republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-645.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local fiscal distress; determination by Auditor of Public Accounts, state intervention."
description: "Local fiscal distress; determination by Auditor of Public Accounts; state intervention. Sets out a procedure for determining when localities are in fiscal distress, as defined in the bill, and when state intervention may be necessary. The bill requires the Auditor of Public Accounts to develop criteria for a preliminary determination that a locality may be in fiscal distress. The bill also requires the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to identify any amounts remaining unexpended from general fund appropriations in the state budget as of June 30 of each year, which constitute state aid to local governments. From such unexpended balances, the Governor may reappropriate up to $750,000 from amounts that would otherwise revert to the balance of the general fund and transfer such amounts as necessary to establish a component of fund balance that may be used for the purpose of providing technical assistance and intervention actions for localities deemed to be fiscally distressed and in need of intervention to address such distress. The bill provides that if a report to the Governor concludes that a locality is either unwilling or unable to comply with the conditions necessary to address its fiscal distress, the Governor shall use all powers available to him to intervene for the purpose of addressing such fiscal distress. The bill further grants authority to the Governor to appoint an emergency fiscal manager and grant the manager with all powers available and necessary to implement a plan to restore sustainable fiscal health to the locality. The emergency fiscal officer shall give timely notice of any proposed actions to be taken and an opportunity for public input prior to such action and shall establish benchmarks that will allow a locality to exit the state intervention plan upon meeting such benchmarks.  "
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 645"
citation: "Virginia SB 645 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lashrecse D. Aird"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 45
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2024-01-12"
last_action: "2024-04-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ae78c927-5c8d-46ba-8e8d-944584bde808"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB645"
source_hash: "0ac1630723e1061267811097988139295eb3c0ce9add93e6c960226f39a3c642"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 645 (2024) — Local fiscal distress; determination by Auditor of Public Accounts, state intervention.

Local fiscal distress; determination by Auditor of Public Accounts; state intervention. Sets out a procedure for determining when localities are in fiscal distress, as defined in the bill, and when state intervention may be necessary. The bill requires the Auditor of Public Accounts to develop criteria for a preliminary determination that a locality may be in fiscal distress. The bill also requires the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to identify any amounts remaining unexpended from general fund appropriations in the state budget as of June 30 of each year, which constitute state aid to local governments. From such unexpended balances, the Governor may reappropriate up to $750,000 from amounts that would otherwise revert to the balance of the general fund and transfer such amounts as necessary to establish a component of fund balance that may be used for the purpose of providing technical assistance and intervention actions for localities deemed to be fiscally distressed and in need of intervention to address such distress. The bill provides that if a report to the Governor concludes that a locality is either unwilling or unable to comply with the conditions necessary to address its fiscal distress, the Governor shall use all powers available to him to intervene for the purpose of addressing such fiscal distress. The bill further grants authority to the Governor to appoint an emergency fiscal manager and grant the manager with all powers available and necessary to implement a plan to restore sustainable fiscal health to the locality. The emergency fiscal officer shall give timely notice of any proposed actions to be taken and an opportunity for public input prior to such action and shall establish benchmarks that will allow a locality to exit the state intervention plan upon meeting such benchmarks.  

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0426** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0426)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24106727D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB645S1)
3. **Presented and ordered printed 24104569D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB645)
4. **SB645ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB645ER)
5. **SB645ES1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB645ES1)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (34-Y 6-N) — **34–6** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (19-Y 3-N) — **19–3** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 2-N) — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (91-Y 7-N) — **90–7** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N 1-A) — **9–5** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Local Government with substitute (8-Y 6-N 1-A) — **8–6** (pass) · upper
- House amendment agreed to by Senate (34-Y 6-N) — **34–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Lashrecse D. Aird — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-12** Presented and ordered printed 24104569D `introduction`
- **2024-01-12** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-19** Impact statement from DPB (SB645)
- **2024-01-29** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-29** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-05** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-05** Reported from Local Government with substitute (8-Y 6-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-05** Committee substitute printed 24106727D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-05** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (SB645S1)
- **2024-02-07** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-09** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-09** Reading of substitute waived
- **2024-02-09** Committee substitute agreed to 24106727D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-09** Reading of amendment waived
- **2024-02-09** Amendment by Senator Aird agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-09** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB645ES1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-09** Printed as engrossed 24106727D-ES1
- **2024-02-12** Impact statement from DPB (SB645ES1)
- **2024-02-12** Read third time and passed Senate (34-Y 6-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-15** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-15** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-15** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-19** Assigned CC & T sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-27** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-27** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 2-N)
- **2024-02-28** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-28** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (19-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-03-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-03-04** Committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-03-04** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2024-03-04** Passed House with amendment (91-Y 7-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-04** VOTE: Passage (91-Y 7-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-05** House amendment agreed to by Senate (34-Y 6-N) `amendment-passage`
- **2024-03-08** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-08** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB645ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-08** Impact statement from DPB (SB645ER)
- **2024-03-08** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-09** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-04** Approved by Governor-Chapter 426 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-04** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0426)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ae78c927-5c8d-46ba-8e8d-944584bde808`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).