2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26103476D

HOUSE BILL NO. 953

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 13, 2026

A BILL to direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to establish a work group to examine the future of redevelopment and housing authorities in the Commonwealth; report.

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Patrons—Guzman, Anderson, Clark, Glass, Henson, Pope Adams, Schmidt and Shin

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Referred to Committee on Rules

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. That the Department of Housing and Community Development (the Department) shall establish, in collaboration with the Virginia Housing Development Authority, and with assistance from other state agencies upon request, a work group to examine the future of redevelopment and housing authorities in the Commonwealth. The purpose of the work group shall be to examine the need to repurpose and find a new mission for redevelopment and housing authorities that serve the goals of promoting housing affordability, effectuating redevelopment, and conserving land where deemed appropriate, and to develop a plan to address the diminishing role of the federal government in supporting housing authorities.

§ 2. The work group shall consist of one representative each from the Department, the Virginia Housing Development Authority, the Virginia Municipal League, and the Virginia Association of Counties, and no fewer than five nonlegislative citizen members of the Commonwealth to be appointed by the Director of the Department. Such nonlegislative citizen members shall include at least one representative of a redevelopment and housing authority, one representative of the residential construction industry, and one representative of an organization that provides affordable housing advocacy.

A majority of the members of the work group shall constitute a quorum. The work group shall, by majority vote, elect from its membership a chair and may select other officers or establish subcommittees as the members deem necessary. The work group shall meet at least six times before September 30, 2027. The meetings of the work group shall be open to the public. A majority vote of the members shall be required to approve the report required pursuant to this act or any supplements or revisions to such report.

§ 3. On or before September 30, 2027, the work group shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology. The report shall at a minimum (i) describe the federal, state, and local funding resources available to support redevelopment and housing authorities and determine whether those funding sources are sufficient to meet the needs of residents of the Commonwealth; (ii) describe the barriers that should be addressed and the additional resources needed in order to meet such needs; (iii) provide specific policy recommendations to coordinate federal, state, and local resources and to implement changes to the enabling legislation for redevelopment and housing authorities that address the current changing landscape; and (iv) include a plan, with an estimated budget, prospective timeline, and potential funding sources, to ensure that the Commonwealth can meet the future funding needs of redevelopment and housing authorities.