The 2021 General Assembly convened in special session on February 10. Governor Ralph Northam issued a proclamation calling for the special session last week as part of a planned effort to extend what would otherwise be a 30-day regular session to the traditional 46-days allotted for the short session in odd-numbered years. To ensure continuity between the regular and special sessions, legislation from the 2021 regular session that survived the February 5 crossover deadline has been carried over to the special session, and committees began taking up legislation that had “crossed over” from one chamber to the other in the afternoon on February 10.
The procedural resolution governing the special session sets out the planned schedule for conclusion of legislative business and a targeted adjournment date of March 1.
KEY DATES OF INTEREST
- Wednesday, February 10: Money committees’ deadline to report their respective budget proposals
- Saturday, February 13: Deadline for floor consideration of budgets by the respective originating chambers
- Wednesday, February 17: Deadline for committee action on revenue bills; deadline for each chamber to consider the other chamber’s budget proposal
- Monday, February 22: Deadline for committee action at midnight
- Monday, March 1: Adjournment sine die
- Wednesday, April 7: Reconvened session
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle