7 bills to watch in the upcoming Virginia legislative session
Though Virginia’s 2024 General Assembly session will not start until Jan. 10, a handful of lawmakers have already filed bills that they or their party see as top priorities. Here is a look at some key measures that will come before the legislature in the upcoming 60-day session.
Raising minimum wage
The first House of Delegates and Senate bills Democrats filed seek to increase the minimum wage to $13.50 per hour as of Jan. 1, 2025, and to $15 per hour as of Jan. 1, 2026. Currently, minimum wage is $12 per hour in Virginia, and the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour — a number that has not changed in over a decade. (Democratic members of Congress have introduced a measure to raise it, but it has yet to progress.)
Mental health support
In perhaps one of the areas that will receive the most bipartisan support, lawmakers want to build on the work they have done to expand resources and services around the state. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed two-year state budget includes a $500 million boost for behavioral health programs. That figure includes $300 million to clear the waiting list for Medicaid funds to pay for support services for people with developmental disabilities.
Incoming House Speaker Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, recently cited mental health resources as an area in which he expected lawmakers to be able to make bipartisan progress.
Attempts to reverse Clean Car Act
In 2021, Democratic legislators passed a bill to put the brakes on some pollution from tailpipe emissions by hitching Virginia to California’s emissions standards. California is the only state with permission to reach further than the federal standards, so some other states have tethered themselves to California’s.
Some Virginia Republicans are trying again to undo this after unsuccessful attempts in 2023. If passed, the measure would repeal the State Air Pollution Control Board’s authority to implement low-emissions and zero-emissions standards for vehicles with model years of 2025 and later.
Gun laws
Democrats are trying again to pass a proposal to ban future sales of assault-style weapons. If passed, by July 2024, it would be a Class 1 misdemeanor to possess or sell assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices. The measure cleared the Senate with bipartisan support in 2023 but failed in the GOP-controlled House.
Sen.-elect Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, calls proposed gun storage laws “low hanging fruit” that he hopes lawmakers can agree on in the next session. Del.-elect Mike Jones, D-Richmond, is carrying such a bill.
In late December, VanValkenburg and Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, also introduced a bill under which gun owners who allow minors to use them could be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill elevates penalties to a Class 5 felony if gun owners know “or reasonably should know” that a minor possessing their weapon has previously been charged with a violent crime or has been subject of school threat assessments deemed moderate, high or imminent.
Republican Del.-elect Tom Garrett, who will represent a district that extends from Goochland and Fluvanna south to Appomattox, has introduced a bill to allow conceal-carry permit holders to bring their firearms onto state property. If passed, this would undo a law Democrats passed in 2021, when they controlled both chambers and held the governorship, that prohibits firearms on most state properties.
Rights restoration
Democrats put forth a proposed constitutional amendment that would make restoration of rights constitutionally guaranteed for felons who have completed their sentences. For constitutional amendments to be enacted, a resolution must pass two years in a row with an election for the House in between. That means this amendment could appear on ballots to voters statewide as early as 2026.
Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, who is carrying the Senate resolution this year, has carried it several times before — but Democrats now control both legislative chambers.
Virginia’s constitution strips people convicted of felonies from several rights, to include voting, unless a governor restores their rights.
Reproductive rights
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections, each state now decides on measures regarding access and proposed restrictions. With Virginia the last Southern state without a ban or significant restrictions, the issue surfaced as a prominent campaign issue in this year’s elections for the General Assembly. Since Democrats retained control of the Senate and flipped the House, Republican lawmakers are unlikely to pass the proposal Youngkin backed to bar most abortions after 15 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the pregnant person.
In 2024, Democrats will attempt to enshrine protections into the state’s constitution. As with the restoration of rights resolution, this process could take years.
Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, will propose a measure to prohibit the use of search warrants to obtain menstrual health data, and one to prevent someone who travels from out of state to receive an abortion in Virginia from being extradited. While both bills were unsuccessful in 2023, they could advance through both chambers now that they are under Democrats' control. Youngkin could then veto, seek to amend or sign the measures.
Democrats plan to wait a year to consider amendments to protect abortion access, remove a prohibition on same-sex marriages and automatically restore rights to felons who have served their time.
In June 2022 Shawn Jackson's mother emailed school officials, including RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras, that "we are still homeless from our home being shot up by students in Huguenot."
No injuries were reported. There were seven people on board.
Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas refused to bring the arena project up for consideration. But it remains alive in the House and the budget ahead of the session's procedural midpoint.
Virginia began a new budget year Monday, though the Senate has unfinished business on education benefits for survivors/dependents of military veterans killed or almost completely disabled on active duty.
New Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, had a blunt message for Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday, calling the governor's proposal to repeal the car tax "dead on arrival" even before the new General Assembly gaveled into session.
New Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, had a blunt message for Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday, calling the governor's proposal to repeal the car tax "dead on arrival" even before the new General Assembly gaveled into session.
If the bill from Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, is successful, the minimum wage would rise from the current rate of $12 per hour to $13.50 an hour effective Jan. 1, 2025 and to $15 an hour effective Jan. 1, 2026.
If the bill from Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, is successful, the minimum wage would rise from the current rate of $12 per hour to $13.50 an hour effective Jan. 1, 2025 and to $15 an hour effective Jan. 1, 2026.
A Democrat-led Senate panel voted down Republican-led efforts to scale back early voting and make additional requirements for voting.
Several Democrat-sponsored bills aimed at gun safety — to include proposals to ban future sales of assault-style firearms — are advancing in the General Assembly.
Several Democrat-sponsored bills aimed at gun safety — to include proposals to ban future sales of assault-style firearms — are advancing in the General Assembly.
Several Democrat-sponsored bills aimed at gun safety — to include proposals to ban future sales of assault-style firearms — are advancing in the General Assembly.
House Bill 926, by Del. Irene Shin, D- Fairfax, would increase the statute of limitations for a victim to seek charges against a perpetrator. It also would expand the applicable offending content.
Some of the Democratic majority's priorities appear destined for vetoes by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is holding out hope for his proposed $2 billion arena project.
Some of the Democratic majority's priorities appear destined for vetoes by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is holding out hope for his proposed $2 billion arena project.
Virginia’s General Assembly is going to feel a lot different this year – look for lots of fiery speeches but not all that much action.
