Bill > SJR23

This resolution directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), a legislative oversight body, to study the necessity and practicality of establishing a new state government entity called the Secretariat of Rural Affairs. The resolution highlights significant disparities in quality of life, education, health, and economic outcomes between rural and urban areas in Virginia, noting that rural communities face challenges such as declining populations, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, weaker economic growth, higher poverty rates, and lack of broadband access, and that existing government services for rural areas are fragmented across multiple agencies without a central point of coordination. JLARC's study will involve defining "rural," assessing how current government entities serve or fail rural areas, exploring how a new Secretariat could improve access to essential services, identifying which existing agency divisions might be integrated into such a Secretariat, examining potential funding and staffing models, considering partnerships with rural advocacy groups, and evaluating alternative structural reforms. All state agencies are required to assist JLARC in this study, which is to be completed with findings and recommendations reported by December 1, 2027.

https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SJ23