Ousted incumbents, key matchups set: Takeaways from Virginia's primary election
A historic number of state lawmakers were ousted in this weekโs Virginia primary, which featured about four dozen legislative races that set the partiesโ slate of candidates for what will be a hard-fought general election.
Budget battle continues as Virginia lawmakers prepare for close of General Assembly session
Virginia lawmakers will return to the State Capitol Saturday to hammer out whatโs left for the General Assembly session. More than a dozen lawmakers from the House and Senate serve as negotiators for the two-year spending plan.
Virginia senate defeats bill to restore parole
The Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee voted to send the measure to the Virginia State Crime Commission for study, ending the billโs chances of passing this year. Virginia abolished discretionary parole in 1995 and began requiring offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. AdDespite the 1995 parole abolition, a limited number of incarcerated people are eligible for consideration: mainly those who committed their crimes before 1995 or are older than 60 and meet certain conditions making them eligible for geriatric release. They emphasized that the bill wouldnโt automatically grant parole, it would just give inmates a chance to have their case considered. AdSen. Joe Morrissey, who was a chief co-patron of the bill, said he supports the restoration of parole but agreed that the issue needs more study.
Four gun control bills move forward in Virginia Senate
The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee sent four gun control bills to the Senate floor. There were passionate comments from dozens of gun rights supporters in the committee meeting and in a press conference held by NRA members near the Capitol. โThis kind of falls under, โI hate gun owners,โ this whole group of bills, really,โ one gun rights supporter said. Democrats have showed signs of not being fully united behind the push for each new gun law. There are more than 40 gun control bills filed in the General Assembly.