Six-year capital outlay plan and funding; removes certain requirement.
SB1473 amends Virginia’s capital outlay reporting statute to update how state agencies and public educational institutions provide information for the six-year capital outlay plan and annual project list. The bill keeps the existing framework in place but clarifies and reinforces the annual submission process for capital planning, including the initial project list and yearly plan modifications. It specifically notes that annual updates should include changes in cost estimates, reflecting the need to keep capital project data current.
Under the bill, the Director of the Department of General Services must notify agencies and public educational institutions each year by January 30 about the required content, format, and method for submissions. Agencies must then submit the information by March 30 to the Department of General Services and the Department of Planning and Budget, and public educational institutions must also submit it to the State Council of Higher Education. Those entities review the submissions and forward the information and their review to the Advisory Committee by June 30. The Advisory Committee then meets alongside the Governor’s preliminary budget process and submits evaluations and recommendations on capital outlay projects to the Governor and General Assembly by November 1.
The bill’s practical impact is on the administration of state capital planning rather than on substantive spending authority. It affects state agencies, public colleges and universities, the Department of General Services, the Department of Planning and Budget, the State Council of Higher Education, and the Advisory Committee responsible for capital outlay planning. By standardizing and timing the flow of project information, the bill supports more accurate project lists, updated cost estimates, and better coordination for the six-year capital outlay plan and active funded projects.
The overall sentiment appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial. The bill advanced unanimously or near-unanimously through committee and floor votes in both chambers, with no recorded opposition in committee and overwhelming passage in the Senate and House. That voting pattern suggests broad agreement that the measure is a technical or administrative update to improve capital planning procedures.
The main point of contention, to the extent one exists, is not about the policy goal but about the scope of reporting and administrative burden. The caption indicates the bill removes a certain requirement, while the enacted text focuses on updating submission and review procedures; this suggests the legislation may have been intended to streamline or clarify existing obligations. Any concern would likely come from agencies or institutions that must compile and submit the required capital planning data, but the available record shows no significant opposition.
SB1473 amends Code of Virginia § 2.2-1517, which governs agency submission of information for the six-year capital outlay plan. The bill affects the reporting duties of state agencies and public educational institutions, as well as the review responsibilities of the Department of General Services, the Department of Planning and Budget, and the State Council of Higher Education. It also preserves the Advisory Committee’s role in evaluating capital outlay projects and making annual recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly. The law’s effect is procedural: it updates deadlines, submission requirements, and the information used to maintain the capital outlay project list and annual plan modifications, including cost estimate changes.
The bill appears to have been received positively across both chambers, with unanimous or near-unanimous committee reports and overwhelming floor passage. There is no evidence of organized opposition in the available record, and the votes suggest the measure was viewed as a routine, technical update to the state’s capital planning process. The lack of recorded dissent indicates broad bipartisan support or at least no meaningful controversy.
No major substantive controversy is reflected in the available materials. The only plausible area of concern is administrative workload: agencies and public educational institutions must continue to gather, format, and submit detailed capital outlay information on a fixed schedule, and the bill’s caption suggests some requirement may have been removed or adjusted. However, the record does not show any member or stakeholder explicitly objecting to the reporting framework, the deadlines, or the Advisory Committee’s role.