Despite political drawbacks, a sales-tax surcharge across Northern Virginia could end up being the main source to increase transit funding in the coming year.
Increasing the sales tax regionally is “probably going to be looked at,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said in a Dec. 4 legislative forum sponsored by the Dulles Area Transportation Association (DATA).
After months of hearings and study, the legislature’s Joint Commission on the Future of Cannabis Sales is poised to roll out a final proposal Tuesday that would launch a legal, regulated adult-use cannabis retail market in Virginia — potentially ending five years of economic and legal uncertainty since the commonwealth legalized possession and cultivation in 2021.
The latest version — sponsored by Commission Chair Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, in the House of Delegates and Sens. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, in the Senate — scraps the controversial local-opt-out clause, increases local taxing authority and builds a licensing regime designed to privilege small, independent, Virginia-based businesses over large medical-marijuana operators.
Fairfax City Council members continue to consider what priorities they should focus on in the 2026 General Assembly session, and in what order.
At a Nov. 18 discussion on the city’s legislative package, residents evidently opted not to weigh in, with no speakers attending the scheduled public hearing.
As the federal government slashes public safety funding, including grants supporting programs for crime victims, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano joined other top prosecutors in Alexandria this week to hear stories from survivors.
For more than an hour on Wednesday (Nov. 19), Descano, Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Deghani-Tafti and Norfolk CA Ramin Fatehi listened to crime survivors at the National Organization of Victim Advocacy (510 King Street) headquarters, next door to the Alexandria Courthouse.
Critics of expected legislation that could allow a casino in Tysons dominated a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hearing yesterday (Tuesday) on 2026 priorities for the Virginia General Assembly.
Speakers from organizations representing residents in Tysons, McLean and Reston — along with the mayor of Vienna — urged supervisors to be more explicit in voicing opposition to the proposal, which likely will return to Richmond early next year.
A plan to upgrade Metro’s service and long-term sustainability by establishing dedicated funding for the transit system won backing Monday afternoon (Nov. 17) from two key panels.
The boards of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) each formally endorsed the funding plan laid out in late October by the DMV Moves Task Force at a joint meeting.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) on Thursday (Nov. 6) gave its support to two transit-funding initiatives currently working their way through a complex review process.
With no dissents, the commission signaled its backing of recommendations of the DMV Moves task force and the General Assembly’s Northern Virginia Growing Needs of Public Transit Joint Subcommittee, also known as the SJ28 Subcommittee after the state Senate resolution that established it.
Fairfax City Council members voted unanimously Oct. 28 to ask the General Assembly to remove the existing cap on taxes levied on hotel stays in the city.
The City Charter currently caps the rate at 4%, below most jurisdictions across Virginia. In Fairfax County, the occupancy tax rate increased from 7% to 9% on Oct. 1, with different portions of the revenue going toward general county funds, tourism and regional transportation.
The Town of Vienna intends to seek state funding to support a planned Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail visitor center.
The request for $8 million is among more than two dozen priorities identified in the town’s legislative agenda for the Virginia General Assembly’s upcoming 2026 session.
A state legislative panel set up to identify potential new funding for Northern Virginia transit completed its work this week by delivering a firm starting number: $400 million annually.
But the panel opted against prioritizing which funding streams would work best as it readied its report for consideration during the 2026 General Assembly session.
