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HB708Introduced in the House of Delegates

Timely local decision on certain land use permits; incentives and penalties.

IntroducedHouse Counties, Cities and Towns

Introduced by Joshua Thomas, District 21

What does this bill do?

Plain-English breakdown

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Official description

Timely local decision on certain land use permits; incentives and penalties. Requires that the average time period required for a locality to take final action to approve, approve with conditions, or deny all by-right permit applications from the date of submission of such applications to the locality shall not exceed 12 months. The bill requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct semiannual compliance reviews of each locality and to publish and transmit to the Governor and the General Assembly a report identifying each locality as compliant or noncompliant for the applicable review period. The bill provides that any locality determined by the Department to be compliant for the preceding 12-month period shall be eligible to receive a state grant sufficient to fund one full-time equivalent position within the locality's planning department. The bill further provides that if the Department determines that a locality is noncompliant during a review period, the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall reduce program fund allocations from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to any project within the boundaries of such noncompliant locality by two percent for the following fiscal year.

Where it stands

Left in Committee Counties, Cities and Towns

February 18, 2026

How did lawmakers vote?

House of DelegatesStage: Subcommittee recommends striking from the docket (5-Y 0-N) · January 23, 2026

5

Yes

0

No

2

Absent or Not Voting

7 delegates recorded in this House of Delegates vote. Colors show vote categories only, not whether a vote was good or bad.

What do people think?

Citizen Voice

How would you vote on this bill?

An unofficial public opinion poll. It does not affect the bill or the official vote.

One response per device. Location is self-reported and not verified. Results are informal and not a scientific survey.

See how each delegate voted

DelegateDistrictVote
Irene Shin8Absent
Laura Jane Cohen15Yes
May Nivar57Yes
Shelly Simonds70Yes
Alex Askew95Yes
Barry Knight98Absent
Anne Ferrell Tata99Yes

Bill history

  1. Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104992D

  2. Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns

  3. Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #3

  4. Subcommittee recommends striking from the docket (5-Y 0-N)

  5. Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB708)

  6. Left in Committee Counties, Cities and Towns

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