Virginia reporters invited back on the Senate floor

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Reporters in Virginia will once again be able to get an up-close look at how the state Senate is operating.

GOP Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment said Friday that he plans to allow reporters back on the floor, where prior to this year they'd operated for decades.

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Norment said he'd reached an agreement with members of the Capitol press corps on new rules for reporting from the floor.

The GOP senator had reporters banned from the floor when the 2016 legislative session started earlier this month. Reporters had to watch from the proceedings from an upstairs visitors' gallery, which offered only a partial view of the proceedings.

Norment faced criticism for the move from Democrats, and national press organizations and some members of his own caucus.

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