VACo County Pulse Podcast

VACo County Pulse Podcast is the Virginia Association of Counties explaining state policy from the county side of the table. That point of view is what the show offers. Under the conversations sits a practical question: what does a decision in Richmond cost a locality, and who in county government has to act on it? Episodes are organized into themed series, and association staff lead the conversations. In 'Energy Landscape of Virginia', Joe Lurch, the association's Director of Local Government Policy, handles the forestry conversations, and they stay close to the working details. One is recorded at the Virginia Forestry Association headquarters with its Executive Director, Terry Lasher, and looks at whether forestry and agriculture waste could be turned into sustainable aviation fuel. It also takes a detour down Skyline Drive to show that much of Virginia's scenic woodland was once heavily farmed. Another episode hears from the timber business itself. One speaker describes friends who sold their chippers because the market was gone, and a North Carolina facility that loggers depended on is about to close, yet biomass energy still looks like a possible lifeline. The same series recaps energy legislation from the 2026 General Assembly, and data centers come up again and again. A Senate budget provision would count data center computer equipment in the real estate part of the local composite index used in the school funding formula, and member counties with many data centers have noticed. One speaker describes the formula's reputation plainly: nobody really loves it. Jeremy Bennett, VACo's Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, hosts 'Uplifting Our Children Through Education', which looks at K-12 policy from the local government side. A JLARC guest returns to the commission's July 2023 report on the K-12 funding formula. The guest explains why divisions below about 2,000 students have costs they cannot avoid, such as smaller classrooms that still need more teachers. JT Kessler, a veteran K-12 practitioner and advocate, argues that nurses, teachers and police officers are the first to see what society needs to fix. Bennett points to county administrators and superintendents who meet for lunch at least twice a month and calls them some of the best relationships he has seen. The Prince Edward County episode connects today's case for a local sales tax option for school buildings to the 1951 student walkout led by Barbara Johns. A speaker for the county puts that option in real estate tax terms: each penny is worth about $250,000, and a one percent sales tax option would equal more than 14 cents. For the fiscal mechanics, start with 'Energy Related Legislation in the 2026 General Assembly'. For place and history, start in Prince Edward County.