The General Assembly wrapped up its regular session on time and without a formal budget on Saturday. There’s still legislative work to be had, especially once Gov. Glenn Youngkin starts signing, vetoing or amending bills later this spring.

In the meantime, we missed a few bills and legislative updates from recent People’s Agenda submissions, so it’s time for us to catch up.

Editor’s note: Submissions for People’s Agenda queries are now closed. Stay tuned.

HB 1387 K-12 schools/higher ed. institution; designation of interscholastic, etc., sports based on sex.
HB 2432 Minor students experiencing gender incongruence; parental notification.
Sponsors: Del. Karen Greenhalgh (R–Virginia Beach); Del. Dave LaRock (R–Loudoun)

Virginia Senate Democrats defeated two bills that would have affected transgender students. One would have restricted transgender students' participation in school athletics and the other would have required officials to notify parents if their child identifies as trans in school, according to the Associated Press.

Supporters of the athletics bill said it would have promoted fairness for female athletes. Currently, the Virginia High School League allows trans student athletes to participate on teams that match their gender identity under certain conditions. Between the policy’s adoption in 2014 and the end of the 2021-22 school year, 28 students filed appeals seeking to play under the guidelines and 25 of those were granted.

When it comes to parental notification, supporters of the bill said it would ensure parents know what’s going on with their children. Opponents, however, said that being able to confide in school counselors and other staff about a gender transition without the fear of being outed could reduce the risk of suicide and mental health struggles for trans students. And they argued the bill could put trans children without supportive home environments at risk.

Both measures previously cleared the Republican controlled House of Delegates but were voted down by the Senate Health and Education committee. One Republican, Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant of Henrico, voted against the measure to restrict transgender students participation in school athletics.

HB 1606 Anti-Semitism; definition when term used in reference to discrimination.
Sponsor: Del. Anne Tata (R–Virginia Beach)

Refresher: This bill adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of “anti-Semitism” for use in the Code of Virginia. It was included on Attorney General Jason Miyares’s list of supported legislation from the start of session.

HB 1606 passed the House on a 73–25 vote before crossover, and it ultimately passed the state Senate on Feb. 23 in a 67–13 vote.

HB 1870 Higher educational institutions; immunity from disciplinary action in certain cases.
Sponsor: Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax)

This bill adds the Virginia Military Institute to the list of Virginia colleges and universities that make it easier for students to report campus sexual violence. When the legislation originally passed in 2020 (also led by Helmer), VMI was opposed at the time. The law, currently in effect at other public universities in the state, gives students immunity from disciplinary action if they admit to drug or alcohol use when reporting sexual violence.

It passed both chambers on unanimous votes and now heads to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk.

HB 2096 Noxious weeds; invasive plant species.
Sponsor: Del. David Bulova (D–Fairfax Station)

This continued legislation from the 2022 session aims to prohibit “the movement, transportation, delivery, shipment, or offering for shipment of any noxious weed” within Virginia. Should Gov. Glenn Youngkin sign it into law, the Department of Conservation and Recreation would create a list of invasive plant species and review it every four years.

HB 1895 Employee protection; prohibited retaliation, prohibited nondisclosure.
Sponsor: Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D–Springfield) 

“The Silenced No More Act” from former House Speaker Filler-Corn would ostensibly invalidate employee nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements when an employee alleges discrimination, crime “or other conduct that is recognized as against a clear mandate of public policy.”

It originally passed out of the House on a 98–1 vote, but went through bicameral conference after crossing over to the Senate. Its final version unanimously passed the Senate and then again through the House on Saturday, Feb. 25 — this time in a 94–1 vote, with outgoing Del. Tim Anderson (R–Virginia Beach) registering a nay.

SB 1265 Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act.
HB 1770 Electric utilities; schedule for rate review proceedings.
Sponsors: Sen. Richard Saslaw (D–Fairfax); Del. Terry Kilgore (R–Scott)

Both chambers ultimately adopted a conference version of these bicameral bills, jointly called the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act. It’s been touted as a major bipartisan effort in the divided government, including by VPM News’ own Ben Paviour.

Days before the bill passed on Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw announced his impending retirement from politics.

SB 1323 Electric utilities; energy efficiency savings targets
Sponsors: Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond); Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield)

The General Assembly approved a bill this week that proponents say would guarantee more energy efficiency savings for low-income, elderly, disabled and veteran customers of Dominion Energy. The law, if accepted by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, would guide regulators at the State Corporation Commission to set use some of its energy efficiency investments to pass savings along to customers.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously and the House 96-2 and now heads to the desk of Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Read more about this from Patrick Larsen.

HB 1378 State Air Pollution Control Board; motor vehicle emissions standards
Sponsor: Del. Tony Wilt (R–Rockingham)

An attempt to divorce Virginia from California vehicle emissions standards failed in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources committee on Tuesday.

The Republican-controlled House of Delegates passed the bill on party lines, citing a recent move by California regulators to ban the sale of new gas vehicles by 2035.

“I’m concerned about the grid,” Wilt said. “We’re considering decommissioning some electric generations, but also at the same time potentially increasing the demand.”

In a January hearing on a similar bill, Sen. Dave Marsden (D–Fairfax) said he credits legislators and regulators in California with leading the way on clean-air policy in the past few decades. He also said he believes technology that improves energy efficiency and new renewable sources will help ease the transition away from fossil fuel’s impact on the grid.

“I have faith in this country. I have faith in our tech, I have faith in our goals, and I think we can get there,” Marsden said.

Democrats argued sticking with the stricter standards would encourage the sale of EVs and the development of infrastructure like charging stations in the commonwealth, resulting in a drastic cut to vehicle emissions sooner than if the state reverted to federal standards.

HB 1870 Higher educational institutions; immunity from disciplinary action in certain cases
Sponsor: Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax) 

In 2020, legislation passed that required public universities in Virginia to make it easier for students to report sexual violence on campus — except for the Virginia Military Institute, which was opposed to the policy at the time. The law gives students immunity from disciplinary action if they admit to the use of drugs or alcohol when reporting sexual assaults.

Helmer, who sponsored the original measure, is carrying legislation this year to extend the immunity requirement to VMI — because he said the school’s leadership is now on board. The legislation cleared the GOP-controlled House of Delegates and now heads to the Senate Education and Health Committee for further consideration.

It’ll likely be at least another year before adults 21 and older can legally buy cannabis in Virginia for recreational use. A Republican-led subcommittee in the House killed the last remaining piece of legislation Tuesday aimed at setting up a legal market.

Parker Slaybaugh, the chief deputy secretary of agriculture and forestry, testified against the bill: "We are focused on cleaning up the illegal hemp in Delta eight sales that are going on right now throughout the Commonwealth."

Republicans on the committee tabled the bill without any debate in a 5–3 vote. Democrats previously argued it would bring in tax revenue and curb the unregulated market.

It remains legal in Virginia for adults 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis and to grow up to four plants for personal use.

As Ben Paviour reported last week, "lawmakers likely wouldn’t take up the issue again until the 2024 session, after November elections where all 140 seats in the Legislature are on the ballot."

Friday's largest legislative update focuses on bills from the Senate and House referenced by name in your submissions to the 2023 People’s Agenda.

If it's not on this list, there's been no substantive movement since we last mentioned it.

SB 780 Casino gaming; eligible host cities; limitation on local referendums.
Sponsor: Sen. Joseph Morrissey (D–Petersburg)

Morrissey’s bid for a Petersburg casino cleared the gaming subcommittee in late January but died in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on Feb. 2 after failing a report vote 7–8.

HB 1387 K-12 schools/higher ed. institution; designation of interscholastic, etc., sports based on sex, etc.
Sponsor: Del. Karen Greenhalgh (R–Virginia Beach)

Refresher: This bill would limit participation in women’s athletics and sports organizations at public schools, colleges and universities to students whose biological sex is female. The bill would require physicians and nurse practitioners who conduct sports physicals to verify the student’s biological sex. Public schools would also be prohibited from competing against sports teams from private schools unless they comply with the same restrictions.

It passed the House 51-47 and has been referred to the Senate Health and Education Committee.

HB 1606 Anti-Semitism; definition when term used in reference to discrimination.
Sponsor: Del. Anne Tata (R–Virginia Beach)

Refresher: This bill adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of “anti-Semitism” for use in the Code of Virginia. It was included on Attorney General Jason Miyares’s list of supported legislation from the start of session.

It passed out of the House on a 73–25 vote and has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee.

HB 1895 Employee protection; prohibited retaliation, prohibited nondisclosure
Sponsor: Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D–Springfield) 

Refresher: “The Silenced No More Act” from former House Speaker Filler-Corn would ostensibly invalidate employee nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements when an employee alleges discrimination, crime “or other conduct that is recognized as against a clear mandate of public policy.”

The Silenced No More Act passed out of the House on a 98–1 vote and is now at the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor.

HB1898 Virginia Public Procurement Act; public institutions of higher education; prohibition on boycotting Israel; civil penalty.
Sponsor: Del. John McGuire (R–Henrico)

Refresher: HB 1898, at its core, “Prohibits public bodies from entering into a contract in excess of $100,000 with any contractor having more than an average of 10 employees for the previous 12 months that boycotts Israel.”

It passed the House of Delegates on a contentious 50–48–1 vote — Del. Kim Taylor abstained, but was recorded as intending to vote yes. Del. Cliff Hayes did not vote. It’s now with the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology.

HB 2208 Hate crimes and discrimination; anti-Semitism, penalties.
SB 1184 Hate crimes and discrimination; anti-Semitism, penalties.
Sponsors: Del. Terry Kilgore (R–Lee County); Sen. Bryce Reeves (R–Spotsylvania)

As a refresher, these identical bills seek the same outcome: establishing a statewide policy that protects Virginians from antisemitism, including adding an antisemitism section to the Virginia State Police's central repository of information on hate crimes.

Both versions passed their respective houses and are now in the opposite chamber for crossover.

HB 2319 Income tax, state; lowers rates and raises standard deductions.
Sponsor: Del. Joseph McNamara (R–Roanoke)

This bill would’ve increased the standard deduction for state income taxes and decreased the tax rate for earnings more than $17,000. It was generally in line with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget push to cut taxes by over $1 billion.

Though it passed the full House on Jan. 24 on a party-line vote, HB2319 effectively died Feb. 8 in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on an 11–5 “pass by indefinitely” vote.

SB 1109 and HB 1823 College and Career Readiness for English Language Learners Grant Program and Fund
SB 1118 and HB 1824 Teachers; employment, English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund
Sponsors: Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D–Chesterfield); Del. John Avoli (R–Staunton)

Four bills were introduced at the General Assembly this session to alleviate a funding need for teachers of English Speakers of Other Languages. The bipartisan effort seeks to establish college and career readiness programs for English Language Learners as well as incentive grants for teachers who earn an ESOL endorsement.

While the House of Delegates rejected Avoli’s proposals, Hashmi’s identical bills unanimously passed the Senate on Feb. 6. The proposals still need to pass the House before they can head to the governor.

You can read more about this from the Capital News Service, University of Richmond bureau.

HB 2341 High school graduation; alternative pathways to advanced studies diploma
Sponsor: Del. Glenn Davis (R–Virginia Beach)

Davis reintroduced legislation this year that would require the state Board of Education to create two separate pathways to attaining an advanced studies diploma: one with a world language credit requirement and one with career and technical credit requirements. The bill passed the House and is headed to the Senate's education committee.

Davis has said the proposal would give students more flexibility. But advocates with the Foreign Language Association of Virginia say demand for CTE workers who know foreign languages is still on the rise.

You can read more about this bill from Megan Pauly.

HB 1750 Cannabis control; establishes framework for creation of retail marijuana market
HB 1464 Cannabis control; establishes framework for creation of retail market
SB 1133 Cannabis control; retail market, transitional sales, regulated hemp products
Sponsors: Del. Michael Webert (R–Fauquier); Del. Keith Hodges (R–Middlesex); Sen. Adam Ebbin (D–Alexandria)

Advocates for legal recreational weed sales in Virginia are losing hope that lawmakers will take action on the issue this year. A GOP-controlled House of Delegates committee killedtwo bills from members of their caucus on the topic last month. That same committee would likely take a vote on the lone surviving legislation for retail sales, from Ebbin, which takes a far more expansive approach than the ones offered by Republicans.

A lack of action this year would mean lawmakers likely wouldn’t take up the issue again until the 2024 session, after November elections where all 140 seats in the Legislature are on the ballot.

You can read more about these bills from Ben Paviour.

SB 1265 Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act
HB 1770 Electric utilities; schedule for rate review proceedings
Sponsors: Sen. Richard Saslaw (D–Fairfax); Del. Terry Kilgore (R–Scott)

The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates both approved much-changed versions of a Dominion Energy–backed electric utility regulation bill on Tuesday, although the measures have little in common at this point.

The Senate proposal would roll $350 million in rate adjustment clauses, or riders, into base rates and spread rising fuel costs over 10 years. Meanwhile, the House version would require the state to study the potential impacts of fossil fuel power plant retirements. Both would increase the frequency of electricity rate reviews.

You can read more about these bills from Patrick Larsen.

SB 1380 Presidential primaries; ranked choice voting.
Sponsor: Sen. Creigh Deeds (D–Charlottesville)

A proposal to allow ranked choice voting in presidential primaries has been killed at the request of its sponsor, Sen. Creigh Deeds (D–Charlottesville). Deeds asked to withdraw the measure because Virginia Department of Elections staff shared concerns about the technological capacity to conduct such elections on the state level, he said during a Tuesday meeting of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee.

Under ranked choice voting, sometimes called an instant runoff system, voters mark candidates in their preferred order, selecting one as their first choice, another as their second and so on for as many as they choose to rank. Once first-choice votes are counted, the candidate who earned the least votes is eliminated and their votes are distributed to the ballots’ second choices. The process is repeated until one candidate has at least 50% of the votes.

Such elections are already allowed at the local level in Virginia, but because of software incompatibility, election officials say it cannot currently be implemented statewide. The issue stems from localities across the state, which are currently using four different voting systems.

Deeds asked the clerk of the committee to send a letter asking the director of the Department of Elections to “figure it out.”

Wednesday’s legislative update focuses on bills from the Senate and House referenced by name in your submissions to the 2023 People’s Agenda.

SB 780 Casino gaming; eligible host cities; limitation on local referendums.
Sponsor: Sen. Joseph Morrissey (D–Petersburg)

Morrissey has campaigned for adding a casino to Petersburg since a 2021 referendum to open one in Richmond failed by about 1,500 votes.This bill would give Petersburg the opportunity to host its own referendum about opening a casino — and prevent Richmond from holding another until Petersburg has the opportunity to do so.

The bill has cleared the gaming subcommittee of the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee, according to WRIC, but must clear the full committee before it can go to the Senate floor.

HB 1387 K-12 schools/higher ed. institution; designation of interscholastic, etc., sports based on sex, etc.
Sponsor: Del. Karen Greenhalgh (R–Virginia Beach)

This bill would limit participation in women’s athletics and sports organizations at public schools, colleges and universities to students whose biological sex is female. The bill would require physicians and nurse practitioners who conduct sports physicals to verify the student’s biological sex. Public schools would also be prohibited from competing against sports teams from private schools unless they comply with the same restrictions.

The bill has passed the higher education subcommittee but must still pass the full House Education Committee before it can go to the House of Delegates floor.

HB 1448 Public school library materials; DOE to make recommendations, model policies, selection and removal.
Sponsor: Del. Robert Orrock (R–Caroline)

Following heated controversy across the state over what books should be included in public school libraries, the Republican-led House of Delegates passed this bill — which would require the state Department of Education to develop model policies regarding the selection and removal of books in school libraries. The department would have until September 2024 to present its recommendations.

The bill passed the full House on Jan. 26 on a party-line vote and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Health.

HB 1606 Anti-Semitism; definition when term used in reference to discrimination.
Sponsor: Del. Anne Tata (R–Virginia Beach)

This bill adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of “anti-Semitism” for use in the Code of Virginia. It was included on Attorney General Jason Miyares’s list of supported legislation from the start of session.

It passed from the Committee on Rules on a 14-4 vote Tuesday and will advance.

HB 1895 Employee protection; prohibited retaliation, prohibited nondisclosure.
Sponsor: Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D–Springfield) 

“The Silenced No More Act” from former House Speaker Filler-Corn would ostensibly invalidate employee nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements when an employee alleges discrimination, crime “or other conduct that is recognized as against a clear mandate of public policy.” There was also a Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed about the bill penned by media personalities Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky.

Two things of note from the bill text: “An employer that violates the provisions of the bill may be subject to actual damages or statutory damages of $10,000”; it also “requires employers to include in any settlement agreement or employment agreement with an employee a disclaimer that the agreement does not prohibit an employee from disclosing conduct as protected under the bill.”

HB 1895 passed out of Commerce and Energy on a unanimous vote Jan. 24, and it's now at a Courts of Justice subcommittee.

HB1898 Virginia Public Procurement Act; public institutions of higher education; prohibition on boycotting Israel; civil penalty.
Sponsor: Del. John McGuire (R–Henrico)

Sometimes, the bill text explains it best. HB 1898 “Prohibits public bodies from entering into a contract in excess of $100,000 with any contractor having more than an average of 10 employees for the previous 12 months that boycotts Israel.”

If passed, the Virginia Public Procurement Act would also require “any such contractor seeking to contract with a public body under the provisions of the Virginia Public Procurement Act to certify in writing that it will not, during the performance of the contract, boycott Israel.”

On Tuesday, HB 1898 passed out of a General Laws subcommittee on a 5-3 vote.

HB 2096 Noxious weeds; invasive plant species.
Sponsor: Del. David Bulova (D–Fairfax Station)

This bill is aimed at prohibiting “the movement, transportation, delivery, shipment, or offering for shipment of any noxious weed” within Virginia. It is a continued legislation based on 2022’s HB 491, which Bulova submitted during last year’s General Assembly session. As part of this legislation, the Department of Conservation and Recreation would create a list of invasive plant species and review it every four years.

HB 2096 passed the House of Delegates on Tuesday in a 99-0 vote; it now moves to the Senate.

HB 2208 Hate crimes and discrimination; anti-Semitism, penalties.
SB 1184 Hate crimes and discrimination; anti-Semitism, penalties.
Sponsors: Del. Terry Kilgore (R–Lee County); Sen. Bryce Reeves (R–Spotsylvania)

These bills, filed separately in the Virginia House and Senate, seek the same outcome: establishing a statewide policy that protects Virginians from antisemitism, including adding an antisemitism section to the Virginia State Police's central repository of information on hate crimes.

The House version has been assigned to a Courts of Justice subcommittee, while the Senate version unanimously passed out of a Judiciary Committee vote on Monday and has been sent to Senate Finance and Appropriations.

HB 2319 Income tax, state; lowers rates and raises standard deductions.
Sponsor: Del. Joseph McNamara (R–Roanoke)

In line with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push to cut taxes by over $1 billion, this bill would both increase the size of the standard deduction for state income taxes and decrease the tax rate for earnings more than $17,000. The bill would lower that tax rate from 5.75% to 5.5%. The standard deduction would increase by 12.5%, one year after lawmakers used the state budget to increase the deduction by 77.8%.

The bill passed the full House on Jan. 24 on a party-line vote and has been assigned to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

SB 946 Campaign finance; fundraising during special sessions prohibited.
Sponsor: Sen. David Suetterlein (R–Roanoke County)

Virginia state senators effectively tabled legislation Wednesday that would prevent lawmakers from fundraising during special sessions in an unrecorded voice vote.

Critics of the bill from both parties, including Sen. Scott Surovell (D–Fairfax) and Sen. Richard Stuart (R–King George) said they needed more time in committee to work on the bill. They argued it was well-intentioned but didn’t clearly define what constituted a special session; in past special sessions, lawmakers sometimes meet only occasionally or in smaller groups to hash out a budget.

“The language is vague and broad,” Stuart said. “The idea is a good one. And we should do it, but we need to send it back and get it fixed.”

But Sen. David Suetterlein (R–Roanoke County) noted that the committee won’t meet again before crossover, when all bills must clear the chamber. He noted it passed out of committee with bipartisan support.

“I think that it is an attempt to not have to vote on this bill so that we can continue fundraising during special sessions,” Suetterlein said.

This is the second year Sutterlein has proposed a special session fundraising ban.

Lawmakers have a history of holding fundraisers during past special sessions, sometimes cashing checks from special interests whose legislation is up for votes. That included a marathon 2020 special session where lawmakers held events ranging from golf tournaments to dinners.

At the time, backers of the practice argued it was infeasible to plan around the unpredictable calendar of special sessions.

SB 1293 Bicycles; exemptions to certain traffic control devices, local ordinances.
SB 847 Pedestrian control signals; applicability to persons riding bicycles and other devices.
Sponsors: Sen. Creigh Deeds (D–Charlottesville); Sen. Barbara Favola (D–Arlington)

Two bills focused on cyclist safety are still in play in the state Senate this week. SB 1293 would create a Virginia version of the "Idaho Stop" or "Delaware Yield," which many cycling proponents say would improve overall road safety where they're concerned. SB 847 would open up pedestrian crossing signals for cyclists. Last week, SB 1293 passed on a 9–6 party line vote from the Committee on Transportation, while SB 847 passed 10–5.

You can read more about these bills from Ian Stewart.

SB 1382 Assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices; purchase, possession, etc., prohibited.
SB 1139 Firearms; storage in residence where minor present, penalty.
Sponsors: Sen. Creigh Deeds (D–Charlottesville); Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D–Fairfax)

The state Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would ban the sale, transfer or possession of AR-15–style weapons in Virginia beginning July 1. Lawmakers also advanced a bill requiring gun owners to lock up firearms and ammunition if someone under the age of 18 lives in their home.

Every Democrat except Sen. Lynwood Lewis (D–Accomack) supported both bills, as did Republican state Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R–Henrico). Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment (R–James City) supported the so-called assault weapon ban and did not vote on the storage requirement.

Sen. Richard Stuart (R–King George) argued the safe storage bill would criminalize gun owners who forget to lock up ammunition around teenagers who know how to use firearms.

“At 16 years old, you can drive an automobile,” he said. “An automobile can be a lot more dangerous than a gun.”

Democrats like the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D–Fairfax), said the bill is urgently needed because firearms are the top cause of death for people ages 1 to 19 years old.

“Children are dying,” Boysko said. “We can do something about it.”

The legislation now heads to the House of Delegates, where Republicans have already defeated several similar bills.

SB 1036 Virginia Tourism Authority; repeals exemption from personnel and procurement procedures.
Sponsor: Sen. Jeremy McPike (D–Woodbridge)

In the aftermath of a controversial Virginia tourism video featuring Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the state Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would eliminate the Virginia Tourism Authority’s exemption from state procurement rules.

The tourism office used the exemption when it hired Poolhouse, an ad firm responsible for most of Youngkin’s campaign ads, to produce its “Welcome to Virginia” video. The minutelong ad has been playing at Virginia airports and rest stops since early September.

Top Democratic lawmakers asked the state inspector general to investigate whether the contract violated state law.

Inspector General Michael Westfall’sDecember report said the video didn’t cut against procurement rules currently in place. VTC is exempt from the Virginia Public Procurement Act, and VTC CEO Rita McClenny argued she has broad discretion over spending decisions.

The legislation from Sen. Jeremy McPike (D–Prince William) would roll back that exemption and passed on a bipartisan 29 to 10 vote.

VPM News previously reported VTC signed 125 no-bid contracts worth more than $11.8 million since 2017.

HB 1666 Public schools; unscheduled remote learning days.
Sponsor: Del. Daniel Marshall (R–Danville)

No snow days?! Upon first glance, switching to remote learning “when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations” certainly sounds like a death knell for impromptu school days off.

It’s an easy headline-grabber, too, and many Virginia news outlets did exactly that — though the Roanoke Times noted this wasn’t exactly the legislative point.

The Early Childhood/Innovation Subcommittee unanimously struck it from the docket on Jan. 25.

SB 967 Voter registration; registering in person up to and including the day of the election.
Sponsor: Sen. Mark Peake (R–Lynchburg)

Same-day voter registration was officially implemented in Virginia on Oct. 1, 2022. Under this bill, that law — which currently allows any person eligible to vote to engage in same-day registration and voting — would be rolled back to only “members of a uniformed service … persons who are residing temporarily outside of the United States, and spouses or dependents of such members or persons.”

Under state law, the “uniformed services” of Virginia include the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard active duty and reserve service members. It also includes the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Services.

SB 967 was “passed by indefinitely” on Jan. 17 in a 10-4 vote in the Privileges and Elections committee.

SB 930 Health care; decision making, end of life, penalties.
Sponsor: Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Richmond)

This bill, a Virginia-based “Death With Dignity” act, would have permitted qualified adults diagnosed with a terminal condition “to request [an] attending health care provider to prescribe a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life in a humane and dignified manner.”

These laws, collectively known as medical aid in dying or physician aid in dying (MAID), are currently available in nine states and the District of Columbia. Five other states are considering similar legislation this year.

SB 930 was "passed by indefinitely" — effectively killed — by the Education and Health committee on Jan. 26 in a 9-5 vote. A same-day news release from Compassion and Choices, a nonprofit focused on patient autonomy, noted one of the most immediate effects: A Falls Church woman with terminal pancreatic cancer and a prognosis of two to five months to live will move to Washington, D.C. — which already has a Death With Dignity law on the books.

SB 1284: Abortion; prohibited, exceptions, penalty.
SB 1385: Abortion; when lawful, 15-week gestational age, exceptions, penalty.
SB 1483: Abortion; viability, treatment of nonviable pregnancy.
Sponsors: Sen. Travis Hackworth (R–Tazewell); Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, (R–Henrico); Sen. Stephen Newman, (R–Bedford)

These three Republican-sponsored proposals each sought to restrict access to abortion in Virginia to varying degrees. All three were voted down by the Democrat-led Senate House and Education committee.

VPM News state politics reporter Ben Paviour has more details on all three proposals.

SB 1001 Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act; repeals Act.
Sponsor: Sen. Richard Stuart (R–King George)

This bill would have repealed the 2020 law that required Virginia to enter the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate agreement to lower carbon dioxide emissions through a market. That initiative, which has been a target of Gov. Glenn Youngkin since his campaign for office, requires large electric providers to pay for credits to emit carbon dioxide, leading Youngkin to label it a carbon tax.

The proposal to repeal the requirement was “passed by indefinitely” on an 8–6–1 vote — Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr. (R–Augusta) abstained — by the Democrat-led Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee.

SB 803: Campaign finance; campaign contribution limits, civil penalty.
SB 804: Campaign finance; prohibited contributions to candidates.
Sponsor: Sen. Chap Peterson (D–Fairfax)

These two proposals would have implemented restrictions on campaign finance in Virginia. The first would have created a $20,000 limit for contributions to candidates for state offices. The second would have prohibited public utilities, such as Dominion Energy, from contributing to candidates.

Both proposals were defeated by bipartisan coalitions in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee.