We are officially more than halfway through the 2020 Legislative Session! This was another busy week of visiting with constituents and spending long hours on the House floor to pass all the legislation before the Crossover deadline. With a few more weeks of Session to go, House committees we will now begin to hear testimony on bills that have passed from the Senate to the House.

Now that we’ve made it to the other side…

We have officially crossed over, and our House bills have moved to the Senate side. ‘Crossover’ is the midpoint of the session, so we’re officially halfway there! For a closer look at how Crossover works, take a look at this link. Below are a few of my bills that were heard in Senate committees this past week:

HB 256: This bill aims to dismantle the school to prison pipeline by ending the practice of charging students with disorderly conduct charge while they are on school property. Disorderly conduct is a vague charge and by applying it to students we’re unnecessarily sending too many children into the criminal justice system.

HB 257: This is another bill focused on disrupting the school to prison pipeline by providing school principals with the ability to utilize their expertise when deciding whether or not to refer students to law enforcement for certain non-violent incidents.

HB 663: I’m carrying this bill on behalf of the Commission of Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, of which I’m one of the legislative members. The bill clears up some confusion around the venue in which certain DUI-related offenses are prosecuted.

Big News This Week

Monday and Tuesday were long, busy days on the House floor. We passed some very important pieces of legislation, including: 

• We passed a bill to raise the minimum wage! Finally, after so many years of effort, deserving Virginians will be paid a fair wage, if the bill is passed in the Senate and signed by the Governor.
• We passed a bill by Delegate Joshua Cole, HB 235, to make voter registration automatic when someone is using the services of the DMV.
• The House passed my own bill, HB 889, The Clean Energy Choice Act to expand access to energy that is produced by renewable sources.
• Hundreds of other bills passed through the House as well and you can check out all of them by visiting this link on the Legislative Information Systems.

​Valentine’s Day

Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! Here at the General Assembly, we tend to go a little overboard on Valentine’s Day. It’s a day when we all get to show our appreciation for one another through sugary treats and adorable valentines. We look forward to it every year!

In Memoriam

The Williamsburg community is mourning the loss of Dave Baum, the founder of Billsburg Brewery, who passed away unexpectedly this past weekend. Dave was a tremendous community member, business leader, and philanthropist. I join so many others in extending my heartfelt condolences to Dave’s family on this tragic loss. 

In the District

The Colonial Williamsburg Department of Archaeology is introducing an exciting program called the Public Archaeology Institute and they are inviting students grades 9-12 to apply. The program will pair the students with archaeologists in the field. To learn more about the program, and for information on how to apply, please visit this link. 

As a reminder, tomorrow is President’s Day. If you were planning on going to any local or state government offices, double check to ensure that they are open before making the trip. 

This coming week we will be busy considering all of the bills that passed in the Senate and have come over to the House. We will also be busy presenting all of our House bills before the various Senate committees. I’m looking forward to getting the bills that I introduced through the Senate and on to the Governor’s desk. As always, thank you for following along!

Yours,

Delegate Michael P. Mullin