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Tom Garrett, John McGuire, David Owen (Goochland County image)

Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, which means that local governments, like Goochland, have only those powers given to them by the state legislature. (Put Dillon Rule into your search engine for detailed explanations.)

The Virginia General Assembly meets in Richmond every January to conduct the Commonwealth’s business, which includes passing laws that affect us all. Open lines of communication between local and state elected officials are vital to protect the interest of citizens and avoid unintended consequences of “one size fits all” laws, which often cause more problems than they solve, especially at the local level.

On October 23, Goochland resumed its practice of holding an annual meeting between our General Assembly Delegation comprised of Senator John McGuire, District 10, Delegate Tom Garrett, District 56, and Delegate David Owen, District 57 and elected officials. No meeting was held last year because of turnover in both local and state offices. The discussion was productive and freewheeling, highlights follow.

McGuire, who is running for U. S. Congress in the 5^th District, which includes Goochland, left around 10 a.m. for other commitments.

Board of Supervisors’ Chair Charlie Vaughters, District 4, called the meeting to order and asked for the delegation’s summary of the 2024 session.

McGuire said that tax cuts, implementing best practices in cyber security for all state government systems to safeguard against backdoor incursions into sensitive sites, and cleaning up the voter rolls were major accomplishments of the 2024 session.

Garrett contended that the General Assembly (GA) works on a NOVA (northern Virginia) versus ROVA (rest of Virginia, south of Occoquan) basis. NOVA, he said, controls the agenda, believes that the Commonwealth runs on revenue generated inside the beltway, and does not care what happens in the rest of the state.

Garrett would support closing the prison on the James River to open its beautiful location for development and moving the facility to a less scenic part of Virginia which could use the jobs. Curiously, he made no mention of another state facility, the Goochland Campus of Reynolds Community College, which has been sitting mostly empty since before Covid.

Garret reported unsuccessful moves in GA to usurp land use decision power, especially regarding solar facilities and data centers, from local government to place them under the purview of the state corporation commission. “There is nothing more fundamental than local decisions regarding land use,” he said.

He contended that state-imposed regulations destroyed volunteer fire departments throughout Virginia and was pleased with his work to increase support for first responders and law enforcement. “The backbone of a lot of rural communities is a fire station.”  Garrett thanked Jennie Wood, a current member of the Goochland Economic Development Authority, for her help in addressing this issue.

Garrett noted that getting legislation passed is a process. Even though a bill does not pass in one session, it can lay the groundwork for future success. He said that the 2025 session is going to be fascinating and has potential to get a lot of things done.

Owen echoed Garrett’s contention about NOVA control of the GA, especially over which bills are heard. He said that each legislator is limited to 15 bills. Even so, 3,000 pieces of proposed legislation are expected to be introduced and acted upon in next year’s “short” session.

Disclosure power of localities is severely limited by state law. For instance, Goochland cannot require sellers of property to divulge the proximity to an active quarry; the extra 32 cents of ad valorem tax levied in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District; planned location of future county facilities; or that “stub” roads, mandated in new subdivisions by VDOT—the state agency whose motto is “Oops!”—could lead to future development.

Owen contended that the opposition to disclosure, by realtors, not home builders, was because different regulations in each jurisdiction, make it difficult to do business across county lines.

Neil Spoonhower, District 2, pointed out that lack of disclosure leads to newcomers complaining to the county that “no one told us,” leaving local government to clean up the mess. He contended that the Dillon Rule “says they (the state) don’t trust me” to make good decisions.

Spoonhower also expressed astonishment at the excessive cost of road improvements, citing the $1.7 million price tag to build 2,500 feet of sidewalk along River Road West in Courthouse Village. Even though the county will do the work, VDOT fees for the project were $100k.

Tom Winfree, District 3 agreed that zoning control should be kept at the local level and supported a return to one day, one vote rule.

Owen said that you’ll never get “one day one vote back in the bottle” but repeal of Virginia’s 45 day early voting practice needs a groundswell of support. He advocates two-weeks of early voting, including both Saturdays before election day, which is when most early ballots are cast. The extended voting period places a great deal of stress on registrars and poll workers, which does not seem to have been considered by legislators who made the rules.

Aspects of education, including the importance of exposing students to career paths that do not require a four-year degree were discussed. The excellence of Goochland’s career and technical education (CTE) programs was noted.

Unfunded mandates increase the cost of doing business at the local level and are another example of how "one size fits all” legislation often does not.

School Board Chair Angela Allen, District 3 said that classes in agriculture are in high demand in the school division, but that we have only one teacher. (District 5 Supervisor Jonathan Lyle has been advocating for an ag teacher at the middle school for a while.)

Allen said that programs including advanced placement and dual enrollment with Reynolds Community College prepare students to go into higher levels of education ready to deal with accelerated rigor in learning.

The local composite index (LCI) used to compute the amount of state aid localities receive needs to be revised, she said. Goochland’s LCI is .8, the highest category. That means that Goochland pays 80 percent of its school costs.

Garrett said that Virginia’s 134 school divisions are “laboratories for learning” where each community can figure out what works best for them. “We need more accountability for the outcome of actions. Good teachers can use their skills to captivate our kids and change their lives.” He agreed that the LCI needs revision.

Allen said that Goochland Schools oppose collective bargaining. Most rural areas, including Goochland, have aging schools that they cannot afford to replace. She cited the new $50 million plus Goochland Elementary School that opened in August, which was a heavy lift financially for the county, and asked that the state look at a grant program to address this issue.

Teachers are in short supply, especially those in CTE programs. Owen contended that older people working in building trades are good candidates for passing their skills on to the next generation. However, they have no interest in taking classes to become certified teachers and balk at lower school pay scales but might be tempted by state benefit packages.

Goochland Superintendent of Schools Michael Cromartie Ed. D. said that those packages are not as generous as they used to be.

Garrett wondered if a version of the incentive used to attract lawyers to become judges, which provides two years if Virginia Retirement System credit for each year worked, could help attract CTE instructors.

Goochland has great teachers, law enforcement officers, and first responders. Most of them cannot afford to live in the county and all too often succumb to the siren song of higher wages closer to where they live.

That led to the topic of affordable, or as Spoonhower put it “attainable” housing.

Owen said that home prices are a factor in reducing turnover for teachers, deputies, and first responders. He said that the initiative to make accessory dwelling units—garage apartments, granny flats—is “dead on arrival” and will not get his support.

He said that there is a serious housing shortage in America because we have not built enough homes for decades, increasing demand versus supply, which raises home prices. Regulatory issues that depress efficiency in the construction process also increase costs and exacerbate the huge deficit in housing supply.

Spoonhower said that the Dillion Rule prevents localities from finding creative solutions to the issue.

Looking forward.

Garrett contended that in-person citizen engagement can sway votes in the General Assembly. Because Goochland is the closest county in his district to the state capitol he encouraged citizens to show up and make their voices heard on issues important to them.

Owen said that working “across the aisle” is vital to getting things done. He invited citizens to visit him in Richmond. He also said that writing to legislators is effective. Heartfelt personal notes get traction and are sometimes quoted in speeches supporting or opposing legislation. Form letters, however, tend to be ignored.

Garrett believes that repealing bad laws is more important than passing new ones.

These discussions will be used to craft Goochland’s legislative agenda, a review of the impact and unintended consequences of pending legislation. This will probably be presented and adopted at the Board’s November 6 (note this is a Wednesday, county offices are closed on election day) monthly meeting.

Garrett and Owen thanked Goochland for the meeting and expressed regret that other parts of their districts do not hold similar sessions.

Our delegation:

John McGuire- Senate District 10  senatormcguire@senate.virginia.gov

Tom  Garrett- House of Delegates District 56-DelTGarrett@house.virginia.gov

David Owen- House of Delegates District 57-DelDOwen@house.virginia.gov