VCCS 2023 Legislative Agenda Seeks to Boost Workforce Outcomes

September 27, 2022 / Tuesday Topics

This week’s topic is the VCCS legislative agenda.

As you likely know, Virginia has a biennial budget, with a two-year spending plan being passed in even-numbered years. (Here’s a good UVA diagram of the process.) The most recent two-year budget passed in summer, so in keeping with the Commonwealth’s process, the budget introduced for 2023 should be focused on amendments that ensure the enacted budget remains balanced based on the most recent revenue projections. Governor Youngkin will introduce his 2023 budget in December.

Last week, the VCCS Board approved its 2023 legislative agenda. In setting out its funding requests and accompanying rationale and goals, VCCS hopes to inform both the Governor’s introduced budget and the budget recommendations that will follow from the General Assembly.

In addition to continuing to advocate for maintaining the community college base budget (which is our largest source of state revenue), VCCS is seeking increased investment in workforce funding, with a focus on the unprecedented need for credentialed workers in healthcare, manufacturing, technology and skilled trades. To this end, the System is requesting dedicated funding for four separate initiatives:

  • $10.5M in additional funding for the FastForward program, which would help expand FastForward to high school seniors, grow the program overall and address increased costs.
  • $100M in industry matching funds for the start-up of high-cost, high-demand workforce programs that align with each region’s GO Virginia industry clusters. These dollars would also support the creation of nine regional Virginia Infrastructure Academy Centers of Excellence.
  • $10M to expand internship and career placement opportunities, with a focus on expanding college offices dedicated to connecting students to paid internships, apprenticeships and employment. The funds would go toward tracking job placement and retention.
  • $10M to expand healthcare dual enrollment pathways by launching 10 high school/community college academies focused on careers in health and behavioral health.

VCCS is also requesting funds to expand and continue vital student services:

  • $6.3M for an additional 60 advisors to support student onboarding, progress and completion.
  • $3M to support continued tele-mental health services for students. These dollars would bridge the end of the federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) that had been paying for these services.

With these priorities approved by the VCCS Board, NOVA will now join with our 22 colleague colleges and begin our advocacy work on behalf of our students, colleges and System. If you have any questions about this process, I encourage you to reach out to Dana Kauffman, Director of Government Relations. He may also reach out to some of you for assistance in these efforts. In addition, as appropriate, I will keep you posted on the progress in my monthly office hour zooms and in the Daily Flyer.