In just three hours, the General Assembly will end after its 90 days of mischief. There won't be balloons and celebration as the House of Delegates ends this year. COVID-19 cast a pall over all we do. Only half of my House colleagues are on the floor tonight, with the other half still stuck in the Annex, feeling like the forgotten stepchildren and often deprived of their right to fairly represent their constituents.
But COVID is not the only ill wind blowing this year. Despite the severe restrictions on citizen access and input into the process and despite promises by the majority that only major bills would be processed, more "bad bills" have been passed in this year than in any year I can recall. By "bad, I am referencing bills on which virtually all of the minority Republican delegates voted "no."
My goal in writing this newsletter is to give my readers an insight into what bills we pass, but more importantly, how such bills get passed, and to some extent, why. This last week of session newsletter anticipates the the Year-End Letter.