Lawmakers delay minimum wage, maintain election schedule in extraordinary session

Protesters in cars honked endlessly as they circled the Capitol. The Speaker of the House collapsed on the dais as she led a floor session. A lawmaker cast votes from a Plexiglas enclosure.

The typically sleepy reconvened session of the Virginia General Assembly on Thursday fully reflected the bizarre world into which we’ve all been thrust by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If anyone in this room is going to die from the virus if they get it, it’s me,” said Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, who worked from the transparent enclosure constructed by Senate staff. He said he was still recovering from open heart surgery and a bout of pneumonia.

Images from a reconvened session like no other as lawmakers return to Richmond

Lawmakers were back in Richmond Wednesday for the reconvened, or veto, session, when they act on gubernatorial vetoes and amendments. But, given the pandemic, it was one like no other, drawing right wing protesters opposed to Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order and other social distancing restrictions.

To keep be able to keep their own distance from each other, the House met in a tent on the Capitol grounds, beset by blaring horns from the drive-by protesters and technical difficulties. The Senate met in a space commandeered from the Science Museum of Virginia across town.

Embattled Va. Dems stockpile cash ahead of November

WASHINGTON — Targeted Democratic incumbents from Virginia’s U.S. congressional delegation were padding their war chests as the election year kicked off.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the landscape for politicians in Virginia and across the country as many have been forced to cut back on active fundraising and campaigning. But the most recent campaign finance reports show that Virginia Democrats who are expected to face the toughest reelection challenges this fall had stocked up more cash than their competitors by the end of March.

The Republican expected to face the toughest race — freshman Rep. Denver Riggleman — had less cash on hand than his top-raising Democratic opponent, although Riggleman has raised nearly twice as much during the election cycle.

For the better part of a decade, many Virginia Democrats, some Republicans and anti-gerrymandering advocates have pushed to take away the General Assembly’s constitutionally derived power to draw political maps and give it to an outside commission.

After the House of Delegates voted 54-46 Thursday to approve a constitutional amendment creating that commission, Virginia voters will get to decide whether they agree, just in time to change the system for the 2021 redistricting process. After several days of tense closed-door caucus meetings, nine House Democrats joined with 45 Republicans to approve the measure.

If Virginia voters give it final approval in a November ballot referendum, the commission will be formed to redraw the state’s General Assembly and congressional districts next year using new census data.

But the commission concept that won bipartisan approval in the General Assembly for the second year in a row did so over strong objections from some black lawmakers who said their concerns were ignored in a rush to embrace a flawed proposal. If the House had rejected the proposal, Democrats who won control of the General Assembly last year would have had the final say over the next redistricting process.

Both the May General/Special Elections and the June Primary dates have changed per the Governor’s Executive Order 56 and Executive Order 59. The Virginia Department of Elections encourages voters to protect their health during COVID-19 outbreak.

Voting absentee in the coming May and June elections is strongly encouraged. Voters may choose reason “2A My disability or illness” for absentee voting in the May and June 2020 elections due to COVID-19. Voters who choose the absentee option should do so as soon as possible so they can get their ballots in time to return them by mail by Election Day. Apply online for a Virginia absentee ballot.

Supply shortages and poor coordination delayed COVID-19 testing in Virginia for weeks

Amid continued concern over the shortage of COVID-19 testing in Virginia, several commercial labs have expressed surprise that their capacity for running tests remains above the demand for them.

Asked Wednesday why the state of Virginia couldn’t have contracted with private labs to boost testing capacity, former Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Remley — recently announced as co-director of Gov. Ralph Northam’s new testing task force — said that none were ready at the time when the state needed them most.

“One could have — but those labs were not available to test,” she said. “Four or five weeks ago, everybody was struggling to bring up their laboratories.”

A recent analysis by The Virginian-Pilot ranked Virginia’s testing rate lower than nearly every other state other than Kansas and Arizona. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center shows that the number of tests administered in Virginia trails nearby states — including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, and Tennessee — by several thousand.

Northam urges ‘larger role’ for feds on poultry worker safety but advocates press state to step up

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order Tuesday invoking the Defense Production Act to ensure meat processing facilities remain open during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam is calling on the administration to provide additional assistance to protect plant workers.

“If we declare that workers at meat processing plants are essential, then it is imperative that we continue to support their health and well-being,” said Northam at his regular Wednesday press conference.

“I sincerely hope that with this executive order, the president is signaling that the federal government will play a much larger role in keeping the employees of these meat processing plants safe and provide federal support to ensure every worker has protection, i