Eight Virginia lawmakers are endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential bid, Biden’s campaign announced Thursday. The list includes prominent members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus like Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, president pro tempore of the Senate; Sen. Lionell Spruill, D-Chesapeake; Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond; Del. Roslyn Tyler, D-Sussex; and Del. Cliff Hayes, D-Chesapeake.
Three members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus were named as House committee chairs for next year. House Speaker-designee Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, announced in a news release Thursday that she’s naming Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, as chair of the Appropriations Committee; Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, as chair of the Commerce and Labor Committee; and Del. Roslyn Tyler, D-Sussex, as chair of the Education Committee.
Democratic Del. Roslyn C. Tyler appears to have kept her 75th House District seat, but her Republican challenger in Tuesday’s polling is not quite ready to concede.
The bipartisan vote to expand Medicaid in Virginia fell along party lines among Isle of Wight County’s five state legislators. Del. Emily Brewer, 64th, Sen. John Cosgove, 14th and Sen. Tommy Norment, 3rd, all Republicans, voted against the expansion. Sen. Louise Lucas, 18th, and Del. Roslyn Tyler, 75th, both Democrats, voted in favor of the bill.
The Virginia General Assembly plowed ahead with its 46-day session Monday despite it being a statewide holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. The spirit of the slain civil rights icon hung over the legislative work, which by tradition on this day featured large groups of citizens coming in to speak on various matters. King was invoked to support civil rights during floor speeches, to call for raising the minimum wage in a committee meeting and to push for concealed weapons permits at a pro-gun rally.
Senators and Delegates representing Isle of Wight County listed what they'd like to focus on at the next General Assembly session, including mental health funding and increasing economic development, during a breakfast in Smithfield Thursday morning. The breakfast, which was sponsored by Farmers Bank, Smithfield Foods and the Town of Smithfield, featured a panel of Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. "Tommy" Norment Jr., R-James City County, state Senators John Cosgrove and Louise Lucas and Del. Roslyn Tyler. Delegate Rick Morris, R-Suffolk, was also scheduled to attend the breakfast at Smithfield Center, but the military attorney had to work a trial that was continued Thursday morning, said Tim Mitchell, Morris' legislative assistant.
In a relatively surprising development, Greensville County Administration has petitioned the General Assembly for authority to leave the joint service of the Emporia-Greensville Department of Social Services. County Administrator David Whittington requested the legislation late in this General Assembly session. He testified before a committee and legislation was introduced by Del. Roslyn Tyler, 75th District.
The Virginia House of Delegates has voted to extend the state’s excise tax on peanuts – a move that will help promote the sale and marketing of one of the commonwealth’s top cash crops. Delegates on Monday unanimously passed House Bill 1320, which will extend the excise tax on peanuts grown and sold in Virginia until July 1, 2016. The tax, which was scheduled to expire this July, is 30 cents per 100 pounds.
A bipartisan group of legislators joined with local officials and business leaders from central and Southside Virginia today to demand authority for the General Assembly to determine whether to put tolls on Interstate 95 and other existing highways -- not the governor and the Virginia Department of Transportation. More than two dozen political and business leaders also called on Gov. Bob McDonnell to address their concerns about tolls in any discussion of how to fund transportation in Virginia, such as the governor's proposal to eliminate the gas tax and raise the sales tax.
It's possible that the only people in Virginia who like Gov. Bob McDonnell's plan to put a tollbooth on Interstate 95 are in his administration. His plan has generated an outcry from many who live around the proposed tollbooth in Sussex County, as well as those farther up I-95. But only McDonnell has authority over the proposed tollbooth. Several legislators have filed bills to change that.