Newport News City Council reviewed a draft 2027 state legislative package that would, if approved by the Virginia General Assembly, authorize localities to use local general fund money for grants and loans to low- and moderate-income homeowners and property owners who provide rental housing. Jerri Wilson, Intergovernmental Affairs Manager in the City Manager’s Office, presented the draft priorities to council at a work session, with City Manager Alan Archer noting the package was scheduled for approval on the evening agenda the same day. The presentation described the request as adding a new tool for localities at a time when federal homeowner assistance programs have grown more uncertain and smaller.
The code change request targets sections of the Code of Virginia and would extend grant and loan authority to all localities, with each locality empowered to design its own program. Wilson told council that existing statutory authority for similar programs is largely limited to renovation, construction or improvement, and that federal funding for homeowner assistance has contracted in recent years. The program would “allow us to use local general fund money for grants and loans to homeowners. And this could look like a lot of different things,” she said. “And it’s specifically set up in our request so that each locality, every locality would have the authority to do it.”
The legislative package also includes standing policy statements asking the General Assembly to preserve local authority to regulate short-term rentals and to support legislation giving localities enhanced enforcement tools for impromptu or pop-up events. Wilson described an anticipated bill on impromptu events as a reintroduction of legislation that failed the previous year, with expected patronage in the Senate from the chair of Senate Local Government and in the House from a delegate. On short-term rentals, Wilson said the anticipated challenge this session would not be a direct governance bill but rather a proposal to collect the transient occupancy tax at the state level and redistribute it to localities, an approach the city opposes because, as Wilson explained, the state takes a share off the top.
The work session opened with Wilson describing the structure of the 2027 General Assembly session as a 45-day short session that is not technically a budget session, though she noted every session over the past 20 years has functioned as one (0:08:33). Wilson said 2027 is an election year for all 140 members of both chambers and that both chambers are imposing strict bill limits, making it harder to find patrons willing to carry city-backed legislation on both the Senate and House sides. She added that the bill limits do not apply to budget amendments or resolutions.
Wilson then presented the first specific legislative request, a code change that would amend Section 15.2-958.4 of the Code of Virginia to allow all localities to use local general fund money for grants and loans to low- or moderate-income homeowners and for rental subsidies to property owners (0:10:55). She told council the proposal was structured so every locality would have the authority and could design its own program, and she described the move as a response to shrinking federal homeowner assistance funding, noting that much existing statutory authority covers only renovation, construction or improvement.
The presentation moved to a study request asking Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to examine the structure and long-term fiscal sustainability of local Alcohol Safety Action Programs (0:11:59). Wilson said legislation passed the prior year had restructured how local programs must attach to a participating locality as a fiscal agent, but that the legislation was vague about what support looks like. She described the governance structure as involving a legislative commission, local policy boards, a state commission and the Department of Motor Vehicles, and said the programs were originally designed to be supported entirely by user fees, which she characterized as no longer practicable because judges frequently waive fees for participants who have lost their licenses and income.
Among the standing policy statements, Wilson highlighted the impromptu events legislation, describing it as a bill that failed the previous year but would be reintroduced with Senate patronage from the expected chair of Senate Local Government and House patronage from a delegate (0:14:16). She said changes to the bill since last session include the removal of a gun-free zone requirement, and that the revised version would give each locality a menu of options such as enhanced curfews or reduced speed limits to apply to pop-up events.
Wilson then addressed ongoing General Assembly discussions about the real estate tax exemption for veterans, noting that a presentation had been made to the committee examining the issue (0:16:16). She said the current rate of foregone revenue from the veterans exemption is unsustainable for smaller localities and is placing a strain on larger ones as well, while acknowledging that localities recognize the value veterans bring to communities and workforces.
The short-term rental issue followed, with Wilson telling council the anticipated legislation this session would not directly address governance of short-term rentals but would instead seek to have the transient occupancy tax collected at the state level and then redistributed to localities . She said the city opposes that approach because the state retains a portion, and she noted that the city’s standing policy statement was adjusted this year to encourage lawmakers to maintain consistency in how the tax is collected across platforms.
Wilson closed her presentation by reviewing the pre-session calendar, noting that interim committee meetings were ongoing, bill pre-filing had begun in July and that as of the work session date, 444 bills were active with 443 representing carried-over legislation (0:18:34). She said the governor’s budget and joint money committee meetings were scheduled for December 17, after which the race to the start of session would begin. Following the presentation, a council member raised the question of whether the city should advocate for legislation giving preference points to local vendors in the procurement process, referencing a disparity study and noting the city had introduced a similar preference bill previously.