The Legislation Process in Virginia

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The state of Virginia is found in the southern part of the United States. It is also called mother of presidents because eight of the US presidents were born in Virginia. Richmond is the capital and Virginia Beach has the highest population among its cities while Fairfax County is a political subdivision with the highest population. The total population of the state is about eight million people (Virginia, 2007.)

Its history began when the Virginia colony was founded in 1607 as the New World English colony by the Virginia Company of London. Some part of its land belonged to Native Americans who had been displaced together with slavery they played a great role the in its early politics as well as its plantation economy where the slaves provided cheap labor. Virginia was one of the colonies that were involved in the American Revolution and therefore joined the confederacy during the American civil war. During this time West Virginia State separated itself.

The government of Virginia is divided into three that is the executive, judicial and legislative branches (Virginia Courts, 2007). The legislative branch is the General Assembly which a hundred members in the House of Delegates while the Senate has forty members. The General Assembly has the role of writing the laws that are used in the state. The General Assembly has more powers than the executive and it is its role to elect justices as well as judges. The judicial contains the Supreme Court of Virginia, court of appeals of Virginia, general district and the circuit courts in order of superiority. The Attorney General and the Lieutenant Governor who are members of the executive can run for a re-election.

Uniqueness of Virginias state government

It is only in Virginia where cities are sovereign in other words they are independent organizations. In Virginia cities are self-governing from the counties. Therefore a county may surround a city yet they have separate jurisdictions. The citizens vote for the city mayors and city councils but not county supervisors (Virginia Cities n.d).

Virginias state government is unique from other states in the United States in that its Governor has the power to amend legislation. He or she can do the amendment even after the General Assembly has passed that particular legislation (Vanderhye, 2009).

The governor has the power to eliminate spending from the budget with a line-item veto. In addition the Governor can add spending or propose to change non-spending bills. For instance Governor Kaine made three minor changes to the budget using the line-item veto and all were upheld (Vanderhye, 2009).

The constitution is also a modern document. It underwent complete revisions in the late 1960s. The voters approved the changes in a vote in 1970. It is different from the United States constitution which has undergone twenty-seven amendments in two hundred and twenty years. It can be said to be rather static compared to Virginias constitution that has been changed completely five times since it was first adopted in the year 1776.

The term for Virginia is restricted to one term only or non-consecutive terms on the contrary a governor can serve non-consecutive terms. However during the term the governor can lay an active role in the legislation process.

When the governor recommends amendments to one or more bills the General Assembly during a reconvened session makes decisions about the proposal. To begin with the Assembly can accept to make the amendment(s) through a majority vote. The vote is made by the members present both from the House of Delegates as well as the Senate and if the majority vote in favor of the amendment(s) the bill then becomes law.

If the legislators from either the House of Delegates or the Senate reject the proposed amendments the bill is sent back to the governor. The governor can then choose to sign the bill or if he or she wants the amendment implemented he or she can use the veto. When a veto is exercised the General Assembly can not get another chance to reverse the veto. To counter a situation like this from happening the General Assembly has the power to re-pass the original bill. They can do this using a vote by two-thirds majority which makes it a law without any other action by the governor this can be seen as a way of overriding the veto power of the governor (Vanderhye, 2009).

When the Governor sends more than one amendment to the General Assembly the legislators can approve the amendments they choose to and reject those that they chose using the majority votes. The rejected amendments are sent back to the governor who can either sign the revised bill as it is or exercise their veto power to kill the bill.

Nevertheless the General Assembly can use a majority vote to determine whether the proposed amendments are severable and specific. If they determine they are not specific as well as severable they have the option of looking into the original bill whereby they restart all over again. Therefore they send the original bill back to a committee for amendments or they can reject the bill outright.

The above options are many and they may create a very dynamic way of determining what the final bill will be. On the one hand if the General Assembly deems the amendments not to be severable as well as specific the governor may end up losing the original bill as well. On the other by rejecting the Governors proposal from amendments the General Assembly risk losing the original bill if the governor decides to exercise veto. In addition if the amendments are passed the original intention of the bill may be changed or as well be expanded altogether (Vanderhye, 2009).

The church and the state are not separated in Virginia. The church minister cannot marry the citizens without the written consent of the government. On the other hand churches require their ministers to get permission from the government in order to marry people. The permission is granted in form of a permit that the church Minster receives after swearing an oath (Griffith, 2009).

Virginias government has managed to keep the taxes low. Thus the people are able to run their businesses better. The government has also done lot to ensure that technology is incorporated in business and today it has the highest number of technologically advanced businesses compared to other states (Chrisgraham, 2009).

The state of Virginia has been voted as the most conducive state to do business. It was voted business-friendly and its government top in terms of performance. The government is said to be effective (Chrisgarham,2009).

Similarities

Virginia state government is autonomous just like other state governments. It is a state that conforms to the constitution of the United States.

Its legislature is bicameral like in the other forty-eight states with the exception of Nebraska which has a unicameral legislature.

Its legislative process is similar to other states processes like the following exposition illustrates. All states undergo a process that is similar or close to this one. Making laws is not always pleasant. However laws must be made. In the state of Virginia the legislative process takes place in the General Assembly. The process begins when a bill is introduced to the house by either the House of Delegates or the Senate. After its introduction it is referred to as a House bill during the entire process until it becomes law. The bill may be an idea that originates from an organization, a lobby group as well as from an individual from a constituent which they forward to either a senator or delegate who are members of the General Assembly. The member introduces the idea(s) to the Division of Legislative Services which upon a request drafts the idea(s) into a bill using the legal register. After it has been drafted it is signed by the chief patron. Other legislators may also sign the bill to express their support for it. After this it is then taken to the suitable committee. There are fourteen house committees with the senate having twelve while the House of Delegates has two. The committees have sub-committees and the bill is given to a sub-committee of the appropriate committee. The sub-committee has about six to eight members who listen to the bill and make their recommendations to the committee they serve under. When the bill is under the subcommittee the citizens are given an opportunity to air their views about the bill (Virginias legislation, 2007).

The full committee then decides on the way forward for the bill. If the members through a majority vote favor the bill it is moved forward to the General Assembly. On the other hand if the majority members do not favor the bill that is its end but one of the members who voted against it may move that the bill is reconsidered.

First reading of the bill takes place either in the House or Senate depending on where it was forts introduced. The bill is either read by the clerk of the Senate or House or printed in the daily calendar of the House or Senate. After this it goes into second reading. During the second reading the bills title is printed on the calendar. The clerk has to read the title of the bill again for a second time. At this stage the members can debate on the bill or amend it. If they make amendments the bill is reprinted for passage. After passing through the second reading a bill is engrossed regardless of it having amendments or not. The third reading takes place the following day. Just like in the second reading the clerk reads the title of the bill for a third time and it is also printed in the calendar. Members vote on the bill and it either goes through or is shot down (Virginias legislation, 2007).

If the bill passes it is taken to the other body. Is read by the clerk and printed in the calendar. The bill is then taken to a standing committee that considers it. If it is reported and passed by this committee the title of the bill is read a second and a third time on the floor prior to its passage.

At this stage a conference committee is formed if the bill meets opposition in either house. That is the House may amend a senate bill and vice versa. If the house or the senate disagrees with the amendments the conference committee comes in to try and resolve the contentious issue in the bill. This committee comprises three members from the two legislative bodies (Virginias legislation, 2007).

When both bodies agree on a bill it is printed and becomes an enrolled bill which is examined by presiding officers from the two bodies and who sign it.

After enrolment the bill is taken to the governor for approval. If the Governor approves and signs the bill it goes back to the House clerk who assigns it a chapter number. Then the chapter has complied under the Acts of the Assembly.

The governor can assent to a bill sent to him by the General Assembly and it becomes law. However, if he disagrees, the bill can be referred back to the General Assembly for amendments or the governor can use the privilege of veto on the bill. If taken back to the Assembly it has to act on the amendments during a reconvened session that occurs about a month later. The two bodies debate on the amendments and they may be adopted with a two-thirds majority vote. On the other hand if they disagree to adopt the changes the bill goes back to the governor in its original form. He or she may sign the bill or choose to veto it (Virginias legislation, 2007).

On the other hand when a bill is returned to the Assembly for amendments through a two-thirds majority the members can pass the original bill. When this happens it becomes law even without the need of returning it to the governor.

Budgets bills in Virginia are handled differently from other bills. The main difference is the amendment. The legislators put forward many amendments to a budget bill that is given by the governor. The amendments proposals go senate Finance Committee and the House appropriations committee. The two committees choose which amendments to adopt for inclusion into the budget bill to be taken to the two legislative bodies that are, Senate and the House. Generally the bills are adopted by the Assembly in the form the committees report them (Virginias legislation, 2007).

The conference committee is usually formed to look into the differences between the original budget bill and the amended one. The committee may work until the last minute of the session in trying to resolve the differences. After the conference committee report goes to the Assembly the bill is passed and later availed to the governor. The governor can make line-item changes using his veto powers. The budget bill goes through a similar process as other bills before it becomes law. When a budget bill is signed it is the Appropriations Act (Virginias legislation, 2007).

Bills that become law in Virginia State during regular sessions become effective on first July except when a bill states a different date which could be earlier or later than July first. In case of an earlier date a two-thirds majority vote is required to pass it on the other hand if the date is later a simple majority can pass it.

During the 2006 session, a controversial rule becomes effective in the House of Delegates. The rule allows the subcommittees to kill bills using a majority vote without recorded vote. Therefore the bill is never considered by the main committee except when the chair of the full committee decides to recall the bill or through a majority vote by the full committee members (Virginias legislation, 2007).

The legislative calendar of the General Assembly commences on the second Wednesday of January and lasts for forty-six days. In even-numbered years the session lasts for six days and during years like this the Assembly puts in place a two-year budget which is given by the governor and can be amended by both the governor and the Assembly. On the contrary budgets during odd-numbered years can only be adapted to the legislative.

The key dates for the legislative process are January nineteenth by which all bills must be brought. By sixth February the two bodies must have finished their work on bills presented on their floor because from this date only bills from the other body are considered that is the Senate looks into House bills and the House Senates. Committees are required to have finished working on the bills by Monday of the last week prior to the end of the session (Virginias legislation, 2007).

The government of the state of Virginia is different compared to other governments in the state due to its unique legislation. Other people consider Virginia a conservative state but one thing is for sure, it is scoring high ratings from various studies and thus putting among the states that are at the pedestal of the United States.

Bibliography

1. Chrisgraham (2009).Virginia makes Top 5 on another best state for business list.
2. Commonwealth and Country. Virginia Army National Guard.
3. Griffith, A.C. (2009). The Government Controls the Church.
4. How Virginias legislative process works. (2007). Virginia Organizing Project.
5. Vanderhye, M. (2009). Virginia Legislative Process Unique Among States.
6. Virginia  ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: (2007). United States Census Bureau.
7. Virginia cities. Web.
8. Virginia Courts. Virginia Judicial System.

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