Del. Will Morefield has watched friends and neighbors move from Southwest Virginia, lost his father and brother to opioid addiction and saw the economic situation of the coalfields region grow ever more dire. During the nine years that Morefield, R-Tazewell, has served in Virginia’s General Assembly, his colleagues have failed to aid some of the state’s poorest localities, like those in far Southwest Virginia, he said Wednesday.
A bill to substantially cut the maximum length for a long-term suspension in Virginia schools has made it out of committee. House Bill 1600 from Del. Jeff Bourne, D-Richmond, would cap the length of a long-term suspension at one marking period — or 45 school days — compared with the 364 calendar days it is now.
A creative way to improve school funding has made it out of committee. The House Education Committee approved House Bill 809 from Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Bristol, that would allow state school systems to sell commercial advertising on their buses as schools continue to struggle with funding. The committee voted 18-2 in favor of the bill.
Having won re-election without opposition, Dels. Mark Keam (D-35th) and Rip Sullivan (D-48th) are crafting legislation for the 2018 General Assembly session and both are encouraged by the parity – near or exact will be determined soon – that Democrats will enjoy in the House of Delegates.
Local voters by hefty margins approved new terms Nov. 7 for all four state delegates representing McLean, Vienna, Great Falls, Oakton and Tysons.
Several Virginia politicians and University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump’s cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, saying the move will create hardship for DACA beneficiaries and cause the state to lose jobs and diversity.
The 2017 General Assembly session marked the last for House Speaker William Howell (R-Fredericksburg), who is departing after 30 years in the legislature and more than a decade in his current post. Among those with praise for the Speaker’s performance was a member of the opposite party. Del. Rip Sullivan (D-48th) expressed “great admiration for the way he conducted himself – with great distinction and integrity, with respect not only for the institution [but] every member.”
Bills pending in the General Assembly would award $1.45 million in compensation to a man wrongly convicted of a 1982 rape and murder in Newport News and $1 million to a man convicted of two 1987 arson deaths in Roanoke. Keith Allen Harward, 60, was exonerated by the Virginia Supreme Court in April after DNA testing not only excluded him of the savage beating death of a Newport News man and the rape of his wife in the couple’s home, but also implicated the real killer.
The 2017 Virginia General Assembly session convenes Wednesday at noon, meaning 140 lawmakers, dozens of lobbyists and countless residents will descend on Capitol Square over the next six weeks. In addition to considering amendments to the state's biennial budget, lawmakers will weigh policy changes to state law.
Do not expect any big, or even little, new initiatives to come out of the General Assembly during the 46-day session that kicks off in January. “I don’t think we’re going to see anything that costs the state money,” state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30th) said during a work session with Arlington County Board members on Nov. 29. “We’re short of funds; there won’t be any new programs,” Ebbin predicted. The all-Democratic, seven-member Arlington delegation sits in the minority in each house of the legislature. As a result, “We’re going to be playing a lot of defense,” predicted Del. Mark Levine (D-45th), who is headed into his second session.