By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
One of the most tumultuous and consequential sessions of the General Assembly in decades is down to one day. After 61 days of acting on a flood of far-reaching legislation, the Democratic-led assembly will meet Thursday to adopt a two-year budget and changes to the spending plan for the current fiscal year. The legislature also will elect judges to fill seats on the State Corporation Commission and the Virginia Court of Appeals.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
State lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Sunday because they had to extend the General Assembly session to get their work done on major issues like collective bargaining, casino gaming and marijuana decriminalization as well as the budget. Newly empowered Democrats passed hundreds of bills this session, but it took until Sunday to pass some of the more significant ones subject to a lot of discussion and compromise.
By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury
As the overtime Virginia General Assembly session dragged on Sunday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax told senators that math was not working in their favor. Given all the legislation left to vote on and the hours left before a 6 p.m. deadline, Fairfax said, the chamber could spend about seven minutes on each bill. At the pace things were going, he said, “a lot of stuff is going to die.”
By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
In a historic shift that advocates say will prevent thousands of arrests, disproportionately targeting minorities, Virginia lawmakers voted Sunday to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Starting July 1, being caught with up to an ounce of marijuana will land you a $25 civil fine ...
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Possession of small amounts of marijuana in Virginia might soon no longer carry jail time or a criminal conviction, under legislation the General Assembly approved Sunday and sent to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk. The legislation would levy a $25 civil fine for people found with less than an ounce of marijuana.
By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press
Virginia lawmakers have approved a broad expansion of gambling options in a state that's been largely loath to embracing new betting options in the past. Lawmakers gave final approval Sunday to legislation to allow voters in Bristol, Danville, Richmond, Norfolk and Portsmouth to hold local referendums later this year on whether to approve casinos.
By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)
The Virginia House of Delegates on Sunday approved compromise legislation to allow casinos by referendums, after sending the session into overtime when it was unable to complete its work by Saturday’s midnight deadline. ... The legislation would allow voters in five economically challenged cities — Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond — to choose if they want one privately owned casino to operate in each city.
By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee
It’s a question of whether a company that specializes in the gaming industry would want to open two vastly different types of its own gaming facilities in Danville. The subsidiary that sought the referendum to allow pari-mutuel wagering in the city is owned by a company looking to build a casino here, the Danville Register & Bee has learned.
By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Legislation on how to roll out a constitutional amendment on redistricting met the ax Sunday when Virginia lawmakers adjourned without reaching an agreement — one that may not come unless voters approve the measure in a November referendum. The enabling legislation’s quiet death came after a high-energy showdown Saturday night between Democrats in the House and Senate, split over how to reform the state’s redistricting process.
By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)
Friday’s vote on a Senate bill to establish a 16-member redistricting commission — half of whom would be legislators — puts “reality in the constitution” that minorities will wind up underrepresented in future legislatures, one local lawmaker tweeted Friday evening. “You want nonpartisan, independent redistricting, but you take a stand for a commission of legislators instead,” Del. Lashrecse D. Aird, D-Petersburg, said in her tweet. “This lets me know it’s not about fair redistricting reform at all.”
By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press
Virginia lawmakers gave final passage Sunday to a bill that would end the state’s outright ban on public sector collective bargaining and extend the right to local government workers if their locality opts in. The measure marks a historic shift in traditionally business-friendly Virginia but a mixed bag for the workers and coalition of labor unions that pushed for the change.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY AND MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Virginia’s lowest-paid workers will likely see their wages rise to $9.50 an hour by January under landmark legislation the Democratic-controlled General Assembly approved Sunday. The legislation would raise Virginia’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 an hour on Jan. 1 and increase it gradually to $12 an hour in 2023.
By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)
Virginia employers will not be required to offer paid sick leave. The Senate did not vote on the agreement negotiators reached on Senate Bill 481 from Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, before the General Assembly session ended Sunday.
By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press
Some of Virginia’s scores of Confederate monuments could soon be removed under legislation state lawmakers approved Sunday. The Democratic-led House and Senate passed measures that would undo an existing state law that protects the monuments and instead let local governments decide their fate.
By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
At a town hall in Hampton last summer ahead of a planned special session to address guns, Brian Moran, the state’s secretary of public safety, said Virginia needed to take a “holistic approach” to addressing gun violence. That approach, according to Democrats, included requiring lost or stolen firearms to be reported to police and giving localities local control over whether to ban guns in their government buildings.
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
The General Assembly passed a major transportation package Sunday that will include an increase in the statewide gas tax and funding for improvements to Interstate 81. The gas tax will increase 5 cents this year and 5 cents next year, and then it’ll be tied to inflation in the future.
By LUZ LAZO, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Drivers in Virginia will probably pay more at the gas pump starting this summer after lawmakers voted to raise the state gas tax for the first time in more than three decades. The legislation, which Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is expected to sign, would add Virginia to the dozens of states across the country that have raised the tax in recent years to make up for losses in revenue because of lower gas prices and the proliferation of more fuel-efficient vehicles, among other things.
By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury
One state senator compared it to authoritarian tactics he saw on a trip to Moscow. A different lawmaker told a harrowing tale of someone being interrogated on their way to grandma’s house. Another said the General Assembly was flirting with a “nightmare for Virginians.” The issue inciting the ominous talk on the Senate floor? Seatbelts. Specifically, a road safety bill that would have let police officers pull drivers over for not wearing one.
By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 1 article a month)
A quiet effort to open the door in Virginia to class action lawsuits -- where lots of people with the same complaint against a company join together -- has died despite an impassioned plea about the state Senate's prerogatives. It's a story about some legislative game-playing that didn't quite work out.
By JOSH JANNEY, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Legislation directing the Virginia Department of Education to establish guidelines to grant students an excused absence from school for a mental or behavioral health issue has passed both chambers of the General Assembly. House Bill 308 asks that the guidelines be distributed to school boards no later than Dec. 31, 2020. The legislation passed the state Senate on a 38-2 vote and the House of Delegates on a 59-37 vote.
By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)
A bill creating a regional recovery high-school program in Chesterfield County that would serve Tri-City area students cleared its final hurdle Saturday afternoon. The state Senate voted unanimously to accept a conference report that removed a Senate-placed fiscal provision. The day before, the House accepted that same report.
By JEFF LESTER, Coalfield Progress
The General Assembly has passed energy reform legislation that would allow the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center to stay in operation up to 2045. Friday, the Senate voted 22-17 to approve changes the House made to Senate Bill 851, including removal of a provision that would have closed down the power plant near St. Paul by 2030.
By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The General Assembly’s new Democratic majority pushed through most but not all of Gov. Ralph Northam’s gun control package, acted to make voting easier and moved to cut power plant carbon emissions. They agreed to raise gasoline taxes by 5 cents a gallon on July 1 and by another 5 cents a year later.
By MICKEY POWELL, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Mary Costello Daniel of Berryville has been appointed a general district court judge for the 26th Judicial District. Her appointment means she will have to resign as the Berryville District representative on the Clarke County Board of Supervisors to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
