SPECIAL SESSION, SO FAR
Here’s how Va. lawmakers are doing after a month debating COVID-19, police reform
It’s been one month since state lawmakers convened for a special session unlike any other, with the coronavirus pandemic leading the House of Delegates to hold all its meetings and votes remotely, and the Senate to meet in a socially distanced science museum, with occasional online meetings.
Lawmakers haven’t tackled the first task Gov. Ralph Northam assigned when he called the special session — to reshape a budget transformed by a loss of revenue as a result of the pandemic. The only budget-related matter lawmakers have passed so far is a $2 million allocation to provide pre-stamped envelopes for mailed absentee ballots.
Instead, they’ve been busy on the other assignments: passing criminal justice reform bills Democrats in control say are long overdue and approving legislation related to COVID-19.
Virginia’s special sessions are typically shorter and focus on one or two topics — in the past two years, such sessions have been called to address gun control, redistricting and Medicaid expansion — but this session will be longer than the regular one scheduled to start in January.
Some things haven’t changed: Democrats and Republicans sparring over bills, and the Senate and House having different ways of operating.
Virtual troubles
With their makeshift desks staggered for social distance at the Science Museum of Virginia, senators have continued robust, inperson debates, reminiscent of healthier times on the chamber floor inside the Capitol building.
The House of Delegates’ meetings — all virtual, all the time — haven’t gone as smoothly.
At least one delegate has trouble with the remote electronic voting system during each meeting, and
House Clerk Suzette Denslow has to call their name and ask for a voice vote, while reminding lawmakers to mute themselves when they’re not speaking.
House Republicans — in the minority for the first time in a generation — have complained of dropped calls, unexplained technology problems that led to missed votes, and invited guests not being able to speak during committee meetings.
They largely opposed the virtual session, saying it would not promote transparency and could prevent Virginians with a lack of internet from accessing the meetings, as well prevent robust debate from happening.
House Speaker Eileen FillerCorn, D-Fairfax, said the virtual setting makes the meetings more transparent and accessible for people who wouldn’t be able to travel to Richmond on weekdays to speak at a meeting.
During one tense exchange in a committee meeting, a Republican accused chairman Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, of blocking some people from entering the virtual public comment “room.”
“We’re not trying to stifle anybody, we think that all views will be heard today,” Sickles said.
“It’s a little hard to understand points of view, Mr. Chairman, when people aren’t allowed in the room,” Del. Dave LaRock, RLoudoun, shot back.
In virtual meetings, on social media and through statements, the two parties have quibbled over the per diem amount — $210 normally used for lodging and food during travel-related business — with House Republicans arguing delegates shouldn’t be receiving the money while working from home.
In the House, Democrats and Republicans painted a disparate view of how the session has been going.
“I don’t think the virtual session has worked well at all,” said Del. Kirk Cox, a Republican from Colonial Heights and the former speaker who is considering a run for governor in 2021. “I think it’s been a real struggle in my estimation.”
Filler-Corn painted a much rosier picture in an interview Wednesday.
“Overall, it’s a huge, complete success,” she said. “The most important thing here is we are able to conduct our business and do it safely.”
Legislative wrangling
Lawmakers have different takes not just on how the session has worked, but on the bills they’ve been considering.
Democrats who control the General Assembly have largely — in their own chambers, at least — succeeded in passing the criminal justice reform bills they prioritized this summer following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African Americans at the hands of police, which sparked national protests and calls for change.
Republicans in both chambers have opposed most of the changes, calling the Democrats’ priorities anti-law enforcement and a danger to communities. They’ve said they would rather pass legislation related to helping parents and school districts during virtual learning and limiting the governor’s authority during a state of emergency.
Senate Republicans took particular issue with a bill by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, that eliminated the six-month mandatory minimum sentence for assaulting a police officer. That bill passed on party lines in the Senate and is awaiting consideration in the House.
“What we are doing here is just taking away protections from our law enforcement officers who are out there day and night trying to preserve, protect and defend us every day,” Sen. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, said in late August during a floor debate.
Many from the GOP have accused Democrats of going beyond the scope of the special session — which was intended to address the budget, the coronavirus and police reform — by introducing bills related to prison reform, including making more inmates eligible for parole under more lenient compassionate release policies and allowing inmates to receive more time off their sentence if they participate in rehabilitation programs and remain infraction-free while incarcerated.
“When I came here, I understand the topics were pretty straightforward. Social justice reform, police reform, and the budget,” said Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, about the bill that would increase earned sentence credits for inmates. “What in the world ... does this have to do with social justice reform, police reform, and the budget? My answer: it doesn’t have a darn thing to do with any of those topics.”
The disagreements extend beyond the two parties and into the two chambers. While Senate and House Democrats agree broadly on ways to reform the police, their approach to it varies considerably, with differences between several bills still needing to be reconciled before they go to Northam, a Democrat, for a signature.
For example, under one House bill, police use of chokeholds would be illegal in all circumstances, and such use would result in an officer being charged with a felony. The more conservative Senate makes an exception if the chokehold is immediately necessary to protect the officer, and punishment for violating the law is limited to disciplinary action, to include dismissal or decertification.
The House and Senate also differ in their approach to civilian review boards that would provide public oversight on police matters. The House version says localities must create them; the Senate version gives localities the option.
Variations in the wording of several other pieces of legislation still have to be reconciled, including on banning law enforcement from obtaining certain military property, on requiring officers to intervene if they see colleagues engaging in use of force, and notifying the Criminal Justice Services Board of any police misconduct.
COVID-19 relief fails
Senators on Wednesday rejected the idea of requiring certain employers to provide two weeks of paid sick leave during the COVID-19 pandemic if employees or their families need to quarantine.
Senators from both parties said they were concerned about the financial burden on businesses that are likely already suffering as a result of revenue loss during the pandemic. The House previously passed the bill on a party-line vote.
The Senate also killed a bill that would extend workers’ compensation coverage for first responders, teachers and health care workers who were diagnosed with COVID-19, citing the potential high cost. Legislative analysts couldn’t even estimate the costs, saying they would be determined by the number of claims filed, the number of deaths and any associated long-term impacts that the disease could have. A House version, carried by Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, passed on a bipartisan vote and is awaiting consideration in the Senate.
‘We don’t have a path’
Both parties — Republicans in the House and the Senate’s top Democrat — have accused FillerCorn, the House speaker, of not communicating about when meetings are held and where the budget stands.
“We don’t have a path,” Cox said. “I have no idea when we’ll work on a revised budget as well. I don’t see us getting through until October.”
“Information on scheduling from them has not been very forthcoming,” Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, told senators on Wednesday, hinting that the Senate could delay action on any House bills until senators saw movement from the House on their Senate bills.
Filler-Corn said she’s been speaking regularly to Saslaw and the Senate Democratic caucus chair, Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, as well as GOP leaders in the House.
“I have absolutely no idea what (Saslaw is) referring to,” FillerCorn said. “There’s a difference between not being communicative and not liking what they hear.”
She said she laid out a schedule at the beginning of the session, and delegates have stayed on track. Work was completed on the House bills last week, and committees began considering Senate bills on Thursday.
Del. Luke Torian, chairman of the House Appropriations committee, couldn’t say when delegates would be voting on the budget, only that he hoped it was “very soon.”
“We’re moving right along,” he said in an interview Wednesday.