2026 SESSION

ENROLLED

VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY -- CHAPTER

An Act to direct the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to convene a work group to evaluate existing emergency management needs in the Commonwealth; report.

[H 169]

Approved

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. That the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security (the Secretary) shall establish a work group composed of representatives from the Department of Emergency Management, the Department of Planning and Budget, the Virginia Emergency Management Association, the Virginia Association of Counties, the Virginia Municipal League, and such other stakeholders as the Secretary deems appropriate to evaluate existing emergency management needs, analyze sustainability of current funding for such needs, and review alternative funding models for such needs in other states. In conducting its evaluation, the work group may hire an outside consultant and shall analyze local capability assessment for readiness reports, recent after-action reports from declared emergency events, historical trends of federal homeland security and emergency management funding, any anticipated or announced changes to federal homeland security and emergency management funding, any gaps in current funding, how other states fund emergency management services, and best practices from other states. The Secretary shall report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on General Laws, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology on or before October 1, 2026.