Legislative Program

Summary

The City of Fairfax Legislative Program is an annual process through which the City Council adopts a set of legislative priorities to forward to state legislators ahead of each Virginia General Assembly session. For the 2026 Legislative Program cycle, a work session was held at the November 4, 2025 City Council meeting, followed by a public hearing on November 18, 2025 (at which no members of the public signed up to speak). The November 18 hearing included a staff presentation by Acting City Manager Melanie Zipp seeking council feedback on priority ordering of items — including K-12 funding, the 1% sales tax for schools, affordable housing, anti-rent gouging, stormwater local assistance funding, state aid for local HB 599, unfunded mandates, data center regulations, and cannabis retail sale. A legislative program work session originally penciled in for December 2, 2025 was removed from that agenda. On December 9, 2025, the City Council voted unanimously (6-0) to adopt a resolution approving the 2026 City of Fairfax Legislative Program, with Council Member Hardy Chandler making the motion and Council Member Peterson seconding; the legislative liaison was directed to forward the approved program to Senator Salim and Delegate Fulava. Planning for the 2027 Legislative Program began earlier than usual due to a compressed session schedule, with a discussion penciled in for an October 2026 work session as of June 2026, then moved up to a September 2026 work session as of July 2026. The September 1, 2026 City Council work session included discussion of the 2027 Legislative Program.

Open questions & options on the table

• What priorities and items will be included in the 2027 Legislative Program, and in what priority order?
• Are there additional work sessions or public hearings planned for the 2027 Legislative Program cycle beyond the September 2026 discussion?

What members have said

Positions as recorded in meeting minutes; votes without recorded comment aren’t summarized.

Discussion time

Minutes of named discussion per transcribed meeting.