In 2020, the General Assembly made a deliberate decision: it lifted Virginia’s longstanding prohibition on public-sector collective bargaining and gave local governments the authority to decide whether and how to implement it.
That framework was intentional. It recognized that Virginia is a commonwealth of diverse communities, rural, suburban and urban, with different fiscal capacities, workforce structures and service delivery needs. It respected the principle that decisions affecting local budgets and local employees should be made by those closest to both.
Today, that balance is at risk.
HB 1263 and SB 378 would replace Virginia’s locally driven approach with a mandatory, state-directed collective bargaining framework administered by the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). While well-intentioned, this legislation moves Virginia away from flexibility and toward a one-size-fits-all system that does not account for the work already underway in many localities, including my own.
Prince William County chose to lead when given the opportunity in 2020. Prince William County stands by the approach we have chosen. We support our employees. We value open dialogue. And we believe decisions about our workforce should remain in the hands of those directly accountable to our residents.
As a Democrat representing a diverse Northern Virginia community, I strongly support workers’ rights and believe collective bargaining can be an effective tool when thoughtfully structured. Our board of county supervisors engaged in months of stakeholder conversations, public input, legal review and fiscal analysis before adopting a locally tailored ordinance. We designed a framework that supports our employees while protecting taxpayers and maintaining essential public services.
We did so because local government works best when it reflects local realities.
Other counties have taken different approaches based on their own workforce composition, fiscal capacity and service priorities. That is not inconsistency; that is responsive governance. Importantly, existing Virginia law already provides employees with a meaningful pathway to organize and petition their local government. If a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit seek certification, the governing body must, within 120 days, vote on whether to adopt or not adopt a collective bargaining ordinance.
HB 1263 and SB 378 would fundamentally alter that model. They centralize authority in a new state bureaucracy, establish binding one-size-fits-all requirements that apply statewide with potentially significant and unpredictable fiscal consequences and create enforcement mechanisms that could expose counties to litigation and court-ordered mandates. For smaller and rural counties with limited tax bases, that risk is even more acute.
Perhaps most concerning, the legislation overlooks the fact that local governments are already ahead of the commonwealth.
In 2020, lawmakers repealed the prohibition on collective bargaining for localities, but notably exempted themselves and state employees from the same framework. Several counties, cities and local school divisions have since implemented collective bargaining ordinances tailored to their communities. Others are actively evaluating the option. That local evolution is working.
A mandatory statewide system does not recognize existing agreements, local experimentation or good-faith efforts already underway. It replaces collaboration with compulsion.
As president of the Virginia Association of Counties, I have heard from county leaders across the commonwealth — Democrats and Republicans, urban and rural alike. While perspectives differ on the policy itself, there is broad agreement on one core principle: local elected official decision-making must be preserved.
I write on behalf of the Virginia Association of Counties when I say collective bargaining is not inherently the issue. Local decision-making is.
If the commonwealth wishes to expand collective bargaining for its own workforce, it has every authority to do so. But compelling local governments to adopt a uniform structure — regardless of existing ordinances, fiscal conditions or community priorities — undermines the very flexibility the General Assembly granted just five years ago.
Virginia is strongest when it respects the diversity of its communities and allows solutions to grow from the ground up, not be imposed from the top down.
Victor Angry is a Prince William County supervisor and president of the Virginia Association of Counties. This opinion piece was written in his capacity as the association president.