A Memorable Start to the 2022 Session!
The 2022 General Assembly session kicked off for us with a press conference held by members of the new House Republican majority to lay out their robust legislative agenda.
It’s a new day in Virginia, with new opportunities, not only to advance pro-life and pro-family values, but to rally Virginians around a new Vision for Virginia that seeks to restore important founding principles.
The 2022 General Assembly session officially began today with the ceremonial swearing-in of newly elected House of Delegate members, electing Paul Nardo as Clerk of the House, and culminating with the unanimous election of Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) as the 57th Speaker of the House of Delegates - the oldest continuous legislative body in the Western hemisphere.
While the mood in both the House and Senate was mostly friendly, the new House minority (Democrats) complained about procedural rule changes that will essentially end virtual sessions and argued that LGBTQ people are still being discriminated against and even fired from their jobs, despite passing the so-called Virginia Values Act in 2020 that elevated "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to special protected classes under Virginia law.
For the next 60 days, the General Assembly will resume in-person committee meetings and floor sessions at the Capitol – just as it was intended! After November’s elections, the General Assembly will be a divided government, with the House of Delegates under Republican control and the Senate under Democratic control.
Of course, another big change will take place on January 15th when Glenn Youngkin is sworn in as the 74th Governor of Virginia, bringing with him bold ideas to strengthen parental rights, provide more education opportunities, and lift the tax burdens that many Virginians are feeling.
Despite all of the new changes in the legislative and executive branches, we fully expect this session to be filled with many tough battles over school choice initiatives, efforts to allow parents to be more involved in their child’s education, to protect the unborn, and to defeat bills that contribute to more government overreach.
There are very few committee meetings scheduled for this week, due to complications caused by hackers in December which slowed the bill drafting process, as well as all of the inaugural festivities this weekend, but that has not slowed our preparation for what we anticipate will be a robust legislative session.
In order to advance our pro-family and pro-life values, it’s critical that you stay engaged with us so you know what’s happening at the General Assembly. Below are some important ways you can do that:
In light of growing social media censorship, to stay connected with us via our email updates. Encourage your family and friends to subscribe to our email alerts.
You can also signup to get our text alerts by texting the letters "TFF" to 77222. During session you will be alerted in real time when there are important legislative debates taking place.
And be sure to follow us on our Facebook page.
Virginia families and our Judeo-Christian values are under assault, but our Policy team is ready to confront these challenges this year. Please join us in prayer for our state, our elected leaders, and our policy team as the Virginia General Assembly Session begins today.
