A Fairfax County legislator on Sept. 1 was honored by the Virginia League of Conservation Voters for his work on clean energy legislation and addressing the impacts of data centers.
Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6) was one of six General Assembly members awarded by the group for their legislative leadership during the 2026 session.
When Fairfax City voters go to the polls in November, they’ll be asked to grant approval for a general retail sales tax increase of up to 1% for construction and renovation of school and/or public transportation purposes.
To give voters the details they need to decide, City of Fairfax Public Schools will host a series of informational meetings about the referendum, starting this week.
Fairfax County elected officials and staff are trying a new approach as the 2027 General Assembly session nears.
Among their goals: Get information and local positions to legislators sooner, don’t overburden them with too much information, and build strategic relationships with downstate lawmakers.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Aug. 25) paused to honor the legacy of former state Sen. Janet Howell (D-32), who died Aug. 2 at age 82.
“She was an institution,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said. “She spent three decades serving the residents of Fairfax County in many ways.”
Back-to-school shoppers will have an extra incentive to grab their school supplies, clothes and other items this weekend in Fairfax County and across the state.
Virginia will hold its annual three-day sales tax holiday, from Friday, Aug. 7 to Sunday, Aug. 9. Over the three days, the state and local option sales taxes are temporarily waived on qualifying clothing, footwear and school supplies, as well as emergency preparedness products and some appliances. The tax exemption applies to in-store and online shopping, according to the Virginia Department of Taxation.
Janet Howell, a former Democratic state senator who had represented parts of Fairfax County for decades, has died at age 82.
Howell was first elected to the Virginia Senate in 1991, taking office in 1992 as senator for the 32nd Senate District. The district included Reston, Tysons, Wolf Trap, northern Chantilly and portions of McLean and Arlington County. Before retiring on Jan. 10, 2024, Howell was the longest-serving woman in the state Senate alongside current President pro tempore Louise Lucas (D-18). When Democrats took control of the chamber in 2019, she was the first woman to chair the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.
Fairfax County leaders are eager to get a jump start on a new option to automate monitoring for excessive vehicle noise.
The county’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on July 14 to direct County Executive Bryan Hill to report a timeline by this fall for implementing the authority newly granted by the General Assembly to Fairfax and some other Virginia localities.
Fairfax City voters will decide in November whether to approve a general retail sales tax increase of up to 1% that could generate up to $13.5 million to fund construction projects and long-term maintenance of the city’s schools.
The Fairfax City Council voted unanimously last Tuesday (July 14) to request that the Fairfax Circuit Court order a special election on Nov. 3 asking voters whether the city should levy the tax. Long sought by the city, the ability to implement the sales tax was authorized by the General Assembly’s new state budget late last month.
The Fairfax County School Board recently passed a resolution affirming its support for a possible 1% sales tax to fund its $400 million backlog of maintenance and capital improvement projects.
In light of the new state budget adopted by the Virginia General Assembly late last month allowing local jurisdictions to increase their sales tax rate up to 1% to support education and transportation, the school board voted unanimously on July 9 to ask the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to place the issue before voters as a referendum during a general election.
Optimism among Northern Virginia business leaders is improving, although some expressed worries about taxes and the state’s approval of a paid family and medical leave program.
That’s according to the second-quarter 2026 Business Leader Survey released last week by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and public relations firm Pinkston, revealing the sentiments of the region’s CEOs, senior executives and business owners.
