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State Sen. Emily Jordan briefed Franklin council on grants, business-site program and public‑safety bills
Summary
Sen. Emily Jordan told Franklin City Council the General Assembly finished a 45‑day session and previewed the veto session, described several budget wins that could benefit Franklin (workforce center and shelter funding), and highlighted bills she sponsored to expand business ‘pad‑ready’ site eligibility and to tighten penalties for malicious drone use.
State Sen. Emily Jordan, R‑17th District, updated Franklin City Council on the recently completed 45‑day General Assembly session and the upcoming veto session, detailing budget items and bills she said could help Franklin.
“I come with you bearing greetings from Richmond,” Jordan said, describing work on the state budget and several bills she sponsored. She said the conference report preserved a 3% salary increase for teachers and included one‑time funding opportunities localities could apply for, including about $25 million in a drinking‑water infrastructure pot that requires a 25% local match.
Jordan told the council she secured $750,000 for a proposed workforce trades innovation center at Camp Community College and said the budget included a roughly $500,000 infusion for a Western Tidewater homeless shelter partnership currently under construction. She also described a business‑site‑development bill she carried (referred to as SB1275) that lowers the continuous‑acreage threshold for smaller localities so they can compete for “pad‑ready” site funds.
On public‑safety and technical matters, Jordan said she carried legislation to give hospitals more flexibility in labeling psychiatric emergency‑department spaces to shorten law‑enforcement holds, and she described Senate Bill 1272, which raises penalties for knowingly trespassing with drones near critical infrastructure and includes roughly $1 million in the budget to help local first‑responder agencies replace non‑U.S.‑made drones.
Jordan said Medicaid and children’s services funding remain intact in the budget and highlighted the Kinship Guardianship Assistance program as an underused tool localities can deploy to divert children from foster care. She also addressed a pending bill to expand sealing/expungement of some records and said she voted against broad changes because of employer‑safety and public‑protection concerns.
Jordan encouraged city leaders to consider newly available grant opportunities and said she would work with Franklin on a local legislative agenda ahead of the next filing window.
Next steps: Jordan invited council to set a fall conversation on a municipal legislative agenda and offered follow‑up help navigating grant applications and program rules.
