How to Watch the Law Being Made: A Short Guide to the 2025 General Assembly
This month, we will not prepare for 2025 just by joining a gym, planning a diet, or even taking a trip. We are going to peek at the 2025 General Assembly in Virginia. We will review some key dates and then look at how the legislative process works in Virginia and how to locate bills and watch important hearings. Mark Twain once commented, “Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made.” It is a tough process but being able to understand and watch it unfold can help each of us to be better informed citizens.
The session will start on January 8, 2025. However, several events have already happened. Prefiling began on July 15, and the budget bill was presented on December 18. You can view the status of all bills, including those profiled online, at https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-search. Some of the bills that have already been introduced address issues such as cell phone usage at school and short-term rentals.
Once the session convenes on January 8, pre-filing ends, as does the last day to file legislation to create or continue a study. Only two days after convening, the last day to submit budget amendments is January 10.
During the session, bills will be introduced in the House or the Senate—the deadline to introduce them in one house is January 17, 2025. Once the bill is introduced, it is usually referred to a committee, and the committee reviews the bill. It typically will either make changes and report the bill to the legislative body referring it, pass it without changes, or tie it up in committee without action. You may view the list of committees in the Virginia General Assembly here: https://virginiageneralassembly.gov/membersAndSession.php?secid=1&activesec=0#!hb=1&mainContentTabs=4. Much of what happens in the General Assembly happens in the committee process and if you are following a bill, be sure to follow the committee assignment and reach out to committee members if you have input on the bill. For bills in the house, you may participate remotely through this link: https://hodspeak.house.virginia.gov/. Both the House and the Senate provide a live stream of most committee meetings, with the link for the Senate found here: https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3 and the House here: https://virginiageneralassembly.gov/house/committees/commstream.html.
Almost a month after convening, any bill introduced in one house must cross over to the other, with the deadline being February 4, 2025. If a bill does not pass a body by "Crossover day," it is dead and will not become law in 2025. It is possible that the content of that bill may be inserted in another bill that did pass by amendment or during conference committee, but the bill itself will not pass.
The next important date for all bills (other than the budget) is February 17, 2024. All committee action must be completed on the remaining bills, and the bill must be reported from the committee back out on the floor. When both the House and Senate pass a bill, but the draft that each pass is different, it is returned to the first body that passed it to see if they will adopt the changes proposed by the second body that acted on the bill. If they do not accept the changes, the bill is placed in a conference committee, which is a committee comprised of members of both houses who will negotiate to determine if they can resolve differences. A bill in the conference committee has another opportunity to pass both bodies by the last day of the session, February 22. If you are very interested in a bill and it gets into the conference committee, you should determine the committee members and contact them since substantial changes may occur during the negotiation of a compromise in the conference.
All bills must pass by midnight on February 22, 2025, and the session will adjourn si ne da. The Governor has until March 24 to act on legislation. Most legislation that passes this session will be effective on July 1.
This short summary didn’t not include the substantial action that occurs with the budget. The budget is presented by the Governor in advance of the session on December 18. Members have until January 10 to submit budget amendments. The House Appropriations and Senate Finance & Appropriations must act to complete action on budget bills by February 2. By February 6, the houses of origin must complete an action on the budget bill, and by February 12, the action must conclude, and conferees are appointed to work on the budget. The budget has a dedicated website, and you should follow that closely. https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/
While we may sometimes feel like we have no input in the laws that are adopted in our state, we can find opportunities to learn and to share our experiences with our legislators. Once you’ve learned about the bills and their place in the process, you may want to contact local representatives to discuss concerns and ideas.