TNR) — and several additions informed by regional discussions and feedback since an October briefing. “We wanted the public to see the changes and to know the changes that have been made,” Reed said.
The package adds support for a Virginia Municipal League-led study of the disabled veterans property tax-exemption to understand local impacts, and language opposing any state law that would mandate local governments to participate in collective bargaining rather than leaving it to local option. Reed described the collective-bargaining language as “maintaining the choice that you have versus having the general assembly dictate to you that you must do collective bargaining.”
Staff also added language asking the General Assembly to remove or limit provisions passed last session that could shift additional costs for wrongful incarceration compensation to localities or allow the state to withhold funds from local governments that do not comply.
Reed reviewed schedule items ahead of the session, including the pre-filing period beginning Nov. 17 and the governor’s outgoing budget on Dec. 17, and warned of a challenging fiscal outlook for the commonwealth. He cited prior public estimates that unmet needs could reach into the billions over a two-year period, noting figures “up to $4,000,000,000” discussed by staff.
Mayor Gray asked whether there has been an organized, sustained push to secure promised House Bill 599 public-safety funding; Reed said local advocates and legislators have pressed the issue but budget constraints have limited progress in recent cycles. Reed identified Senator Locke and Virginia First Cities as active supporters on funding amendments.
The city manager said the legislative priority package will appear on tonight’s consent agenda for formal adoption; Reed indicated he will not attend that floor session. The council did not take a vote on the package during the work session.
Next steps: the document is scheduled for the evening consent agenda and will be considered again at the public council meeting.
