City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: DECEMBER 5, 2023
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
THROUGH: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
FROM: SARAH TAYLOR, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER AND LEGISLATIVE
DIRECTOR
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration and First Reading of the Proposed City Legislative Package for the 2024 General Assembly.
BODY
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ISSUE: Introduction of the proposed Alexandria Legislative Package for the 2024 General Assembly Session.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
(1) Receive the proposals for the City’s 2024 Legislative Package (Attachment); and
(2) Schedule the Draft Legislative Package for public hearing and final adoption on Saturday, December 16, 2023.
BACKGROUND: Each year, the City of Alexandria produces its General Assembly Legislative Package. The goal of the package is to prioritize the City’s state legislative and budget priorities and communicate them to the community, stakeholders, and legislators. Because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, localities only have the authority expressly granted to them by the legislature by state statute or in their charter. Localities in Virginia, including Alexandria, therefore often request legislation to grant them enabling authority for specific powers they do not already have, which are often the core of the City’s Legislative Package.
The proposals in the draft Package generally originate from City Council members, City staff, and boards and commissions. For the past several months, staff have been working with Council members, City departments, and boards and commissions to develop the legislative and funding proposals included in the City’s draft 2024 Legislative Package for Council consideration.
City Council will hold a work session with the City’s General Assembly delegation immediately preceding its December 12 meeting. This work session will focus on the delegation’s priorities for the 2024 session and receiving their feedback on many of the preliminary legislative proposals. In addition, the City Council Legislative Subcommittee met on December 8 to review the preliminary legislative proposals submitted for inclusion in the City’s Legislative Package, receive feedback from City staff, and provide recommendations to staff on those items of particular interest to and impact on the City.
DISCUSSION: The draft 2024 Legislative Package that is presented has proposals organized into two areas - Legislative Principles and Legislative Priorities. This year, the Principles and Priorities have been broken out into five areas of focus for the City for the 2024 session:
• Recognizing and Strengthening State Partnership with Localities;
• Preserving and Expanding Local Authority and Funding for Localities;
• Protecting and Supporting Vulnerable and Underserved Populations;
• Enhancing Public Engagement, Health, and Safety; and
• Improving Resilience, Promoting Energy Efficiency, and Encouraging Clean Energy Investment.
The Legislative Principles are generally broadly crafted and focus on comprehensive legislative strategies rather than specific legislative tactics. The Legislative Priorities are intended to be specific revenue and legislative proposals that have been identified by City Council as the issues of greatest impact to the City. The City plans to expend significant political capital on these issues and will ask our General Assembly delegation to engage in on behalf of the City.
In addition to the input received from Council at the December 12 meeting, the Package will receive input from the community and other stakeholders at the Public Hearing scheduled for December 16.
As the City looks toward the 2024 General Assembly session, pre-filing of bills began in mid-November. On December 20, 2023, Governor Youngkin will present his biennial budget for the upcoming biennium to the Joint Money Committees of the General Assembly. Staff will report to Council on the Governor’s recommendations shortly after they are released as they may require a response in the City’s Legislative Package.
The City Council Legislative Subcommittee will begin reviewing pre-filed bills in early January; these meetings will become weekly meetings once session begins and will continue until the Friday after the final day for bill introduction. These meetings allow the Legislative Subcommittee to review legislation that may have an impact on the City with the input of City staff subject matter experts and recommend positions on this legislation. These positions are subsequently reviewed by the full Council and communicated to the Alexandria delegation in the General Assembly for their consideration.
The 2024 General Assembly Session will be a long 60-day Session, beginning January 10, 2024. Sarah Taylor, Assistant City Manager and Legislative Director, continues to represent the City at the General Assembly. She will report to Council regularly on the status of the City’s legislative priorities as well as other legislative and budget issues of interest to the City.
ATTACHMENT:
1. Legislative Principles Draft
2. Legislative Priorities Draft
3. Presentation
STAFF:
Sarah Graham Taylor, Assistant City Manager, Legislative Director