UPDATE – April 12, 2024

Your voices were heard! Great news! After thousands of REALTORS^® across the commonwealth engaged legislators and the Governor’s office through our Call For Action, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed our last remaining bill in the 2024 Virginia REALTORS^® Legislative Agenda.

As a reminder from our legislative session recap (below), this means two bills have already become law while the others advocated by your Government Relations team will become law on July 1, 2024. Be on the lookout for education content from the Virginia REALTORS^® Legal Team later in the spring to help prepare you for when these new laws are enacted.

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The Virginia General Assembly adjourned ‘sine die’ on Saturday, March 9th, bringing an official end to the 2024 legislative session. This is the first time in recent history that the General Assembly has adjourned on time, with a completed budget. Now, attention shifts from the (new) General Assembly building across Capitol Square to the Patrick Henry Building, where Governor Glenn Youngkin will be reviewing more than a thousand passed pieces of legislation, including the budget, and determining whether to pass, amend, or veto each bill ahead of the General Assembly’s ‘veto session’ (or ‘reconvene’) on April 17th.

As many of you will remember, ahead of this year’s General Assembly legislative session we had a historic turnover, with the 2024 class swearing in 18 new State Senators and 35 new Delegates. In the 2023 general election, RPAC-backed candidates had a 97.7% win rate. Those successes saw immediate benefits for Virginia REALTORS® in the 2024 legislative session, with all 16 Virginia REALTORS® bills passing the General Assembly and going to the Governor for review.

The Legislative Session saw 3,594 bills and resolutions filed, with 2,280 of those passing, 1,046 of which were legislative bills. The Virginia REALTORS® Legislative Agenda passed with nearly unanimous support—total final passage of 2,167 “yes” votes to 33 “no” votes.

Due to one of Virginia’s many legislative quirks, not only did all sixteen bills pass the General Assembly, but three of our bills have already been signed into law (HB383, continuing education reallocation, HB876, Resale Disclosure Act cleanup, and HB352, bringing VRLTA back into compliance with Federal Servicemember Relief Act). Not only has HB352 already been signed into law, it has also taken immediate effect in the commonwealth. All our other bills still await the Governor’s review.

Speaking of the Governor’s review, a special thanks to each member who answered the Call For Action. Because of your efforts and the work being done on behalf of REALTORS® here in Richmond, HB 467 and SB 354 passed both the House and the Senate. We still need YOUR help! If you haven’t already, please answer the most recent Call For Action and urge Governor Youngkin to sign the bills into law!

We’d again like to give a special thanks to those elected officials who carried our Legislative Agenda this session: Delegates David Bulova, Jackie Glass, Michelle Maldonado, Irene Shin, Marcus Simon, and Rodney Willett; Senators Adam Ebbin, Mamie Locke, Emily Jordan, Jeremy McPike, Russet Perry, David Suetterlein, Schuyler VanValkenburg, and Angelia Williams Graves.

Your lobbying team, Senior Vice President for Government Relations Mary Lawson, Legislative Counsel Erin Kormann, and Vice President for Association Advocacy D.J. Spiker have been a strong, consistent voice for the Virginia REALTORS®. Click here to learn just how the Government Relations team works on behalf of REALTORS® in Virginia.

Finally, we want to thank our SIXTEEN local associations who joined us for their Day on the Hill! These programs are incredibly beneficial not just for our local associations, but also for our lobbying team as they fight for our legislative agenda. Visits from constituents, and their friends and neighbors from back home, make a tremendous contribution to our policy agenda. If your local association did not have the opportunity to visit Richmond this year, we hope you’ll consider joining us next year!

The Virginia REALTORS® Government Relations team will continue to provide updates as the dust settles on the General Assembly Session. Be on the lookout for education content from the Virginia REALTORS® Legal Team later in the spring to help prepare you for when these new laws are enacted. As always, please email us at advocacy@virginiarealtors.org if you have questions or feedback.