SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2021 SESSION
Chair: R. Creigh Deeds
Clerk: John Garrett
Staff: Brooks Braun
Date of Meeting: January 19, 2021
Time and Place: 15 mins aft adj. SR W Register to speak @ Va Gen Assembly website
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3
Patron: Favola
Absentee voting; witness signature not required. Repeals the requirement that an absentee ballot be opened in the presence of a witness and signed by such witness.
Patrons: Ebbin, Lucas
Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term.
Patron: Spruill
Elections; preservation of order at the polls; powers of officers of election. Removes the power of officers of election, in the event that no law-enforcement officer is in attendance, to appoint a person who is not a law-enforcement officer to have all the powers of a law-enforcement officer within the polling place and the prohibited area.
Patron: Petersen
Campaign contribution limits; civil penalty. Prohibits persons from making any single contribution, or any combination of contributions, that exceeds $20,000 to any one candidate for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, or the General Assembly in any one election cycle. No limits are placed on contributions made by political party committees, the candidate, or the candidate's family to the candidate's campaign. Civil penalties for violations of the limits may equal up to two times the excess contribution amounts.
Patron: Petersen
Campaign finance; prohibited contributions to candidates. Prohibits candidates, campaign committees, and political committees from soliciting or accepting contributions from any public utility, as defined in the bill, and prohibits any public utility or any political committee established by such public utility from making any such contribution.
Patron: Bell
Absentee voting; third-party absentee ballot assembly and distribution. Permits a general registrar to contract with a third party for the printing, assembly, and mailing of absentee ballots. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and for those regulations to include processes to ensure secure and timely delivery of voter information to contractors and reports of mailed absentee ballots from contractors.
Patron: Morrissey
Elections; qualifications of the general registrar, residency. Removes the requirement that the general registrar of a locality be a resident of that locality or an adjacent locality.
Patron: McClellan
Elections; prohibited discrimination in voting and elections administration; required process for enacting certain covered practices; civil causes of action. Prohibits any voting qualification or any standard, practice, or procedure related to voting from being imposed or applied in a manner that results in the denial or abridgment of the right of any United States citizen to vote based on his race or color or membership in a language minority group. The bill further prohibits at-large methods of election from being imposed or applied in a locality in a manner that impairs the ability of a protected class, defined in the bill, to elect candidates of its choice or to influence the outcome of an election, by diluting or abridging the rights of voters who are members of a protected class. Prior to enacting or administering a covered practice, defined in the bill, the governing body of a locality is required to publish the proposed covered practice and accept public comment for a minimum of 30 days on the proposed covered practice; after the public comment period, a 30-day waiting period is required. During this period, any person who will be subject to or affected by the covered practice may challenge the covered practice as (i) having the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on the basis of race or color or membership in a language minority group or (ii) resulting in the retrogression in the position of members of a racial or ethnic group with respect to their effective exercise of the electoral franchise. The bill permits the local governing body to instead submit the proposed covered practice to the Office of the Attorney General for issuance of a certification of no objection and, once such certification is issued, to enact or administer the covered practice. Certain unlawful actions, including knowingly communicating false information to voters, that are currently subject to criminal penalties will create civil causes of action under the bill. Current provisions related to language minority accessibility are moved to a newly created chapter relating to the rights of voters.
Patron: Deeds
Confirming Governor's appointments; June 1. Confirms appointments of certain persons made by Governor Ralph Northam and communicated to the General Assembly June 1, 2020.
Patron: Deeds
Confirming Governor's appointments; August 1. Confirms appointments of certain persons made by Governor Ralph Northam and communicated to the General Assembly August 1, 2020.
Patron: Deeds
Confirming Governor's appointments; October 1. Confirms appointments of certain persons made by Governor Ralph Northam and communicated to the General Assembly October 1, 2020.
Patron: Deeds
Confirming Governor's appointments; April 1. Confirms appointments of certain persons made by Governor Ralph Northam and communicated to the General Assembly April 1, 2020.
Patron: Deeds
Confirming Governor's appointments; December 1. Confirms appointments of certain persons made by Governor Ralph Northam and communicated to the General Assembly December 1, 2020.
Patron: Deeds
Confirming Governor's appointments; January 1. Confirms appointments of certain persons made by Governor Ralph Northam and communicated to the General Assembly January 1, 2021.
Patron: Bell
Expressing the censure of the Senate. Expresses the censure of the Senate of Virginia for Senator Amanda F. Chase.