A state bill that would loosen restrictions on liquor sales is picking up support from members of Arlington’s restaurant scene.
Restaurants with mixed beverage licenses in Virginia are mandated to make at least 45% of sales from food and no more than 55% of sales from liquor-based mixed beverages. Senate Bill 1163 would lower the food sale requirement to 30%, allowing higher revenue percentages from liquor — something multiple restaurant owners told ARLnow they would welcome.
Newly proposed legislation could make it possible for Arlington to implement major county-government changes.
Del. Patrick Hope (D-1) has introduced a bill for the 2025 General Assembly session that would make it possible for Arlington voters and officials to adopt several changes.
By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia House of Delegates passed resolutions on Tuesday enshrining rights to abortion, voting and marriage equality in a critical step for Democrats hoping to amend the state’s constitution next year.
By OLIVIA DIAZ and BEN FINLEY Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s state Capitol and General Assembly buildings are going to be closed Wednesday, effectively postponing lawmakers’ first working day of the legislative session nearly two days after a winter storm shut down Richmond’s water system.
Ensuring access to affordable, high-quality daycare and early-childhood education has landed near the top of the Arlington County Board’s 2025 legislative wish list.
The cost of child care in Northern Virginia is “more expensive than college,” Board member Takis Karantonis said at the body’s Tuesday (Dec. 3) work session with members of the county’s delegation to the General Assembly.
Arlington’s current system of government has “served us well,” but might be in line for an update, one expert believes.
John Milliken — who served on the County Board in the 1980s until he was tapped to be Virginia’s secretary of transportation — opined on the topic of Arlington governance changes at the annual meeting of the Inter-Service Club Council (ISCC) of Arlington last week.
A study of potential rent-stabilization efforts to address rising apartment costs could be in Arlington County’s future.
Katie Wenger, vice chair of the Arlington Housing Commission, last Saturday (Nov. 16) asked County Board members to direct staff to look at the pros and cons of such a policy — one that is related to, but distinct from, full-blown rent control.
Advocates of a more streamlined way to get affordable housing built on religious-owned land on Saturday (Nov. 16) made one more appeal to Arlington County Board members.
But they may be facing an uphill battle convincing Arlington, and other Northern Virginia localities, to come on board with the proposal during the 2025 General Assembly session.
By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats who control both chambers of the Virginia legislature are hoping to make good on promises made on the campaign trail, including becoming the first Southern state to expand constitutional protections for abortion access.
The concept of granting religious organizations more flexibility to create affordable housing on their properties is a good one, Falls Church officials say.
But city leaders remain wary of pending legislation in Richmond that could handcuff local-government zoning powers in order to obtain that outcome.
Rather than a frontal assault against it, Arlington School Board members may try to win a delay in implementation of the state’s new school-accountability regimen.
School leaders plan to ask the General Assembly to intervene and postpone the Virginia Department of Education’s new School Performance and Support Framework, a two-pronged evaluation and ranking system that is replacing the previous accreditation process.
The prospect of a Donald Trump presidential-election victory could bring Falls Church leaders back to the drawing board when it comes to developing their 2025 legislative priorities.
But they will have a small window of opportunity: Election Day is Nov. 5 and the City Council is expected to review its draft 2025 legislative package on Nov. 11.
