Richmond, Virginia –– Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), joined by Clifford L. “Clay” Athey, Jr. (R-Warren County), Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William), John A. Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) and Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), today unveiled a package of legislative reforms from House Republicans to allow local governments to better manage growth and plan for needed transportation infrastructure. The five bills contained in the House Republican plan are measures many localities desire to assist them in exercising reasonable decision-making when assessing land use proposals, while also providing them tools to build needed transportation infrastructure. House Republican leaders made the announcement at a news conference at the state capitol.

“Too many people have assumed that the only answer to crowded highways and secondary roads is the construction of still more roads with no real way to include local governments in these decisions. We can and must do better,” Speaker Howell said. “That’s why we as House Republicans are presenting a comprehensive package of growth management reforms. The legislation we’re announcing today will assist localities in sensibly managing growth in fast-growing communities, while also avoiding simply clamping down on the expansion and progress that has made Virginia such a vibrant and great place to live, work and raise a family.”

House Republicans were joined at the announcement by organizations that represent Virginia local governments.

“The Virginia Municipal League appreciates the House proposals aimed at improving the coordination of land use regulation and transportation at the local level,” said Mark K. Flynn, Director of Legal Services for the Virginia Municipal League. “This is a significant effort to enable local governments to responsibly deal with growth, particularly as it relates to transportation. Increasingly, our citizens are frustrated with the traffic and related problems created by population growth. The citizens look to their local governments to do something about the problems. The legislation is a positive step forward in helping local governments coordinate transportation issues as a part of the land use decisions they face. We look forward to working with the House, Senate and Governor in this endeavor.”

“We are very excited that the leadership in the House is talking about empowering localities with the tools needed to deal with sprawl and growth,” said Jeffrey S. Gore, Director of Governmental Affairs for the Virginia Association of Counties. “We look forward to working with the legislature and the administration to move these ideas forward.”

“We’ve been looking for something that we could move through the General Assembly that would assist localities while they are making these decisions,” said Del. Athey. “This also reflects a commitment on the part of the Republican Caucus that as we craft a transportation solution, we need to move a lot of these decisions out to localities.”

“In Prince William County, we are dealing with growth as much as anyone else in the Commonwealth, with developments coming in without necessarily having the infrastructure in place,” said Del. Frederick. “We’re all very enthusiastic about these ideas we’ve introduced.”

“The most important step is the commitment of the Republican leadership to go in the direction to help our citizens find a fair way to manage and pay for growth,” said. Del. Marshall. “I am very pleased that we are moving in that direction.”