VTCA 2025 Legislative Tracking

As we enter the first full week of the 2025 VA Legislative Session, which was delayed three days due to a Richmond City water outage, procedures are moving smoothly and quickly.  There are just two more full weeks until Crossover – so each legislative body must address bills they are considering within that timeline.   
VTCA is focused on key transportation construction, procurement, local zoning, and infrastructure issues.  New this year are broader technology issues related to Artificial Intelligence and Drones – which VTCA members use often.   

So far, most issues impacting members should be minimal or even positive.  While the legislative issues of 2025 may not seem significant.  Many more issues will hit the 2026 General Assembly Session with a new Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General as well as new makeup of the VA House of Delegates.  Democrats currently hold a slim majority in the House. 

Legislative Issues this year are:

Transportation

• HB1615 - Transportation infrastructure and projects; noise analysis. Requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board or the Department of Transportation to begin a noise analysis within one year of receipt of a valid petition for a noise analysis. The bill also requires a noise analysis for any retrofit noise abatement project undertaken or considered by the Board or the Department.
• HB1664 - Photo speed monitoring devices; placement and operation by certain localities. Allows localities without a law-enforcement agency to place and operate photo speed monitoring devices. The bill requires such localities to authorize by ordinance officers of the law-enforcement agency with jurisdiction within such locality to issue the summons and to swear to or affirm the certificate stating that the information produced by such photo speed monitoring device shows evidence of a vehicle speed violation.
• HB 1666 - Photo speed monitoring devices; location. Allows a locality to provide by ordinance for the placement and operation of a photo speed monitoring device by the law-enforcement agency of such locality for the purposes of recording vehicle speed violations on any highway in such locality (i) that is located in a high-injury network as designated by the Department of Transportation or (ii) where such placement is supported by Department of Transportation speed or vehicle incident data as determined by such governing body. The bill requires the placement of at least two conspicuous signs within 1,000 feet of any location other than a school crossing zone, highway work zone, or high-risk intersection segment at which a photo speed monitoring device is used, indicating the use of the device. Under current law, one conspicuous sign within 1,000 feet is required at a school crossing zone, highway work zone, or high-risk intersection segment at which such device is used. 
• HB2041 - Speed safety cameras; placement and operation. Changes the terms "photo speed monitoring device" to "speed safety camera" and "high-risk intersection segment" to "high-risk speed corridor" in provisions related to vehicle speed violations. The bill authorizes localities to provide by ordinance for the placement and operation of a speed safety camera by the law-enforcement agency of such locality in certain locations and requires signs to be placed indicating the use of the camera. For any new speed safety camera placed, the bill provides for a warning by mail instead of a summons and no civil penalty for alleged vehicle speed violations within the first 30 days of such camera's operation. The bill creates additional requirements for localities and law-enforcement agencies regarding periodic review and provision of information to the public related to the use of speed safety cameras, including publicizing locations of new speed safety cameras. The bill requires a locality in which speed safety cameras are placed and operated to create an advisory group to identify issues and public concerns regarding such speed safety cameras. 
• SB852 - Photo speed monitoring devices; proof of violation; retired law-enforcement officials. Allows a retired sworn law-enforcement officer, defined in the bill, to swear to or affirm a certificate for a vehicle speed violation enforced by a photo speed monitoring device. 
• HB1750 - Department of Transportation; maintenance on components of the Interstate System. Authorizes the Department of Transportation to perform nonemergency work on the Interstate System with its own employees or agents. Current law requires nonemergency maintenance on components of the Interstate System to be carried out by contractors unless the Commissioner of Highways provides good and sufficient reasons for not doing so. 
• HB1789 - Procurement; cancellation of bids. Provides that a public body may include a statement in an Invitation to Bid, a Request for Proposal, or any other solicitation of an intention to cancel any such invitation, request, or solicitation if, in the estimation of the public body, all responsive bids exceed by at least 50 percent the current price for such goods or services as offered to the private sector. 
• HB2038 - Prohibition on procurement and use of insecure uncrewed aircraft systems; report. Prohibits, beginning on July 1, 2025, any public body from purchasing, leasing, or otherwise procuring an insecure uncrewed aircraft system (UAS), as that term is defined in the bill. The bill further prohibits, beginning on July 1, 2029, any public body from using, whether directly or through work with or on behalf of another public body, an insecure UAS. The bill directs the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) to establish cybersecurity standards for the certification of secure UAS and maintain a list of approved UAS manufacturers and models on its website. 
  The bill also requires the Joint Commission on Technology and Science, in collaboration with stakeholders, to review cybersecurity standards and make recommendations every two years to ensure alignment with emerging UAS technologies, evolving cybersecurity threats, the operational and safety needs of public bodies, and public safety priorities within the Commonwealth. 
  Finally, the bill establishes the Uncrewed Aircraft Replacement Grant Program, to be administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, to award grants to aid public bodies with the transition from insecure UAS to secure UAS. 
• HB2046 - High-risk artificial intelligence; development, deployment, and use by public bodies; work group; report. Creates requirements for the development, deployment, and use of high-risk artificial intelligence systems, as defined in the bill, by public bodies. The bill directs the Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth (CIO) to develop, publish, and maintain policies and procedures concerning the development, procurement, implementation, utilization, and ongoing assessment of systems that employ high-risk artificial intelligence systems that are consistent with the requirements created by the bill. The bill also requires the CIO to compile into a publicly available registry certain required monthly reports on initial and ongoing high-risk artificial intelligence system assessments and inventories of such systems used by public bodies. Under the bill, the Joint Commission on Technology and Science is required to establish an Artificial Intelligence Oversight Task Force to oversee the implementation of and compliance with the requirements for development, deployment, and use of high-risk artificial intelligence systems by public bodies. 
  Finally, bill directs the CIO to convene a work group to examine the impact on and the ability of local governments to comply with the requirements of the bill. The substantive requirements of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026. 
• HB2074 - Portable changeable message signs; certain vehicles. Authorizes certain towing, traffic management, and highway maintenance vehicles to be equipped with a portable changeable message sign that may be used without prior authorization from the Department of Transportation, provided that certain conditions are met. 
• HB2138 - Commissioner of Highways; prequalification program for self-bonding program; certain reports; repealed. Removes (i) the biennial report requirement for the Commissioner of Highways regarding the use of funds in the Innovation and Technology Transportation Fund; (ii) the requirement for a prequalification program agreed upon by the Commissioner of Highways and the Department of the Treasury for the self-bonding program for transportation-related construction projects; and (iii) reporting requirements for the Department of Transportation regarding certain information related to performance or payment bonds, waivers, and self-bonding program enrollment. 
• HJ449 - Study; Department of Transportation; taxation of hybrid and electric trucks; report. Requests the Department of Transportation to study options for taxation of hybrid and electric trucks to account for the shortfall in gas and diesel tax revenues that will result from the use of such vehicles. 
• SB776 - Enforcement of federal traffic violations by state and local law-enforcement officers; photo speed monitoring devices; Planning District 8. Provides that state and local law-enforcement officers may enforce federal traffic violations on any highway within Planning District 8. The bill also provides that a state or local law-enforcement agency may place and operate a photo speed monitoring device on a National Park highway, as defined in the bill, for the purposes of recording vehicle speed violations, provided that such law-enforcement agency has been authorized by the federal government or the National Park Service to place such photo speed monitoring device on such National Park highway. 
• SB1082 - Transportation; Commonwealth Transportation Special Structures Program Revenue Bond Act of 2025. Authorizes the Commonwealth Transportation Board to issue revenue bonds to be known and designated as "Commonwealth of Virginia Special Structures Program Revenue Bonds." The bill provides that such bonds shall be payable solely (i) first from revenues received from the Special Structure Fund; (ii) second and to the extent required, from revenues legally available from the Transportation Trust Fund; and (iii) then to the extent required, from any other legally available funds. 

Mines

• HB1887 - Mineral Mine Safety Act; definition of "surface mineral mine"; mine inspectors; certificate renewal; use of cyanide or cyanide compound. Amends the definition of "surface mineral mine" in the Mineral Mine Safety Act to exclude excavation or grading when conducted solely in aid of onsite farming or construction and under certain conditions enumerated in the bill. The bill amends the definition of "mining" in existing law, relating to the exemption from permits for a mining operation, to extend the required completion time from six months to one year for excavation or grading conducted to construct or expand a farm pond for agricultural irrigation or provision of water for livestock. The bill also amends the qualification requirements for mineral mine inspectors, removes references to the defunct Board of Mineral Mining Examiners, and prohibits the issuance of any permit for a mineral mining or processing operation that includes the use of cyanide or a cyanide compound. 
• SB929 - Abandoned Mine Land Grant Retention Fund established. Establishes the Abandoned Mine Land Grant Retention Fund and requires any eligible designated funds received under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to be deposited into the Fund. The bill authorizes the Director of the Department of Energy to provide grants for certain projects described in the federal Act relating to the protection of public health, safety, and property from the adverse effects of coal mining practices. 

General

• HB1570 – PLA repeal - Repeals the provision of the Virginia Public Procurement Act that authorizes any public body, including any state or local government, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, to require bidders to enter into or adhere to project labor agreements on the public works projects. 
• HB1922 - Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity; Small SWaM Business Procurement Enhancement Program established. Establishes the Small SWaM Business Procurement Enhancement Program with a statewide goal of 42 percent of certified small SWaM business, as such term in defined in the bill, utilization in all discretionary spending by executive branch agencies and covered institutions in procurement orders, prime contracts, and subcontracts, as well as a target goal of 50 percent subcontracting to small SWaM businesses in instances where the prime contractor is not a small SWaM business for all new capital outlay construction solicitations that are issued. The bill provides that executive branch agencies and covered institutions are required to increase their small SWaM business utilization rates by three percent per year until reaching the 42-percent target or, if unable to do so, to implement achievable goals to increase their utilization rates. In addition, the bill provides for a small SWaM business set-aside for executive branch agency and covered institution purchases of goods, services, and construction, requiring that purchases up to $100,000 be set aside for award to certified small SWaM businesses. 
  The bill creates the Division of Procurement Enhancement within the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity for purposes of collaborating with the Department of General Services, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, the Department of Transportation, and covered institutions to further the Commonwealth's efforts to meet the goals established under the Small SWaM Business Procurement Enhancement Program, as well as implementing initiatives to enhance the development of small businesses, microbusinesses, women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, and service disabled veteran-owned businesses in the Commonwealth. 
  Finally, the bill requires the Director of the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity to conduct, or contract with an independent entity to conduct, a disparity study every five years, with the next disparity study due no later than January 1, 2026. The bill specifies that such study shall evaluate the need for enhancement and remedial measures to address the disparity between the availability and the utilization of women-owned and minority-owned businesses. The provisions of the bill other than those requiring such study have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026, and apply to covered institutions beginning July 1, 2026. 
• HB2091 - Department of Workforce Development and Advancement; powers and duties. Requires the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement to ensure that all workforce development programs and workforce education and training programs (i) address an industry need identified on a high-demand occupation or field list created by the Department and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and Advancement and (ii) include a job placement component in their implementation and operating plans. Publicly funded workforce development and workforce education and training programs may apply for an exemption from such requirements, and the Commissioner shall approve or disapprove such application within 45 days of receipt.
• HJ450 - Constitutional amendment (first reference); right to work. Proposes an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that declares that any agreement or combination between any employer and any labor union or labor organization whereby persons not members of such union or organization are denied the right to work for the employer, or whereby such membership is made a condition of employment or continuation of employment by such employer, or whereby any such union or organization acquires an employment monopoly in any enterprise, constitutes an illegal combination or conspiracy and is void. 
• SB788 - Workers' compensation; injuries caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors. Provides that, for the purposes of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act, "occupational disease" includes injuries or diseases from conditions resulting from repetitive and sustained physical stressors, including repetitive and sustained motions, exertions, posture stresses, contact stresses, vibrations, or noises. The bill provides that such injuries or diseases are covered under the Act and that such coverage does not require that such repetitive or sustained physical stress occurred over a particular time period, provided that (i) the time period over which such physical stress occurred can be reasonably identified and documented and (ii) exposure to such repetitive and sustained physical stressors in the course of employment is the primary cause, as defined in the bill, of the injury or disease. 

 

For any questions or concerns regarding legislative affairs, contact Gordon Dixon by email or phone at 804-330-3312.