A Trump victory could reconfigure Falls Church’s legislative priorities
The prospect of a Donald Trump presidential-election victory could bring Falls Church leaders back to the drawing board when it comes to developing their 2025 legislative priorities.
But they will have a small window of opportunity: Election Day is Nov. 5 and the City Council is expected to review its draft 2025 legislative package on Nov. 11.
Should the Republican win, some Northern Virginia leaders fear efforts will be made to dismantle the federal government's size and scope, which could have a major trickle-down impact on the local economy.
The D.C. area will be the most impacted of any across the nation if cuts materialize, said Falls Church Vice Mayor Debora Schantz-Hiscott.
She was speaking at the Oct. 8 meeting of the council's legislative committee, where it was suggested the body might reconvene after the election results are in but before the Nov. 11 council meeting, to see where things stand.
City Council member David Snyder, who chairs the legislative committee, called the proposal "a great idea."
Typically, items in the council's legislative package are focused on matters emanating from Richmond. But there are exceptions, said Cindy Mester, the city government's community-relations and legislative-affairs director.
"We tend to focus on state [issues] but we always have a federal section," she said of the city's annual legislative playbook.
Many of local officials' concerns about a reduced federal-government footprint in the region stem from Project 2025 , a policy initiative of the Heritage Foundation often linked to but not directly tied to the Trump campaign.
Whether any president could reverse the tide of increasing federal-government spending is an open question. Prior to Covid, which for the past 4.5 years has upended normal budget rhythms, the federal government only two times in 65 years (1965 and 2013) spent less in a fiscal year than it had in the preceding one.
Video-Monitoring of Stop Signs Coming to F.C.? City officials in Falls Church could go to the General Assembly in January seeking permission to install video cameras to catch those who run stop signs.
The proposal was also floated by staff at the Oct. 8 meeting, where officials discussed the city's legislative-priorities package in advance of the 2025 General Assembly session.
"I'm 99% sure we don't [currently] have state authority to do that, but we might want to put something in there so the option is out there," Mester said.
None of the three committee members — City Council members David Snyder, Justine Underhill and Debora Schantz-Hiscott — had an immediate reaction to the proposal. Whether there will be room for such a measure to be carried by local members of the General Assembly delegation remains to be seen.
Using existing authority from the state government, Falls Church officials already have video-monitoring equipment tied to stoplights at the intersections of West Broad Street at West Annandale Road and East Broad Street at Cherry Street. Owners of vehicles caught on tape driving through red lights receive a $50 fine through the mail.
In September, city officials installed their first speed cameras in a school zone . They are is located in the 800 block of West Broad Street adjacent to Saint James Catholic School.
Cameras near the school typically are in operation weekdays from 6:30-8:30 a.m. and from 2:40-6:30 p.m. Fines are $100.
