# Virginia SB296: County manager plan of government; affordable dwelling unit ordinance.

Virginia SB296, County manager plan of government; affordable dwelling unit ordinance., is a 2027 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Barbara A. Favola (Democratic); status passed senate, last action 2026-07-21 (Continued from last session) (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB296-2027
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia SB296
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2027 Regular Session
- Title: County manager plan of government; affordable dwelling unit ordinance.
- Status: passed senate
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-07-21, Continued from last session
- Sponsor: Barbara A. Favola (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Subcommittee #3
- Touches household money: no
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

County manager plan of government; affordable dwelling unit ordinance. Increases local authority over affordable housing for counties that have adopted the county manager plan of government (Arlington County) by (i) potentially increasing the cash contribution to the county's affordable housing fund by developers in lieu of providing affordable dwelling units and (ii) providing that applications for a special exception approval for a change of use of an existing building from commercial to residential may be subject to an affordable housing requirement. The bill directs the governing body of such counties to appoint an advisory board to advise the governing body regarding the appropriate provisions of an ordinance to amend the cash contribution amounts to such county's affordable housing fund. Certain provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Barbara A. Favola (Democratic), Senate

## Actions (19)

- 2026-07-21: Continued from last session (House)
- 2026-02-20: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2028 (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-02-20: Continued to 2027 in Counties, Cities and Towns (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-02-17: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-17: Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #3 (House)
- 2026-02-17: Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns (House)
- 2026-02-17: Placed on Calendar (House)
- 2026-02-12: Read third time and passed Senate (22-Y 18-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Local Government Substitute agreed to (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Read second time (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Committee substitute printed 26107556D-S1 (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-09: Senate committee offered (Senate)
- 2026-02-09: Reported from Local Government with substitute (10-Y 4-N 1-A) (Senate)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Local Government (Senate)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104771D (Senate)

## Bill text

- Substitute, 2026-02-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230969.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230968.PDF)
- Amendment, 2026-02-09: [HTML](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/SB296)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229652.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229651.PDF)

## Related bills

- SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority; report. (in committee)
- HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of statements. (introduced)
- HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information. (introduced)
- SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset. (in committee)
- SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment. (in committee)
- SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion State Prison. (in committee)

## Sources
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230969.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230968.PDF)
- [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/SB296)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229652.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229651.PDF)

## Related
- [SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority; report.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB844-2027)
- [HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of s…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1535-2027)
- [HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1534-2027)
- [SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB843-2027)
- [SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB842-2027)
- [SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion Sta…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB840-2027)
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- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB296-2027 (as of 2026-10-12).