Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission

What Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission does

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) is a permanent joint legislative agency of the Virginia General Assembly, established under the Code of Virginia to conduct program evaluation, policy analysis, and oversight of state agencies. The Commission is composed of nine members of the House of Delegates (at least five of whom serve on the House Appropriations Committee) and five members of the Senate (two of whom serve on the Senate Finance Committee), with the Auditor of Public Accounts serving as an ex-officio non-voting member. Senator Mamie E. Locke serves as Chair and Delegate Betsy B. Carr as Vice Chair. JLARC's work is guided by four stated principles: integrity, rigor, objectivity, and nonpartisanship, executed by a trained professional research staff.

JLARC's outputs are organized into recurring report series and ongoing oversight mandates. Recurring products include annual State Spending reports (including K-12 Standards of Quality updates), the Virginia Compared to Other States comparative report, Economic Development Incentives evaluations (released twice yearly), Internal Service Funds reports, and Compensation reviews. Ongoing continuous oversight covers three state agencies: the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), Commonwealth Savers (Virginia College Savings Plan / Virginia529), and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA), with quadrennial actuarial audits for the first two. JLARC also provides specialized services such as Fiscal Impact Reviews and Racial and Ethnic Impact Statements on proposed legislation referred by General Assembly committee chairs, and maintains a rolling four-year dashboard tracking implementation status of its prior recommendations. The agency contracts with the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service for economic impact analysis.

JLARC does not operate a commercial business model. It is funded through Virginia state budget appropriations and does not charge for any of its services or reports. All reports, meeting materials, and the recommendation tracking dashboard are distributed freely via the agency's website (jlarc.virginia.gov), with commission proceedings streamed on YouTube and updates shared on X (@VaJLARC). The agency is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia at 919 East Main Street Suite 2101, with commission meetings typically held in the General Assembly Building. As a government entity rather than a commercial enterprise, JLARC has no funding rounds, no pricing model, no investors, and no M&A activity; its strategic posture is defined entirely by its statutory mandate and the priorities of the Virginia General Assembly.

Name

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission

Legal name

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission

Website

https://jlarc.virginia.gov

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission is a permanent legislative agency of the Virginia General Assembly that conducts nonpartisan program evaluation, policy analysis, and oversight of state agencies, publishing reports and recommendations funded through state appropriations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legislative Oversight Services

NAICS

Legislative Bodies (921120)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Central Government Policy, Strategy & Performance (incl. OMB-style functions) (BPAIAAAB)

Keywords

• Legislative oversight
• Program evaluation
• Policy analysis
• Government auditing
• Fiscal review

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

JLARC conducts nonpartisan program evaluation, policy analysis, and oversight of Virginia state agencies on behalf of the Virginia General Assembly. It produces published reports on agency performance, state spending, K-12 Standards of Quality, economic development incentives, fiscal impact statements, racial/ethnic impact statements, and continuous oversight of the Virginia Retirement System, Commonwealth Savers, and VITA, along with implementation tracking of its recommendations.

Product overview

JLARC is a legislative oversight commission that conducts program evaluation, policy analysis, and oversight of state agencies on behalf of the Virginia General Assembly. JLARC does not offer a commercial product but provides various reporting and oversight services including: State Spending reports and K-12 Standards of Quality analyses; Virginia Compared to Other States comparative reports; Fiscal Impact Reviews and Racial/Ethnic Impact Statements for proposed legislation; Internal Service Funds reporting; and ongoing oversight of three state agencies (Virginia Retirement System, Commonwealth Savers/Virginia529, and Virginia Information Technologies Agency). The organization also evaluates economic development incentives including film, media, tourism, workforce, and custom incentive grants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• State Spending Reports Annual reports on state spending and spending on the K-12 Standards of Quality (SOQ), including special reports related to the state budget. Produced for the Virginia General Assembly.
• Virginia Compared to Other States Printed and interactive report on 36 data measures ranking Virginia against all 50 states, published annually for the Virginia General Assembly and the public.
• Fiscal Impact Reviews

Quantifiable outcome

• JLARC staff track and report implementation status of recommendations over a four-year rolling period
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Virginia General AssemblycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJLARC serves as an arm of the Virginia General Assembly, conducting program evaluation, policy analysis, and oversight of state agencies at the direction of or with authority from the General Assembly. The Commission is composed of legislators appointed by the Speaker of the House and Senate Rules Committee. JLARC's work is authorized by the Code of Virginia and funded through Appropriation Act provisions.
• Weldon Cooper Center for Public ServiceminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerJLARC contracts with the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service to perform economic impact analysis for the annual economic development incentives reports. The Weldon Cooper Center conducts the analysis for both the high-level summary reports and in-depth reports on individual incentive effectiveness.
• Virginia Retirement System (VRS)coreOthersOngoing oversight subject - JLARC staff conduct continuous oversight of VRS, reviewing status of investments, administrative matters, quadrennial actuarial audits, and providing informational guides for legislators.
• Commonwealth Savers (Virginia College Savings Plan)coreOthersOngoing oversight subject - JLARC staff conduct continuous oversight of Commonwealth Savers, reviewing status of investments, administrative matters, quadrennial actuarial audits, and providing informational guides for legislators.
• Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA)coreOthersOngoing oversight subject - JLARC staff conduct continuous oversight of VITA administrative matters, information technology services VITA provides to state agencies, and VITA oversight of agency IT projects, procurements, and security.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Washington State Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program (LEAP): Provides performance audits, program evaluations, and fiscal analysis to the Washington State Legislature. Closely aligned with JLARC's oversight and analytical mandate.
• Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA): Conducts research and program evaluations for the Florida Legislature, including performance audits and policy analysis. Directly comparable in mandate and methodology to JLARC.
• Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau: Nonpartisan legislative service agency that conducts financial and performance audits of Wisconsin state agencies and programs. Comparable in performing oversight and program evaluation on behalf of a state legislature.
• Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee: A bicameral committee of the Pennsylvania General Assembly that conducts program reviews and financial analyses of state agencies. Comparable to JLARC in being a joint legislative body performing oversight studies.
• New York State Legislative Fiscal Analysis (LFA): Provides the New York Legislature with nonpartisan fiscal research, revenue forecasting, and budget analysis. Functions as a similar legislative support agency for fiscal oversight and policy analysis.
• California Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO): Provides nonpartisan fiscal and policy analysis to the California Legislature, including budget analysis, program evaluations, and oversight of ballot measures. Highly comparable to JLARC's role in supporting the Virginia General Assembly.
• Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB): Staffs the Texas Legislature with budget and policy analysis, performance reviews, and fiscal monitoring of state agencies. Closely parallels JLARC's oversight, program evaluation, and fiscal analysis functions.

Broad incumbents

• Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Provides nonpartisan budget and economic analysis to the U.S. Congress, including cost estimates of legislation and budget projections. Comparable in role as a nonpartisan legislative analytical support body, but at the federal level.
• Government Accountability Office (GAO): The federal legislative oversight arm that audits federal programs and reports to Congress. Most analogous to JLARC in function (nonpartisan program evaluation, policy analysis, performance auditing), but operates at the federal scale rather than for a single state.

Others

• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL): A bipartisan organization serving all state legislatures in the U.S., providing research, technical assistance, and convening on legislative issues. Adjacent to JLARC's mission in supporting legislative effectiveness, but not a direct oversight peer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/VaJLARC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6FwkgaPBBZ4o-Kzg90-PJQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/joint-legislative-audit-and-review-commission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission