Is 60 Days Enough Time?

On January 12, 2022, Virginia’s General Assembly will begin a 60-day legislative session. In just two short months, the legislature will fulfill its duty of representing constituents by considering hundreds of bills, approving a two-year budget, and electing judges to the state’s courts. 


That’s a lot of work in a little time. But believe it or not, the 60-day 2022 regular session is actually a long session. The Virginia state constitution mandates that the General Assembly convene for an annual regular session on the second Wednesday of each January. In even-numbered years, the legislature meets for 60 calendar days. And in odd-numbered years, the legislature meets for just 30 calendar days, although these sessions are traditionally extended to 45 days. 


The General Assembly can also convene for special sessions, which are prompted by calls from the Governor or by petition from two-thirds of members from both the House and Senate. Special sessions have been keeping the General Assembly in Richmond for longer amounts of time in recent years -- in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the General Assembly held a 60-day special session from August to October. 


Why does Virginia’s General Assembly meet for such short periods of time? Like many other states, Virginia designed its legislative calendar to promote the ideal of “citizen legislators.” These representatives would come to Richmond for a month or two each year to legislate, and then return to their districts to work more typical jobs. In a state with strong agricultural history like Virginia, meeting for the legislative session during winter months was convenient for farmers — while there wasn’t any harvesting to be done, farmers could either serve in the legislature, or come to observe the public proceedings in Richmond themselves.


Today, though, Virginia has a diverse economy and a population of 8.6 million. This has ignited debate about whether Virginia should transition from a part-time legislature to a full-time legislature in order to better address the complex needs of constituents.


Those who wish to preserve Virginia’s part-time legislative model say that when legislators are able to return home to their districts for months at a time, representation is strengthened. Legislators have plenty of time to speak with their neighbors and learn about what’s happening in the community. Additionally, legislators have the ability to live and work under the laws that they create. The logic is that when legislators are embedded in their districts for most of the year, they will have a better idea of how to represent their constituents when they come to Richmond in the winter.


Proponents of a full-time legislature in Virginia, however, say that more than 60 days are needed in order to effectively govern a modern state. They point to the fact that both the House of Delegates and the state Senate are forced to limit the number of bills members are permitted to introduce; this could create a situation in which necessary legislation doesn’t even have the opportunity to be considered. And because so many bills are considered in such a short period of time, it’s difficult for constituents to follow what’s occurring at the General Assembly. 


Furthermore, although Virginia legislators only work a few months out of the year, lobbyists never stop working. This causes what’s known as “copycat” bills to be introduced in Virginia — bills written by special interests with boilerplate language that are introduced in several states. If Virginia had a full-time General Assembly, legislators would have the time and resources to write bills that accurately reflect the needs and desires of Virginians.


Virginia isn’t unique in having a part-time legislature. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, just four states have a full-time legislature — California, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. These states, which all have large populations, pay their legislators a full-time wage and provide large, well-paid staff. 


The debate around the length of Virginia’s General Assembly sessions isn’t likely to end any time soon. In the meantime, legislators are gearing up for a legislative session in which Republicans will control the House of Delegates and Democrats will control the Senate. This week, members will have the ability to begin prefiling legislation. This legislative session is expected to last from January 12 through March 12.

[Virginia Public Media] Data: Virginia’s Early Childhood Education Providers Are Succeeding

By VOW Ops • January 21, 2026
The second year of results from Virginia’s recently established Quality Establishment and Improvement System (VQB5) for early childhood education found that 99% of childcare providers receiving state funding meet or exceed quality expectations. As of early December 2025, over 154,000 views have been recorded on the system’s website since its October 2024 debut, revealing the many parents and families who appreciate the information that VQB5 offers them. None of these wonderful results would even be available to admire without the support and success we had in passing HB 1012 and SB 578 back in 2020! The data focuses on classroom interactions between children and caregivers and notes how said interactions encourage kids to express themselves at a young age. The state has also enacted categories of excellence for providers who score in the top 10%, exceed quality expectations, or even show significant improvement from an evaluation the year before. On top of that, a new data system called VAConnects helps integrate information on students over the years to track their learning progress. The Department of Education wishes to sustain the program and has requested $735,000 to do so. Overall, Virginia is serving as a model for other states to use in establishing best practices for their early childhood programs. Read more here .

[Richmond Times Dispatch] Virginians want General Assembly Action on Housing, Survey Finds

By VOW Ops • January 21, 2026
An August survey reveals that large majorities of Virginians want state lawmakers to address the rising cost of housing. The survey was conducted by Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia and Freedom Virginia. More than 8 in 10 Virginians said the General Assembly needs to act. More than 3 in 4 Virginians want lawmakers to prevent landlords from raising rents each year by more than 7%. Many Virginians also supported the idea of the state incentivizing localities to build more housing and providing developers with an ability to appeal rejected housing projects. Many proposals that were made to address all these public concerns were struck down during the 2025 legislative session. One of the main reasons why all the mentioned proposals failed to pass the General Assembly is because of the large influence the local government lobbies have in Richmond in protecting what little authority they are granted by the state. However, 6 in 10 Virginians indicated that they are more concerned with providing more housing than protecting local government authority. Read more here.

[Richmond Times Dispatch] Spanberger Details Affordability Measures in Health Care, Energy, Housing

By VOW Ops • December 19, 2025
Governor-elect Spanberger has released details on how her administration will work with the General Assembly to address affordability issues for Virginians regarding health care, energy, and housing. Democrats in the General Assembly argue the proposals are needed to mitigate the effects of President Trump’s tariff policies and reduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. Some of the solutions being proposed are legislation from the previous session that were vetoed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. In health care, Spanberger and Virginia Democrats will tackle pharmacy benefit managers’ ability to compel patients toward using affiliated-only pharmacies. The incoming administration also wants to limit the number of times insurance companies can request approvals from patients receiving certain cancer cares and medicines for chronic conditions. Democrats are also reviving legislation that would prohibit insurance companies from charging tobacco smokers higher premiums. Further, Spanberger supports implementing a pilot program to help Virginians who will face unaffordable insurance premiums resulting from the expiration of the ACA enhanced tax credits. In energy, Spanberger called to make it easier for Virginians to utilize small-scale solar panels which don’t require hard labor to install. She also wants the previously vetoed legislation that would set energy storage standards for utility companies brought back to her desk (Governor Youngkin vetoed it because of his belief that the Virginia Clean Economy Act associated with it was ineffective). In housing, Spanberger and Democrats are reviving legislation from 2025 that would extend the grace period tenants have before being evicted for missing rent payments. They are also proposing changes that would give local governments priority in acquiring affordable multi-family units supported by tax credits when the owner wants to sell or convert them. Further, Democrats are reintroducing a bill which would allow all localities to change their zoning ordinances to create dense and affordable housing (currently, only the counties of Albemarle and Loudoun and the cities of Alexandria, Charlottesville, and Fairfax are granted such provisions). Read more here.
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