ARLINGTON, VA - Today, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual Legislative Breakfast sponsored by Nestlé. The event offered attendees the opportunity to hear about the recent General Assembly session from the legislators who represent Arlington in Richmond. Three of Arlington’s members of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates discussed the legislation that they patroned, the issues that the General Assembly took up, and the outlook for Arlington and the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Senator Barbara Favola and Delegates Patrick Hope and Alfonso Lopez joined the panel discussion, discussing the General Assembly session that ended last month, and speaking on a variety of policy topics. Nick Minock, Political Reporter with WJLA/ABC7News, moderated the discussion.

L-R: Nick Minock, WJLA, Senator Barbara Favola, Delegate Patrick Hope, and Delegate Alfonso Lopez

One of the central topics of discussion was Metro funding, which was included in the compromise Conference Budget by the General Assembly and sent to the Governor. “All of you here understand the importance of fully funding Metro,” said Delegate Patrick Hope (D-1^st District). “Transportation is critical to Northern Virginia’s economy.”

Office vacancy was another key topic, given the historically high commercial office vacancy rate faced by Arlington and by other jurisdictions. “Nearly every entrepreneur I talk to says that they plan to have some kind of telecommuting in their workplace,” said Senator Barbara Favola (D-40^th District). The Senator also noted her legislation permitting child care facilities in commercial office buildings, which was signed by the Governor. “Polices helping to reduce the office vacancy rate are welcomed, and very bipartisan.”

The discussion closed with a mention of the historically high number of new General Assembly members this year. “We had thirty-four new members of the House,” said Delegate Alfonso Lopez (D-3^rd District). “A lot of people were learning very quickly. Many made incredibly strong impressions from the start. The kind of growing pains, a learning curve, that we thought would be a problem did not happen.”

L-R: Josh Veverka, Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, Hanna Abou-El-Seoud, Nestlé, Delegate Alfonso Lopez, Senator Barbara Favola, Scott McGeary, Washington Gas, Kate Bates, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Delegate Patrick Hope, and David Kinney, 2024 Arlington Chamber Board Chair

Following the panel discussion, Senator Barbara Favola presented Scott McGeary, of Washington Gas, with a resolution, adopted by the Virginia General Assembly, recognizing his service to Arlington and to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Scott was a longtime member of the Arlington Electoral Board, and remains a member and supporter of the Arlington Chamber, having served as Chamber Chair in 1994.

ABOUT THE CHAMBER

Founded in 1924, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit membership organization of more than 650 businesses committed to strengthening businesses and the economic environment for those who work, live, and do business in Arlington. The Chamber supports our members through networking, advocacy, professional development, and community engagement. For more information or to become a member, visit www.arlingtonchamber.org.