A political mailer referencing Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan is circulating in Virginia ahead of the April 21 redistricting referendum, prompting criticism from state lawmakers and members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. The mailer urges voters to oppose the...
Incarcerated people and their loved ones will continue to pay fees that advocates and some lawmakers say are too stiff. Senate Bill 581, introduced by Sen. Joseph Morrissey, D-Richmond, initially proposed to eliminate jail fees related to the costs of an inmate's keep, work release, or participation in educational or rehabilitative programs....
The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that will allow school principals to report some misdemeanor offenses of students to law enforcement, reversing parts of a previous law. Lawmakers, parents and advocates are concerned the legislation will prompt the overreporting of minor offenses to law enforcement, versus leaving reporting to the...
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...
