It’s an early Christmas for Alexandria leadership, with Democrats taking control of the Virginia legislature opening the door for efforts to assert local control of several key policy questions.
Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, which means that localities like Alexandria can only exercise powers expressly granted by the state. In practice, Mayor Justin Wilson said this leaves localities forced to seek approval from the state for basic city policy questions, particularly on fiscal issues. Under a Republican majority, Alexandria struggled to have many of its legislative priorities addressed.
“We’re looking for a lot of partnership on the financial issues,” Wilson said. “I want to see a General Assembly that respects local control and gives us the authority we need to represent our constituents. We struggle quite a bit — and this is not a right or left thing — but all jurisdictions struggle with a General Assembly that insists on taking a ‘mother may I’ approach to basic policy questions.”
In a recent joint meeting between the School Board and the City Council, City Manager Mark Jinks said the city was reaching the limits of the state-set maximums for certain taxes, like the meals tax and hotel tax.
“We’re going to be looking for the General Assembly to recognize some of the significant constraints that we have locally around raising revenue and funding schools, education, transportation and human services,” Wilson said. “On the education side, the whole urban crescent of Virginia is struggling with growth and student enrollment. It’s been years since the state has been an active partner in financing schools.”
Wilson said he was also hopeful that the new General Assembly would restore money previously taken from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and work to increase partnerships in transportation infrastructure.
Like many Democrats, Wilson said he’s excited for potential statewide progress on issues like gun safety and reproductive rights, but his attention is keenly focused on the minutiae of how the new leadership in Richmond impacts local governance in Alexandria on issues like revenue and regulation of land use.
“We have a diverse state with very different economies and very different pressures, but we have a tax structure that’s identical across the state,” Wilson said. “I hope the General Assembly takes on comprehensive tax reform. We have a tax structure based on an economy that doesn’t exist in Virginia anymore. It taxes the movement of goods when our economy is based on services. Comprehensive tax reform has not been undertaken in Virginia in quite some time.”
Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, said in an email that the likely city wishlist of priorities pursued over the next few years might make Santa blush. According to Shafroth, items the city is likely to push for include:
- State funding for combined sewer overflows to pick up a 20% share
- Assistance for school construction and renovations
- Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
- A living wage (especially in the new era of Amazon)
- Affordable workforce housing
- Provision of driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants
- Barring any mandate to Alexandria law enforcement officials to [enforce] federal immigration laws;
- Support for the… Attorney General’s opinion vis-Ã -vis conducting a study on the issue of gun possession by individuals in the state involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities in Virginia
- Authorizing local governments in the state… to determine the placement of Confederate monuments and statues on municipal property
- Additional support for K-12 education
- Greater stated support to help address the opioid crisis
While it doesn’t share the same immediacy as issues like school funding, Wilson noted that the new leadership in the General Assembly does open the door for further discussions on moving the Confederate statue on Prince Street. State law currently prohibits the removal of memorials or monuments related to any war involving the United States without approval from the General Assembly.
“Where a statue is in a community is a type of issue a local government can manage on its own, not a state issue,” Wilson said. “On that, like every other issue, going to want to give the government closest to the people to shape policy on the issue.”
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Recent Stories
Everything seemed rolled up tight for a legal retail market for cannabis, but a veto from Gov. Glenn Youngkin set those plans ablaze. Panel program Agenda: Alexandria is meeting tonight…
(Updated 2:25 p.m.) The Alexandria Police Department (APD) is investigating a suspicious death at The Bloom at Braddock Apartments on the 900 block of North Henry Street in the Braddock…
Got any spare drugs? In an effort to curb misuse, Alexandria is asking residents to drop off expired prescription medication on Saturday (April 27). It’s National Prescription Drug Take Back…
Alexandria’s City Council will approve its fiscal year 2025 budget in a little more than a week, and important actions will be taken between now and then. On Wednesday (April…
For many remote workers, a messy home is distracting.
You’re getting pulled into meetings, and your unread emails keep ticking up. But you can’t focus because pet hair tumbleweeds keep floating across the floor, your desk has a fine layer of dust and you keep your video off in meetings so no one sees the chaos behind you.
It’s no secret a dirty home is distracting and even adds stress to your life. And who has the energy to clean after work? That’s why it’s smart to enlist the help of professionals, like Well-Paid Maids.
Monarch Montessori School is now enrolling infants, toddlers and three year-olds for its full-time Montessori program. We offer a seamless enrollment process which involves submitting an application for review, paying the enrollment fee and submitting the remaining enrollment materials before your proposed start date.
At Monarch Montessori School, we aim to provide an authentic Montessori learning experience. At our Alexandria location, we currently have 8 openings in our Primary classroom (ages 3-6), and 6 openings in our Toddler classroom. Additionally, there are 3 infant openings at this time.
Our first floor space is an open concept. Infants and toddlers share the same large classroom. Children ages 3-6 are in two classrooms on our second floor. Each classroom has one lead and assistant guide. We offer a year-round program, with intermittent breaks for Spring Break and Winter Break.
Scholarship Fund of Alexandria Annual Gala & Auction
Do good while having a good time at the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s 38th Annual Gala and Auction at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. The fun begins with a 2-hour open bar reception while mingling with 499 other Alexandrians who
