Virginia lawmakers will debate police reforms, virtual education and governor’s coronavirus orders
A special session originally intended only for lawmakers to amend a state budget upended by economic turmoil will now be the stage for a political debate over how liberal criminal justice reform policies should be in Virginia, and how much power the governor has during emergencies.
The start of the General Assembly’s special session Tuesday will be markedly different from its last one in April, when the coronavirus had just begun to make its mark on Virginia, surpassing 10,000 positive cases. There are now more than 104,000 confirmed or probable cases, and 2,370 people had died as of Friday.
The pandemic’s effect on the state’s two-year budget was uncertain in April, so lawmakers thought it best to freeze $2 billion in new spending until they had a clearer idea of how much revenue was lost as businesses closed and people stayed home.
That spring session was also before the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor cast a national spotlight on police laws and sparked civil unrest in the country. But even then, Democrats newly in the majority applauded themselves for making Virginia’s criminal justice policies more liberal, including by allowing more people to be paroled and removing the requirement that licenses be revoked if there are outstanding court fees.
