2023 Legislative Wrap-Up
The Virginia General Assembly adjourned on Saturday, February 25. There were 2,863 bills and resolutions introduced in this short, 45-day session and 1,687 bills passed the House and Senate.
The legislature adjourned without passing a final bill that would amend the state’s biennial budget. Instead, the General Assembly adopted a “skinny budget” that addresses unfunded liabilities including funding to fix the public schools calculation error reported earlier this year. The budget conferees are expected to continue to work on amendments to the 2023-2024 biennial budget in anticipation of a final bill that could be agreed to by the House and Senate. As of this writing, it is still unclear what will happen and there are several possible paths.
There were several “clean-up” bills related to transportation construction: pay-if-paid, workforce development reorganization, and a few procurement bills worth examining.
Governor Youngkin has 30 days to sign, veto, or recommend amendments to the legislation sent to his desk. The General Assembly will reconvene on April 12 to consider any amendments or vetoes made by the Governor. The Virginia Chamber will continue to support and advocate for pro-business policies.
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The Great General Assembly Resignation - What next?
In December 2021, the Supreme Court of Virginia issued an order redrawing General Assembly and congressional districts for the next decade. Due in large part to this redistricting, the General Assembly has seen a wave of departures and retirements at the conclusion of the 2023 session – some retirements were anticipated but several were unexpected. With these departures, a significant amount of institutional knowledge will be lost.
The House is seeing a wave of retirements, as well as a number of delegates running for the Senate. Thus far, 14 delegates have announced they will not seek reelection, including House Commerce and Energy Committee Chair Delegate Kathy Byron (R-Bedford), House Courts of Justice Committee Chair Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albemarle), and former Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax). Twelve other members of the House are running for the Senate. At this point, even if every House incumbent running wins reelection in 2023, 26% of the House will be brand new in 2024. In the Senate, there are currently seven confirmed retirements, including Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax), Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment (R-James City), and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee Co-Chair Senator Janet Howell (D-Fairfax). These three senators combined have over 100 years of experience.
With all the retirements, new faces and ideas will sprout up during summer primaries and the November elections.
How the departures will affect the partisan balance of power in the General Assembly is hard to predict. Several primaries cloud this fall’s general election contests. It also expected that control of the House and Senate will come down to a few districts in suburban Richmond and Hampton Roads, as well as the Prince William and Stafford County areas.
The infusion of new blood into the process is healthy and inevitable.
New lawmakers come to Richmond with new perspectives. They are less bound to the hoary traditions of the House and Senate or the norms of political deportment and increasingly act as mavericks. They’ve also, in recent years, tended to be more doctrinaire – Democrats who tend to be more liberal and Republicans who are more conservative.
It will be critical for VTCA to get messages out and educate newly elected legislators PRIOR to next January. We need you to do your part and get to know the candidates out there and offer your perspective.
If you are willing to talk with candidates about transportation funding and the length of time it takes from committing dollars to construction to substantial completion, let us know. It’s going to take all of us to ensure the newly elected legislators know the importance of transportation funding.
Questions or comments should be sent to Gordon Dixon.