Prince William leaders ‘keenly aware’ of impact from federal cuts, look ahead to legislative agenda

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday inaugurated its new legislative committee, setting the stage for more extensive policymaking discussions ahead of a special session of the Virginia General Assembly tentatively set for the second week of September.

Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Angela Franklin, a Democrat, and Gainesville Supervisor Bob Weir, a Republican, were unanimously elected chair and vice chair of the committee, respectively, at the outset of Tuesday’s meeting. Weir was absent from the meeting but had expressed interest in helming the role, according to several supervisors.

Supervisors then mulled several carryover issues from the 2025 legislative session through a presentation from Glynn Loope, the county’s legislative affairs liaison. These included:

• Tractor trailer parking; funding (under the “Transportation and Mobility” section)

• Reallocation of resources for police departments; reclassification of telecommunicators (under “Safe and Secure Community”)

• Affordable housing policy authority; the JLARC data center study (under “Resilient Economy”)  

• Tax policy for small businesses; environmental sustainability (under “Administration of Government”)

Loope delved into major issues for the 2026 legislative session, most notably: affordable housing; business and labor issues; cannabis; data centers; energy; gaming; Medicaid; and regulatory authority/permitting.

General Assembly leadership recently informed delegates and state senators they would likely be prompted to return to Richmond for a special session designed to address the impact of federal layoffs and rollbacks.

Virginia recently lost its 2024 ranking as “America’s Top State for Business,” falling to fourth in CNBC’s 2025 rankings – primarily due to a lower classification in the “Economy” category, where the commonwealth dropped from 11th to 14th. 

Loope told the board federal cuts would be a major talking point moving forward, saying the county is keenly aware of the implications.

“When county staff has come across concerns with regard to federal budget implications on … cuts and certain programs like fire safety programs and housing,” Loope said, “we’ve immediately channeled those, not just to our federal delegation, we’ve channeled them to Del. [Josh] Thomas and [state] Sen. [Scott] Surovell because they’re the two Northern Virginia representatives on the federal impact study committees.”  

Loope added, “So now we’re channeling federal issues to state and federal, because of the way the lines are kind of getting blurry.”

Franklin and Brentsville Supervisor Tom Gordy also addressed so-called “earmarks,” or congressionally-designated spending, which are due in April to satisfy U.S. House Appropriations Committee member requests. 

The county's legislative committee is set to meet Sept. 9 at 10 a.m., Sept. 24 at 2 p.m., and Oct. 13 at 10 a.m.

The board will then hold its annual joint Legislative Breakfast on Dec. 3 at 9 a.m., where the School Board and state delegation will also take part.