The Senate Committee on Local Government on Monday advanced a broad docket of city charters and local governance bills, moving several measures to the Senate floor after brief presentations and procedural votes.

Several charter change requests were presented by local officials or their attorneys and reported with minimal debate. Those included Portsmouth’s charter amendment regarding minority and women business enterprise (MWBE) contracting rules (Senate Bill 872), Chesapeake’s charter language to align council member term dates with state law (SB 935), Shenandoah’s clarifications of officer responsibilities and creation of a vice mayor (SB 1150), Norfolk’s request to exempt the deputy fire chief from classified service (SB 987), Danville’s comprehensive charter update (SB 1206), Roanoke’s appointment change for the Director of Real Estate Valuation (SB 1176) and other town charter requests.

The committee also moved Senate Bill 992, a measure aimed at increasing penalties for repeat commercial zoning violations in certain planning districts, and Senate Bill 997, a housekeeping bill clarifying oath of office timing for local officers.

Many bill presentations were short: city attorneys or managers attended in support of their local charter bills and committee members generally asked a small number of clarifying questions. Most of those measures reported on voice or unanimous roll calls.

Votes at a glance (committee action):
- SB 872 (Portsmouth MWBE charter change): Reported (Ayes 9, Noes 3, abstentions not fully specified in record).
- SB 935 (Chesapeake charter term dates): Reported (Ayes 12, Noes 0).
- SB 1150 (Town of Shenandoah charter updates): Reported (Ayes 12, Noes 0).
- SB 987 (Norfolk deputy fire chief exemption): Reported (Ayes 12, Noes 0).
- SB 992 (Zoning compliance/penalties for repeat commercial violations): Reported (motion and report recorded; roll call not fully specified in excerpt).
- SB 997 (Oath of office conformance): Reported (Ayes 13, Noes 0).
- SB 1206 (Danville charter modernization): Reported (Ayes 12, Noes 0).
- SB 836 (Cos­ta City removal authority): Reported as amended (Ayes 12, Noes 0).
- SB 839 (amendments filed; taken by for the day): By for the day (committee postponed final action).
- SB 1176 (Roanoke appointment): Reported (Ayes 13, Noes 0).
- SB 873 (Richlands charter change): Reported (Ayes 13, Noes 0).

Presenters included city attorneys and managers in several cases. For example, Vanda Graham Williams, City Attorney for Portsmouth, answered questions about SB 872’s dispute‑study and benchmarking language; Danville’s city manager and legal team attended to present SB 1206.

Most charter bills are drafted in cooperation with the Department of Legislative Services and were described by sponsors as either updating antiquated provisions or aligning local charters with current state law or widely used practices. Several sponsors said their local councils had unanimously recommended the changes.

Next steps: the reported bills will be scheduled for floor consideration in the Senate. The committee chair closed the docket after acknowledging two Senate pages and adjourned the session.