Episode 86: What’s the Dillon Rule and how does it define power in Virginia? (reprise)

As the Bold Dominion team works on an upcoming episode, here's one from the vaults -- a Bold Dominion classic covering the perennially important, yet frequently misunderstood, Dillon Rule. This episode originally aired in February 2021.

Virginia politicians like to talk about freedom and local control. So why are local governments sometimes prohibited from addressing local challenges?

The reason is called the Dillon Rule.

If you’re a political news junkie, you’ve probably come across this, but most Virginians stare at me blankly when I mention it.

Basically, the Dillon Rule says that local governments only have powers that are explicitly granted by the General Assembly. (As opposed to “home rule,” where local governments are free to make any policy that isn’t prohibited by state law.)

How does this affect our local governments and our state as a whole?

To answer that question, we talk to Richard Schragger, the Parre Bowen Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and the author of City Power: Urban Governance in a Global Age. We also talk to Andreas Addison, a member of the Richmond City Council and a lecturer at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, who has dealt with the Dillon Rule as part of his legislative experience.