Va. Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne is departing for job at Sentara Healthcare

As Gov. Ralph Northam’s term starts to wind down, Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne is leaving his post in the Northam administration for a job at Sentara Healthcare, the Hampton Roads-based health system announced Wednesday.

Layne, who served as Virginia’s secretary of transportation under former Gov. Terry McAuliffe and was named finance secretary in 2018, will leave effective July 1, when the state government begins a new budget year.

As finance secretary, Layne, a certified public accountant, oversees the state’s finances, managing the budgets approved by the General Assembly and using economic projections to advise policymakers on the state’s tax revenues.

“Aubrey Layne has been at the center of every important action we have taken since I’ve been governor,” Northam said in Sentara’s news release. “He has guided Virginia’s plans for financing public health, public safety, public education and much more. His stewardship has enabled Virginia to preserve our AAA-bond rating, set aside record-high financial reserves and even post a budget surplus — all during a global pandemic. Aubrey knows how to deliver results, and his experience will be great asset for Sentara. I wish my friend all the best as he begins this new chapter in his public service.”

At Sentara, Layne will serve as senior vice president and chief of staff, a role the health system said would involve oversight of “legislative affairs,” or lobbying.

“I am excited to return home to Hampton Roads and to join one of the nation’s top integrated healthcare systems,” Layne said in the release. “Healthcare is changing fast in America, and so are the community’s expectations. I admire Sentara’s commitment to serving people, and I’m eager to help do even more.”

Northam’s four-year term will come to a close early next year, when he’ll be succeeded by the winner of this year’s gubernatorial election.

State law prohibits officials from representing a client or acting “in a representative capacity on behalf of any person or group” for pay for one year after they leave public service “on matters related to legislation, executive orders, or regulations promulgated by the agency of which he was an officer or employee.”