SJ23 is a joint resolution directing the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study whether Virginia should create a new Secretariat of Rural Affairs. The resolution lays out a broad set of rural challenges that the study should examine, including lower educational attainment, poorer health outcomes, population decline, poverty, weak job growth, and limited broadband access in rural parts of the Commonwealth. It also emphasizes that rural issues are interconnected and distinct from those in metropolitan areas, and that current responsibilities are spread across multiple agencies without a single coordinating leadership structure.
The study is required to define what counts as “rural” and evaluate how existing state entities are serving or failing rural communities. JLARC must assess whether a new secretariat could improve or streamline access to housing, employment, transportation, economic development, health care, education, and broadband, and whether parts of several agencies and commissions should be moved under it. The resolution specifically names agencies such as Agriculture and Consumer Services, Housing and Community Development, Health, Energy, Conservation and Recreation, Environmental Quality, Forestry, Wildlife Resources, the Virginia Resources Authority, and the Virginia Tourism Corporation, among others. It also asks JLARC to consider funding streams, staffing, partnerships with rural advocacy groups, alternative government structures, and whether a new secretariat would be more effective and cost-efficient than other reforms.
SJ23 does not directly change substantive law or create a new agency; instead, it requires JLARC to conduct a policy study and report back to the General Assembly and Governor. Its practical effect is to place the question of rural governance and coordination on the legislative agenda and to compel state agencies to assist with the study upon request. The resolution may influence future legislation affecting agency organization, rural development programs, and the distribution of authority and funding across state government if JLARC recommends creating a Secretariat of Rural Affairs.
The bill appears broadly supportive of rural Virginia and reflects concern that existing state structures are not adequately meeting rural needs. Because the measure is a study resolution rather than a policy mandate, it likely drew relatively little overt opposition in the available record, and its passage by both chambers suggests general agreement on the need to examine rural disparities and coordination problems. The tone of the resolution is problem-focused and reform-oriented, with an emphasis on improving outcomes for rural residents rather than advancing a partisan policy change.
The main point of potential contention is structural: whether Virginia should create a new Secretariat of Rural Affairs at all, or instead improve rural services through existing agencies and less costly reforms. The resolution itself acknowledges this debate by directing JLARC to compare a new secretariat with alternative structural reforms and to assess cost efficiency, staffing needs, and possible hurdles in transferring responsibilities from multiple agencies. Another likely area of disagreement is the scope of the proposed secretariat, including which programs, funding streams, and agencies should be consolidated and how to define “rural” for policy purposes.