RICHMOND — Legislators from across the commonwealth will gather Wednesday in the Capitol as resurgent Republicans and the spiking coronavirus promise to dominate the annual General Assembly session.
After two years in the political wilderness in Richmond, the state’s long-dominant GOP will reclaim control of a House of Delegates it lost two years ago. Come Saturday, Republicans will also retake the executive branch they’ve been locked out of since early 2014, as Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares are sworn in.
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Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who like all Virginia governors is prohibited by the state constitution from seeking back-to-back terms, was set to deliver his final State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday night. He said Tuesday that he planned to speak about the accomplishments of his four-year term and to call for setting aside partisan differences for the good of the state as it navigates the ongoing pandemic.
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“It’ll be a message of unity — there’s a lot more that we share in common than we have as differences,” said Northam, who on Monday declared a limited state of emergency to help overwhelmed hospitals boost bed capacity and staffing.
Northam made the remarks to reporters Tuesday afternoon after the unveiling of his official state portrait, which will be installed outside the governor’s ceremonial office on the third floor of the Capitol.
Now only the state Senate, which was not on the ballot in November, will remain under Democratic control — and narrowly at that, with a 21-to-19 majority. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) will preside over the chamber through Friday, but after that, tiebreaking power goes to Sears, a Jamaican immigrant and the first woman of color to hold statewide office in Virginia.
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The 60-day session will test the political skills of a new governor who comes to Richmond with no background in elective office and a Cabinet made up largely of newcomers to state government. Yet with Virginia enjoying a hefty surplus, even some Democrats seemed primed to go along with Youngkin’s plans to cut taxes and create more charter schools.
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“He looks forward to working with Republicans and Democrats to solve the challenges that Virginia faces,” Youngkin spokesman Devin O’Malley said, noting the governor-elect’s “extensive outreach” to legislators from both parties to convey his focus on creating the “best schools, safest streets, a lower cost of living and more jobs.”
With hundreds of bills already filed, Republicans were clearly hoping to roll back much of what Democrats muscled through in the past two years, looking well beyond the “kitchen-table” issues that Youngkin and incoming House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) have called priorities.
Among the GOP bills are those to: prohibit local governments from banning guns from parks and government buildings; cancel a minimum wage hike — from $11 an hour to $12 — that’s scheduled to take effect next year; require women seeking an abortion to sign a written consent; require voters to show photo ID at the polls; cut the early-voting period from 45 days to 14 days; and repeal a state law requiring local school boards to follow the state’s lead on transgender-rights policies.
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Democrats seemed to have largely trimmed their sails, particularly in the House, where they had not filed many bills as they prepared to slip back into minority status. The session will open with Republicans holding at least a 52-47 advantage in the House. One Democratic-leaning district in Norfolk held a special election Tuesday to fill an open seat, with results still out by early evening.
Outgoing House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), who will become House minority leader, said she has designated individual lawmakers to take the lead on certain topic areas. She said they would start filing bills in the coming days as plans are finalized.
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In the Senate, some Democrats were keeping up the leftward push, with a pair of proposed constitutional amendments — one to scrap the state’s now-defunct constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the other to automatically restore voting rights to felons upon completion of their sentences.
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The proposed amendments passed in the General Assembly last year, but the constitution will not change unless they clear it a second time and then win approval in a statewide referendum. This year, however, a Republican, Del. Mike Cherry (R-Colonial Heights) was sponsoring the voting-rights legislation in the House — raising Democrats’ hopes for passage.
“This is a pleasant surprise,” Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax) remarked on Twitter. “Sure hope it gets a floor vote.”
Cherry’s presence in the chamber signaled another significant change since he replaces a veteran legislator, Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights). This session is the first in more than 30 years to open without the presence of Cox, a former speaker who opted not to seek reelection after losing the Republican gubernatorial nomination to Youngkin.
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Democrats seemed eager to flex what remains of their political muscle on some fronts. They were threatening to defeat Youngkin’s nomination of Andrew Wheeler — a former coal lobbyist who was President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency chief — for secretary of natural resources. Cabinet confirmations are typically mere formalities in Richmond, where a governor’s pick hasn’t been defeated since 2006.
Youngkin announced his 13th and perhaps final Cabinet nominee late Monday afternoon. He has not nominated a chief diversity officer, a Cabinet-level post Northam created in the aftermath of a blackface scandal in early 2019. A Youngkin transition aide said the incoming governor “will have announcements on that office in the near term.” He declined to elaborate.
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The annual General Assembly session — drawing people from all corners of the commonwealth in the dead of winter — is a breeding ground for colds and flu even in normal times. The state’s 100 delegates and 40 senators gather this year as covid-19 hospitalizations have spiked to record highs.
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A year ago, before coronavirus vaccines were widely available, the House met remotely while the Senate gathered in person but miles from the Capitol, in a meeting space large enough to allow for social distancing. The House and Senate returned to the Capitol last summer for a brief special session, but coronavirus cases were much lower then.
Vaccinations and masks will be “strongly encouraged” but optional for lawmakers and visitors to House facilities in the Capitol or the Pocahontas Building, where lawmakers have their offices, according to a news release from the incoming speaker’s office.
Senate Democratic leaders last week called for “mask and vaccine requirements” for everyone in the Senate chamber, but said they were still working out details with Senate Minority Leader Thomas K. Norment (R-James City). Senate leaders had not released protocols for their chamber as of Tuesday evening.
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On Tuesday afternoon, Northam attended the unveiling of his official portrait. Painted by artist Stanley Rayfield, who is from Richmond, the portrait depicts Northam standing in his wood-paneled office at the Executive Mansion. On the left is a Virginia flag and part of a painting of the Eastern Shore, where Northam was born. On a bookshelf to the right sits a small portrait of his wife, Pam Northam, below a statue of children engraved with the quote, “There is power in every child.”
Books on the shelf refer to the coronavirus, the state’s top business ranking and “child neurology,” which is Northam’s specialty in his practice as a physician. In the bottom right corner, newspapers display headlines about Virginia repealing the death penalty and removing its biggest Confederate statue — both accomplishments of Northam’s term.