Theoretically, some 376 measures dealing with everything from leaf blowers to data centers to guns to gender ID were on life support when the General Assembly last year decided to hold off acting until the 2025 session . But the bills all died before state senators and delegates gather Wednesday for the start of this year's 45-day session, because none of the committees that sidelined them took any action after the 2024 session adjourned, a Richmond Times-Dispatch review found. For scores of them, the decision to continue came on a voice vote: no constituents will know where their legislators stood on the questions.
How Virginia legislators seek to rein in debt collectors “It’s not new for policymakers to dispose of politically risky items while they think no one is watching," said Mark Rozell, dean of Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. "Continuing a bill in order to kill it is a savvy way to avoid having to take a stand on it in an election year." Rozell He added: “This looks to me like an unprecedented mass legislation casualty event.
I don’t recall ever seeing carryover bills die en masse in numerous different committees all on the same day. Very odd." Formally speaking, the idea behind a vote to continue a bill, as opposed to killing it or tabling it or simply not acting by a deadline, is to give legislators more time to consider a complex or technical issue.
As, for instance, with the issue that prompted Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan to.
