12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET Wednesday, March 29, 2023

On Saturday, Feb 25, 2023, the Virginia General Assembly adjourned Sine Die, closing out a “short” 46-day session. Overall, the legislature considered over 2,800 bills, with more than 1,600 bills passing both chambers. However, budget negotiations will likely continue over the next several weeks since a comprehensive budget was not adopted. Looking further into 2023, all 140 seats of the General Assembly are up for election/reelection. Since these campaigns will occur in newly drawn legislative districts, there are many significant primary races already underway. The legislature will be vastly different next year due to redistricting and retirement announcements. As of adjournment, several retirements have already been announced, including Senator Dick Saslaw, Democratic majority leader of the Virginia Senate. Senator Saslaw is the longest-serving member of the Senate, which he joined in 1980 after serving four years in the House of Delegates.  Senator Tommy Norment, Senate Minority leader and longtime political powerhouse in the General Assembly, has also recently announced he does not plan on seeking re-election in the  2023 elections. Other Legislators that have officially announced their retirement are Senator Jill Vogel and Delegates Jeff Bourne, Mike Mullin, Ken Plum, Jim Edmonds, Kathleen Murphy, Tim Anderson, Rob Bell, Margaret Ransone,…

The past week of the legislative session has been filled with a sense of urgency as we head into the last scheduled week of session. The House and Senate have been reviewing legislation from the opposite chamber since Wednesday, February 8th. At this juncture, the House of Delegates has passed 142 Senate bills, and the Senate has passed 220 House bills. Next week’s focus will be largely around the budget and identifying items between both chambers that are in need of negotiation. 

Last week was filled with action as the “Crossover” deadline was this past Tuesday, February 7. The House and Senate chambers went late into Monday and Tuesday evening passing legislation within their respective bodies. Both are now reviewing bills from the opposite chamber. As of today, the Senate has passed 516 bills and the House of Delegates has passed 599 bills, almost doubling their progress since one week ago.  The House Appropriations and the Senate Finance and Appropriations committees convened Sunday, February 5 to receive high level subcommittee reports and recommendations for investing state funds. There are vast differences between the House and Senate proposals. One of major difference, of note, is that the House budget proposal includes the Governor’s $1billion in tax cuts, and the Senate’s budget proposal does not include any of the proposed tax cuts. At the end of last week, both bodies adopted their respective proposals, after much discussion on the Floor. Now the budget bills will go through a conference process in which both chambers negotiate to create one final version of the budget prior to the last day of the legislative session on February 25. With just two more weeks of session to go,…