The Virginia General Assembly has been described as “the oldest continuing lawmaking body in the New World” because it was originally created in pre-revolutionary Jamestown. Today, it governs the entire commonwealth of Virginia, and lawmakers are elected by residents of various districts throughout the state. It's like Congress, but only for Virginia.

Since the General Assembly is Virginia’s congress, it also has two chambers-- the House of Delegates, made up of 100 members, and the Senate, made up of 40 members. Members of both chambers sit on various committees and can introduce, review, debate, and vote on legislation.

The General Assembly “session” begins on the second Wednesday of January. Session typically lasts for 60 days during even years and 45 days during odd years. Even years are longer because the General Assembly must pass a state budget. Members can decide to extend session themselves or the Governor can call a “special session” if the Assembly fails to act on certain matters. It is important to plan proactive advocacy actions with ample time before the start of session given the limited time.

To become law, bills must be passed by both chambers of the General Assembly. Bills introduced in the House are given a number preceded by the letters “HB,” and bills introduced in the Senate are given a number preceded by the letters “SB.” A bill introduced in either chamber goes through the same basic process.

1. A Delegate or Senator has an idea for a bill. They often get the idea from a lobbyist, advocacy organization, or a constituent. After the legislator presents the idea to the Division of of Legislative Services, the idea is drafted as a bill, and the legislator becomes the chief patron. Sometimes, the same bill will be introduced in both chambers to increase the chance of passage.

2. The Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader in the Senate assign the bill to an appropriate committee for review and this committee decides what action to take. Think of the Committees as gatekeepers. The chairman decides when (and if) a bill will be reviewed during a hearing. The committee then decides whether a bill is worthy of a vote from the full body. The committee votes to either allow the bill to go to the next stage of the process - sometimes with changes - or they kill the bill then and there. Committees often use their subcommittees to review a bill first.

In the House of Delegates, Subcommittees almost always review any bill. The Senate will only send the most complex bills to sub-committees. Subcommittees are designed to make a recommendation of action to the full committee-- it’s important to note that a House subcommittee can kill a bill, but Senate subcommittees can only make recommendations.

3. Committees and subcommittees are where most of the action takes place because members of the public are permitted to speak. After hearing testimony, fielding questions from experts and the patron, and debating the bill, any committee member can “move” (fancy way to say “ask”) that the committee take a particular action regarding a bill. If the motion is “seconded” (agreed to) by any other member, the committee votes on that action.

3. If the committee votes to report the bill, the full chamber takes floor action and a vote. At this stage, all members of one chamber are given the chance to offer bill changes, argue over its value, and finally vote on its passage. When this happens, the bill is sent to the other chamber and the committee process starts all over again.

4. The Governor signs the bill, vetoes it, or offers changes. Our Governor has multiple options. They are:

Sign the bill and make it law;

Change parts of the bill and send it back to the General Assembly for approval;

Veto, or reject, the bill;

The General Assembly can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in BOTH houses

Take no action and the bill becomes a law anyway;

5. The bill becomes a law! Laws signed by the Governor or passed by the GA with two-thirds vote become effective on July 1st of that year unless otherwise specified.

Report: The bill passes the committee stage and will be voted on by the entire chamber. This can only happen with a majority vote. A tie will kill the bill.

Pass-by-indefinitely (PBI): The bill is dead unless a member who voted to kill it moves (asks the committee) that the vote be reconsidered.

Carry Over: Only occurs in even years. This will force the bill to be reconsidered the following year.

Refer (House) or Re-refer (Senate): Send the bill to another committee for review. These may come with a committee recommendation to Report or PBI.

“Table” or “Laid-on-the-table”: Technically, this allows the bill to be reconsidered later, but this motion is mostly used to kill a bill.

Yes! Citizen testimony is very impactful for 3 reasons:

The media is more likely to cover public comments from citizens.

Citizen testimony before committees is rare.

There is no partisan baggage tied to the testimony of concerned citizens.

Keeping up with current events is a crucial component of effective advocacy. Social media, news outlets, and political organizations tend to focus on the national conversation which, while important, can distract us from what is going on in the Homefront. Here are some tools to help you stay informed with the important events and issues occurring our state.

VA News. The Virginia Public Access Project sends out daily emails featuring news articles solely relevant to Virginia. The content covers national, state, and local news relevant to Virginia and breaks them down by topic. Sign up for your daily update at https://www.vpap.org/vanews/.

You can also download the VPAP General Assembly app - it’s new this year!

The Virginia Legislative Information System (LIS). LIS is the tool used by every lobbyist, advocate, and policy staff. It holds information about current and past legislation, meeting schedules, committee and chamber floor agendas, and press conferences during session (be aware that these can change so it is important to keep close contact with the legislative assistants). LIS can be auseful resource to discover how a legislator has voted on issues you care about.
www.lis.virginia.gov

Watch live webcasts of Committee Meetings and Floor Sessions. Everyone with internet access can keep up with General Assembly deliberations in real time. The links are:

House of Delegates→ http://virginia-house.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

Senate→ http://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3