An expansion of the regional airport and an overhaul of the way funding for K-12 education is determined are among the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission’s legislative priorities going into the 2025 General Assembly session.
The commission is in its second year of compiling and lobbying for legislative action that would benefit the entire region, both urban and rural areas. The RVARC is unique in its approach — many regional planning commissions in Southside and Southwest Virginia have not yet developed a list of legislative priorities to lobby General Assembly members.
“There aren’t very many regional legislative efforts,” said Jeremy Holmes, executive director of RVARC. “Particularly with our smaller rural communities, they didn’t do legislative agendas, they didn’t do legislative work and they really needed that help. Understanding how [our] rural and urban localities interacted, and the things they complimented, helped everybody. We need to have a stronger legislative voice for our entire region and share those things that helped everybody.”…