Committee reports numerous bills and Senate cognates; several substitutes and conformations approved

The House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee concluded a lengthy docket by reporting a large set of bills and Senate cognates after procedural votes and several substitutions.

Early in the session the committee reported Block 1 (House Bills 7 92 and 10 50) as amended on a roll vote of 19-0. The committee carried House Bill 11 22 and House Bill 12 74 to the 2027 session by voice votes at the patrons’ requests. House Bill 3 05 was taken off the table and the committee adopted a substitute clarifying that two ex officio members are nonvoting and changing the quorum number to meet a 50% threshold; the bill reported 22-0.

The committee adopted a substitute on House Bill 4 96 after stakeholder discussions focused on data-center water usage and reported the bill on a recorded vote (22-1, Berg recorded). House Bill 11 49 (and related amendments requiring notice before property entry and a sunset clause expiring 07/01/2028) was taken off the table, substituted and reported 22-0.

The committee also handled a block of Senate bills with House cognates, frequently substituting House language into Senate bills or conforming language between the chambers. Among those acted on were SB 153 (companion to a house charter bill), SB 179 (Williamsburg charter), SB 443, SB 681, SB 806 (Norfolk charter), SB 51 and others; recorded tallies reported across these measures included unanimous and lopsided votes as noted in the committee record. One bill, SB 454, was moved "by for the day." The committee concluded by reporting the substituted versions of SB 581 and SB 589 among others.

Most committee actions were procedural substitutions, conformations, or reports; where recorded tallies were provided they are included in the committee roll; the committee rose after completing the docket.