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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.
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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.
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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
A comprehensive list of State Government web sites can be found
at
http://www.vipnet.org/portal/government/state_website_list.htm
Updated on
06/24/07
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