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The GADWire

 

Government Affairs Updates that Could Affect Your Business

Coming up in Your Community in 2025

  • The new City Council was sworn in on December 30

Legislative priorities in Chesapeake:

  • Funding for open space preservation
  • Community development policies that bolster local and regional development
  • Nearly 1,300 housing units are being added in the Grassfield area of Chesapeake. Click here for more information.
 

Legislative priorities for Franklin:

  • Support for funding the State Housing Trust Fund
    • The Trust Fund creates and preserves attainable housing and reduces homelessness in the Commonwealth.
    • At least 80 percent of the fund is used for short-, medium-, and long-term loans to reduce the cost of homeownership.
 
  • Norfolk continues the priority of water management, which includes:
    • stormwater management
    • strategies to combat/adapt to sea level rise
    • innovation in water management
 

The city of Portsmouth has been awarded $2.4 million in grants to assist with the removal, renovation, or modernization of port-related buildings and facilities in Portsmouth.

 

The vision for the City of Suffolk is focused on the following economic development opportunities in 2025:

  • Developing strategies to create a vibrant downtown and expand the tax base.
    • Use the comprehensive plan to enable and facilitate private investment in strategic target areas that will enable density while preserving, conserving, and protecting the City’s great agricultural heritage.
    • Address transportation and expansion systems for ease of getting around Suffolk to live, work & play
 

Virginia Beach legislative priorities:

  • Affordable Housing initiatives that include incentives for localities to adopt flexible policies that allow tailored solutions that fit their community while effectively making land use decisions
  •  The City supports the passage of a Constitutional Amendment that gives localities the authority to create tax abatement programs to support affordable housing projects
 

Applications for the Candidate Institute Class of 2025 are live. The application deadline is January 14.

 

Click here to access the application.

 

Contact Anastasia Mason at GAD@hrra.com for more information.

 

Around the Commonwealth

Governor Glen Youngkin has announced the Workforce Housing Investment Program, an initiative at Virginia Housing that will invest $75 million over five years with the potential to invest $750 million and build 5,000 units of workforce

housing in conjunction with economic development projects in the Commonwealth. The announcement was part of the Governor’s Housing Conference in November.

  • Under this program, Executive Order 42, housing is formally tied to economic development and workforce housing supply. We will keep you updated as these opportunities come to fruition.
  • Under the program, Virginia Housing will provide loans, loan subsidies, and grants up to $3 million to localities and non-profits to develop housing for workers earning 80-120% of area median income.
  • Virginia REALTORS® are set to fight for your business as the General Assembly Session is due to begin on January 8.
 

On the National Scene

On December 10, 2024, NAR issued a comment letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) asking them to halt the recently announced expansion of the Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s (the GSEs) appraisal waiver programs in lieu of further analysis and public input. Click here to read more.

 

The Government Affairs Committee monitors City Council and Planning Commission Agendas to identify issues that could affect your business. The committee meets every first Thursday. Contact Anastasia Mason for details or to request to attend.

 

Government Affairs Committee:  Jennifer Dawn, Committee Chair; Lexi Church, Vice-Chair Norfolk; Eric Overmyer, Vice-Chair Chesapeake; Jason Dunaway, Vice-Chair Franklin; Nathan Clark, Vice-Chair Portsmouth; Donnie Upton, Vice-Chair Suffolk; Kimberly Denton, Vice-Chair Virginia Beach 

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