Early indicators suggest Virginians responded to a slate of proposed gun control legislation with a noticeable increase in firearm background checks. The bills mark one the most significant shifts in the state’s firearm laws in recent years, and build on previously...
Lawmakers knocked down a proposal to update state law that considered how future development could affect water quality for communities that historically have been economically or socially disadvantaged. Del. Rodney T. Willett, D-Henrico, introduced House Bill 393, which died in committee in January along a party line vote. The State Water...
State legislators did not advance a Virginia House bill that advocates said would have provided more information to women seeking an abortion and which opponents saw as politicized and unnecessary. House Bill 212, introduced by Del. Karen S. Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach, expanded the parameters of written consent already required by law of women...
A former Black community newspaper will be commemorated in a special license plate if Virginia House lawmakers give the bill its final stamp of approval. Sen. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Richmond, introduced Senate Bill 753, which will authorize the issuance of a special license plate celebrating The Richmond Planet newspaper. Lawmakers in the Senate...
A bill that seeks to limit the use of isolated — or solitary — confinement in Virginia’s correctional facilities now faces the Republican-controlled House, who voted down a similar measure earlier in the session. Sen. Joseph Morrissey, D-Richmond, proposed Senate Bill 108, which passed out of the Senate along partisan lines. Sen. Jill Holtzman...
Lawmakers last month killed legislation which would give localities the option to ban the use of coal tar pavement sealant, a product which environmental and health agencies say can negatively impact aquatic and human life. A House of Delegates subcommittee voted 5-4 to table House Bill 949, sponsored by Del. Kathy K. L. Tran, D-Fairfax....
A Senate committee could debate a bill that would reverse a policing law intended to reduce racial profiling. The General Assembly in 2020 passed a law along party lines to end pretextual policing, or the practice of stopping someone for a minor traffic violation. Such traffic stops are made for broken tail lights, tinted windows, or objects...
A proposed constitutional amendment making headway in the Virginia General Assembly would grant former felons the right to vote. Senate Bill 21, introduced by Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, also removes a prohibition preventing people from voting who were declared by the court as mentally incompetent. The legislation instead prohibits people from...
Lawmakers narrowly passed a bill this month that would allow people fired for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine to receive unemployment benefits if no other misconduct took place. The measure advanced from the House of Delegates on a 51-48 party line vote and was assigned to a Senate committee on Feb. 10. The bill was one of several introduced by...
The House of Delegates passed a bill Tuesday that adds additional parts of the James River to a statewide conservation program. Del. C. Matthew Fariss, R-Campbell, introduced House Bill 49, which designates 37 additional miles of the James River in Nelson and Appomattox counties as the James State Scenic River, part of the Virginia Scenic Rivers...
