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Feb. 11, 2023
2023 Session – Week 5
This has truly been one of the busiest sessions I have experienced. On Monday of this week, I had 11 bills, over which I had primary responsibility, on the floor of the Senate. In all of my time in both the House and the Senate, I never had a day with that many bills on the floor. We went in at 11 a.m. and adjourned a little after 5 p.m. A day on the floor of the Senate is not like a day laying brick or making hay. It doesn’t bring the sort of physical exhaustion or satisfaction that a hard day of physical labor brings, but it is intellectually taxing and rewarding just the same.
The legislature works in bursts of energy, the way a lot of things do. Early in this session, the floor sessions are short, only elongated by speechmaking and introducing guests. At crossover, the sessions are long and the debate sometimes intense. There are frequently breaks when the two caucuses meet to discuss strategy. Those meetings often involve arguments and, sometimes, significant disagreements. Otto von Bismarck once said, when he was Chancellor of Germany, that there are two things you don’t want to see made, sausage and laws. I grew up on a farm where we made our own sausage. I still think it’s one of the sweetest things one can eat. I have also been involved in the law-making process for a number of years, and I can tell you that work can be sweet as well, but it can also be bitter.
This session, we continue to deal with bills related to energy. I can tell you that some of the internal discussions about those bills produce the most disagreement and debate. Other subjects that have generated significant discussion are casinos and marijuana. Everybody has a different idea about what is fair and regional rivalries often rear their heads. For example, who gets a casino, Richmond or Petersburg?
In 2020, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing five cities to serve as hosts for a casino, but only after the voters approved the casino in a referendum. Of the five localities, the only referendum that failed was in the City of Richmond. Leaders in Richmond are now pushing for a second referendum at the same time Petersburg has been working to secure a casino of their own. Bills were filed this session on behalf of Petersburg to allow them to move forward on a referendum while at the same time requiring Richmond to delay a second vote. The House passed the legislation, which is now pending in the Senate, which already killed the companion Senate bill.
Frankly, I think that communities are probably in for disappointment if they are counting on casinos to provide stability in their local economy, but the cat is already out of the bag. Casinos have demonstrated success in parts of the country and in some corners of the Commonwealth.
Another significant discussion revolves around the development of a retail sales market for marijuana. At present, marijuana is legal to use in one’s home and you may grow a limited number of your own plants, but you may not purchase it legally at a store. Sen. Adam Ebbin, a Democrat from Alexandria, sponsored legislation to create a retail market. The bill builds to some extent on the existing medical market by allowing medical marijuana processors to sell to recreational users and open up the market to five franchisees in economically disadvantaged areas. The market would be opened up further on July 1, 2024. While the bill passed out of the Senate with some bipartisan support, the bill must now go to the House of Delegates, which already defeated two related bills.
Finally, I just wanted to provide an update on the legislation I introduced that are still awaiting action in the House of Delegates. While 22 of my bills made it through the Senate, the two gun bills I was carrying - the assault weapon ban and the ban on having guns on college campuses - were tabled in a House Public Safety Subcommittee on Thursday afternoon without any discussion. The subcommittee chair blamed procedure and a lack of courtesy on behalf of a fellow Senator, but the subcommittee wanted to kill the bills anyway.
The full list of my bills that remain is below, most of which I have covered in past newsletters. With only two weeks remaining in the 2023 Session, the vast majority of these bills will be heard in committee during the upcoming week. It promises to be a busy week.
SB 1287 Additional local sales tax for schools for Albemarle and Charlottesville
SB 1289 VRS changes to address school bus driver shortage
SB 1291 Swatting
SB 1292 Pilot program to provide safe harbor for sex trafficked youth
SB 1293 Local authorization for bike safety ordinances
SB 1298 Propane tank refills during qualifying emergencies
SB 1299 Discharge of TDO patients
SB 1300 Trauma-informed care training for teachers
SB 1302 Update to Medical TDO laws for intoxication
SB 1304 Court-appointed council fee waiver requests
SB 1306 Usage of the courtrooms in the 25th judicial circuit
SB 1307 Requires staff and faculty representatives on the UVA Board of Visitors
SB 1308 Expands eligible sites for site development grants
SB 1310 Restricts access to personal information of judges and magistrates
SB 1321 Affordable Energy Act
SB 1381 Behavioral Health Commission – technical corrections
SB 1386 Ensures transparency regarding dependency override applications
SB 1443 Directs a study of the establishment of a Parents Advocacy Commission
SB 1532 Ensures protective orders remain in place until a hearing can be held
SB 1533 Allows for an additional cultivation facility for medical marijuana processors
Please let me know if you have any questions during these final weeks of session. I can be reached at (804) 698-7525 or at [email protected].
