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Virginia General Assembly
What the Town Manager has told Mayor and Town Council about the Virginia General Assembly, report by report, since February 2025.
6 reports, February 2025 to March 2026
2026
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2026 Virginia General Assembly Session & VML/VACO Local Government Day
The 407th Virginia General Assembly session is still underway. As 2026 is an even-numbered year, this year’s session is a “long session” of approximately 60 days. The session is slated to end sometime in the latter two weeks of this month.
I will continue to track the proposed bills relevant to local governments such as proposed cannabis-based products taxation and changes in sales tax to go toward school modernization and construction.
As a reminder, you can follow the calendar of the 2026 General Assembly session and the progress of all proposed legislation through the Virginia Legislative Information System (LIS) at https://lis.virginia.gov/.
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2026 Virginia General Assembly Session & VML/VACO Local Government Day
The 407th Virginia General Assembly session is still underway with “crossover day” slated for February 18th.
I represented our community at the VML Local Government Conference on February 5th and also visited the General Assembly building to speak with our state legislators and their aides about matters important to Chilhowie and Smyth County. Additionally, I attended the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Dinner that evening where representatives from Smyth County, Marion, and Chilhowie came together to discuss issues and convey our needs to state legislators as well as hear their views on various proposed bills. I conveyed to our legislators the town’s stance that Aid To Locality (ATL) funding should be increased, as indicated by your support and passage of a resolution at the January Town Council meeting.
I was pleased to see that there are several bills proposed to promote Virginia locality’s ability to tax cannabis-based products as well as a bill to allow referendum on sales tax increases to be put toward school construction and improvements.
As a reminder, you can follow the calendar of the 2026 General Assembly session and the progress of all proposed legislation through the Virginia Legislative Information System (LIS) at https://lis.virginia.gov/.
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2026 Virginia General Assembly Session
As you’re aware, the 407th Virginia General Assembly session is scheduled to begin on January 14th, 2026. Some of the proposed legislation that I will be tracking are the bills related to energy affordability, increased vape restrictions, marijuana retail licenses, and improved PBM reform. These four “hot items” may have the most direct impacts for the residents of our community. Additionally, I will continue to advocate for the creation of a taxing mechanism for vape products, hopefully mirroring the calculations for cigarette taxation.
As a reminder, you can follow the calendar of the 2026 General Assembly session and the progress of all proposed legislation through the Virginia Legislative Information System (LIS) at https://lis.virginia.gov/
The VML/VACO Local Government Day is set for February 5th. I plan to represent Chilhowie and intend to visit with each of our state legislators and their staff while there. Over the next few weeks, I will be drafting our town’s list of priorities to bring to their attention. Please let me know any issues you would like to see addressed so that I can include them.
2025
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2026 Virginia General Assembly Session
As you’re aware, the 407th Virginia General Assembly session is scheduled to begin on January 14th, 2026. The VML/VACO Local Government Day is set for February 5th. I plan to represent Chilhowie and intend to visit with each of our state legislators and their staff while there. Over the next few weeks, I will be drafting our town’s list of priorities to bring to their attention. Please let me know any issues you would like to see addressed so that I can include them.
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Updates from 2025 General Assembly Session
The 2025 General Assembly session adjourned on February 22nd. There were several bills introduced which may impact smaller towns like Chilhowie. One of the most important of these was the “Save Virginia Pharmacies Act. I submitted a letter of support to Governor Youngkin’s office in support of this legislation signed by Mayor Heninger and myself. Governor Youngkin has until March 24th to act on this and other legislation passed by both Houses. The General Assembly will reconvene on April 2nd to address any other business or vote to override any vetoes by the Governor.
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Mount Rogers Regional Cigarette Tax Board and General Assembly Action
On January 22nd, staff represented our town at the quarterly meeting of the Mount Rogers Regional Cigarette Tax Board. The town’s membership on this board continues to be a reliable and convenient mechanism for collection of the town’s tobacco taxes. It was discussed at this meeting, and should be noted by elected officials, that revenues from this tax stream continue to decline modestly. This is due to the fact that fewer people in our community smoke tobacco, but inversely the number of people who vape is increasing.
To address this issue that could result in dramatic future declines in revenue, numerous localities around the Commonwealth asked for action at the state level to rectify the oversight of vaping and other non-traditional nicotine delivery systems not being included in the last revision of these laws. Members of the General Assembly acted on this and introduced House Bill 2488, which was not passed and, in fact, did not make it out of committee.