The 2012 Virginia House of Delegates was gaveled into session by Speaker William J. Howell on Wednesday, January 9 at 12 noon. We all took the oath of office with 16 new members in the House. We also began committee work right way and I appeared with my first bill before the Criminal Law Subcommittee on the House Courts of Justice Committee on Monday, January 16.
On December 19th I attended the House Finance, Senate Finance, and House Appropriations Committee meeting in Richmond for the presentation by Governor McDonnell of his two year budget for the Commonwealth.
First, I want to thank everyone for extending me the privilege of representing this District in the Virginia General Assembly for another two years. It is indeed an honor and it is a service which I enjoy.
With Summer behind us and school back underway, Members of the Legislature begin to focus the next General Assembly Session, which begins on January 11, 2012. Hard as it may be to believe, the number and frequency of Legislative meetings increases significantly after Labor Day.
The 2011 Special Session of the Virginia General Assembly has yet to adjourn as I write this. Our last meeting on June 9, 2011, resulted in a Committee of conference to consider the competing congressional redistricting plans of the State Senate and the House of Delegates.
On Monday April 4, 2011 at 12:00 noon, the Virginia General Assembly began it’s once a decade task of redrawing legislative districts when it convened in a Special Session for the purpose of redistricting.
As I write this column, we are almost at the finish line of Saturday, February 26 for the 2011 General Assembly