2022 VA General Assembly

Start date of Special Session has been changed to Mon, April 4.
[Originally scheduled for April 27, 2022. See GA calendar]

Status of 2022 Priority Legislation

of the Virginia Grassroots Coalition

Enrolled = Bill has passed both houses, sent to the Governor, but not yet signed.
Conf. Comm. = Bill passed each house in different forms, will be resolved in Special Session.

■ = Bill is dead or 'continued.'

Cat	Number	Title	Patron	House	Senate	updated
2022 Priority Bills Voting rights
voting rights	SJ 1 Support	Constitutional amendment; qualifications of voters and the right to vote (second reference). more... A person who has been convicted of a felony shall not be entitled to vote during any period of incarceration for such felony conviction, but upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further action required of him such person shall be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote. Currently, in order to be qualified to vote a person convicted of a felony must have his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority.	Mamie Locke (D-HD2)	Left	Passed	3/9/22
voting rights	HB 34 Oppose	Repeals establishment of drop-off locations for the return of absentee ballots. more... Absentee voting; return of absentee ballots; drop-off locations. Repeals the provisions of law providing for the establishment of drop-off locations for the return of absentee ballots.	Ronnie Campbell (R-HD24)	Passed	PBI	2/28/22
voting rights	HB 35 Oppose	Excuse required to vote absentee in person prior to the second Saturday preceding an election. more... Requires a registered voter to provide a reason for being absent or unable to vote at his polling place on election day in order to receive an absentee ballot to vote by mail. Registered voters offering to vote absentee in person are similarly required by the bill to provide a reason until the second Saturday immediately preceding an election, at which time an excuse is not required to vote absentee in person. The bill provides that an application for an absentee ballot is required to receive an	Ronnie Campbell (R-HD24)	Left		2/15/22
voting rights	HB 36 Oppose	Repeals permanent absentee voter list. more... Repeals the provisions of law by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballots for all elections in which he is eligible to vote and remains on the list until the voter requests in writing to be removed from the list, the voter's registration is canceled or placed on inactive status pursuant to law, or the voter moves to a different address not in the same county or city of his registration.	Ronnie Campbell (R-HD24)	Left		2/15/22

No. of bills: 4

Glossary

Dillon Rule. Restricts local government authority to enact ordinances.

Conference Committee. A temporary committee w. members from both the House and Senate, tasked with reconciling differences in legislation that passed both chambers.

Continued/Carried over. Action taken in an even-numbered year to postpone the consideration of a measure until the next regular session of the General Assembly.

Crossover. The last day for a bill to pass out of the chamber in which it was introduced and move forward for consideration in the opposite chamber. If a bill does not move forward, it is "Left" (dead).

Engrossed. A legislative stage when a bill passes the second reading in the House of origin. Every bill has to be "read" on the floor three times before voting on it. The action or any debate or discussion usually comes on the day of the second reading or the third reading.

Enrolled. Legislation which has passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate, signed by the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, sent to the Governor, but not yet signed.

Failed to report. Defeated. The rejection of a motion to 'report' a bill to the full chamber.

Incorporated. Rolled into someone another bill. Either because they're identical, or they have incorporated *some* of the language in, and the patron agreed to have her name on the other bill.

Patron. Bill sponsor. There can be many patrons.

PBI. Passed by Indefinitely. Action to allow a committee to reconsider legislation at a later meeting. If the committee takes no further action, the bill is dead. [Usually the bill is dead.]

Referred. The assignment of legislation to another standing committee with no stance on the policy of the measure (neither endorses nor rejects the legislation).

Reported. The approval of a measure by the majority of the committee. The legislation may be reported by the committee with or without amendments. A bill may also be reported and referred to another committee.

Stricken. Legislation removed from a committee's docket, frequently at the request of the patron.

More definitions from League of Women Voters Virginia
More definitions from University of Virginia