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2020 Virginia legislative session

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Some states made changes to 2020 state legislative sessions and legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For a full list of changes, visit: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020.
Virginia: The Virginia General Assembly convened a special session on August 18, 2020.
Virginia General Assembly

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General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 8, 2020
Website:   Official General Assembly Page
Leadership
Senate President:  
Justin Fairfax (D)
House Speaker:  Eileen Filler-Corn (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Dick Saslaw (D)
House: Charniele Herring (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Thomas Norment Jr. (R)
House: C. Todd Gilbert (R)
Structure
Members:  40 (Senate), 100 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art IV, Virginia Constitution
Salary:   $18,000/year (Senate), $17,640/year (House) + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 5, 2019
Next election:  November 2, 2021
Redistricting:  Virginia General Assembly has control

In 2020, the Virginia State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 8 and adjourn on March 12.

Several state legislatures suspended their sessions or otherwise limited legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Virginia General Assembly adjourned its regular session on March 12, 2020. A special session convened on August 18, 2020.

At the start of the 2020, Virginia was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Following the 2019 election, Democrats had a 21-19 majority in the Senate and a 55-45 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session:
  • Democrats held a majority in the Virginia state House and state Senate.
  • Virginia was one of 15 Democratic state government trifectas.
  • Virginia’s governor was Democrat Ralph Northam.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2023 state Senate and 2021 state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2019 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2020

    See also: State government trifectas

    Virginia was one of 15 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Virginia was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Virginia State Legislature in the 2020 legislative session.

    Virginia State Senate

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 21
         Republican Party 19
    Total 40

    Between 1994 and 2020, partisan control of the Virginia State Senate fluctuated, swinging back and fort between the Democratic and Republican parties. The table below shows the partisan history of the Virginia State Senate following every general election from 1991 to 2019. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Virginia State Senate election results: 1991-2019

    Party 91 95 99 03 07 11 15 19
    Democrats 22 20 19 16 21 20 19 21
    Republicans 18 20 21 24 19 20 21 19

    As a result of the 1991 elections, Democrats held a 22-18 majority. Elections in 1995 and 2011 resulted in the chamber moving to a split 20-20 partisan balance. Both of those elections were off of a Democratic majority and followed up by a Republican majority in the next election. The largest change in partisan balance of the state Senate was between 1999 and 2003, when Republicans gained three seats. The 2015 elections resulted in a 21-19 Republican majority. in 2019, Democrats gained two seats to win a 21-19 majority.


    Virginia House of Delegates

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 55
         Republican Party 45
    Total 100

    Between 1991 and 2020, partisan control of the Virginia House of Delegates shifted in favor of the Republican Party and then began moving back toward the Democratic Party. As a result of the 1991 elections, Democrats held a 52-47 majority. Republicans gained control of the chamber in 1999 and, by 2015, expanded their majority to 66-34. In the 2017 elections, the chamber's partisan balance swung back toward the Democrats as they gained 15 seats and narrowed the Republican majority to 51-49. In the 2019 elections, Democrats regained the majority by winning 55 seats to Republicans' 45 seats.

    The table below shows the partisan history of the Virginia House of Delegates following every general election from 1991 to 2017. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Virginia House of Delegates election results: 1991-2019

    Year '91 '93 '95 '97 '99 '01 '03 '05 '07 '09 '11 '13 '15 '17 '19
    Democrats 52 52 52 50 47 31 37 39 44 39 32 33 34 49 55
    Republicans 47 47 47 49 52 67 61 58 54 59 67 67 66 51 45

    Republicans began making gains in the state House after the 1997 elections, when they picked up two seats. The chamber moved to a 52-47 Republican majority after the 1999 elections. The largest swing towards Republicans in the state House occurred as a result of the 2001 elections, when the party expanded its majority by 15 seats. Democrats gained 13 seats between 2003 and 2007. In 2011, Republicans gained eight seats, moving the chamber to a 67-32 Republican majority.

    In the 2017 elections, Democrats picked up 15 seats and nearly forced a 50-50 split in the chamber. The race for District 94 was an exact tie between Delegate David Yancey (R) and Shelly Simonds (D). A random drawing was held to select the winner and Yancey won.

    In 2019, Democrats won an additional six seats to establish a 55-45 majority.

    Two-thirds of members present in both chambers must vote to override a veto. If all members are in attendance, this is 67 of the 100 members in the Virginia House of Delegates and 27 of the 40 members in the Virginia State Senate.


    Leadership in 2020

    Virginia State Senate

    Virginia House of Delegates

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2020 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2020. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Virginia state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 25 standing committees in Virginia's state government, including no joint legislative committees, 11 state Senate committees, and 14 state House committees.

    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Virginia Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XII of the Virginia Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Virginia

    The Virginia Constitution can be amended through two different paths—a legislative process, and a constitutional convention. Virginia does not feature the power of initiative for either initiated constitutional amendments or initiated state statutes.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions for the Virginia General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 51 votes in the Virginia House of Delegates and 21 votes in the Virginia State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    Amendments to or revisions of the state's constitution can be proposed by a constitutional convention as established in Section 2 of Article XII. A convention can happen if the state's legislature "by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house" calls a convention.


    Historical context: Between 1996 and 2018, the following occurred:

    • A total of 31 measures appeared on statewide ballots.
    • An average of 2.6 measures appeared on even-year ballots.
    • The number of measures appearing on statewide ballots ranged from zero to five.
    • Voters approved 87.1 percent (27 of 31) of statewide ballot measures.
    • Voters rejected 12.9 percent (4 of 31) of statewide ballot measures.
    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2018
    Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Average Median Minimum Maximum
    31 27 87.1% 4 12.9% 2.6 2.0 0 5


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Virginia.

    Virginia Party Control: 1992-2025
    Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R
    Senate D D D D S S R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R D R R R R R D D D D D D
    House D D D D D D S S R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D R R D D

    See also

    Elections Virginia State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

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