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Virginia General Assembly

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  - Margaret Mead

General Assembly Basics
The General Assembly meets each year from January through February or March. They meet again in April for a reconvened veto session typically for one day.

Information about the Virginia General Assembly can be found at http://legis.state.va.us

• What meetings are scheduled?  - Left box, click on Meetings & Events.
• When are Committees meeting and what bills are they considering?  - Left box, click on House of Delegates or Senate and choose from the pop-up box.
• Status of a specific bill?  - Left column, Enter a Bill Number, type HB and bill number for House bills, type SB and bill number for Senate bills, and click on the go button.
• Search for a bill?  - Click "Legislative Information System" on the top bar, then pick the search method you want.

Bills are typically heard in subcommittee, then committee, then the full Senate or House and then the process repeats in the other chamber. There are budget amendments and there are bills - typically, hundreds of budget amendments and thousands of bills.  The bills and the budget amendments are posted on the website in the first few weeks of the session.  Legislators submit budget amendments to the House Appropriations Committee or the Senate Finance Committee.  Budget amendments are not assigned bill numbers, but are part of the budget bill itself.  Budget amendments have item numbers within the budget bill.  House budget amendments will first be handled by the House Appropriations Committee and their 11 subcommittees. Senate budget amendments will first be handled by the Senate Finance Committee and their 7 subcommittees. There is a series of dates established for the discussion and narrowing of the budget amendments.

Who is My Legislator?
With 100 members of the House of Delegates and 40 members of the Senate, it can be difficult to know who represents you in the General Assembly. When you ask yourself "Who's My Legislator?" you can find the answer and other useful contact information at:
 
http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Contact Your Legislator:
Go to http://legis.state.va.us. Choose either "Senate" and click on " Senators" or "House of Delegates" and click on " Delegates".  Either screen will give you legislator names and phone numbers. To get email addresses or other contact information, click on the pull-down menu at the top titled "Membership".  Click on "Contact Info" and a box will pop-up with other choices, including email.  If you click on "Email", a screen will appear with email addresses that you can click on to send your message.

Express Your Views
During the legislative session you may call the Constituent Viewpoint operators at (800) 889-0229 to express your opinion on a legislative issue. The hours of operation are from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.  When the General Assembly is not in session, call (804) 698-1500 for the House of Delegates Legislative Information Office and (804) 698-7410 for the Senate Legislative Information Office.

Research a Bill:
To get to a bill on the Internet go to http://leg1.state.va.us/061/lis.htm  Click on "Bills and Resolutions".  Follow the instructions to get the bill you want to review. 

Contact the Governor:

The Honorable Timothy Kaine
Governor of Virginia
Office of the Governor
PO Box 1475
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Office: (804) 786-2211

You can also visit the Governor's web site:
http://www.governor.virginia.gov

Other Links:

VA State Board of Elections: http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms

Updated on 06/24/07