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Pope, Church and State: A Weekly Look at This Year's General Assembly Session

Throughout Virginia's 2018 General Assembly session, All Things Considered host Luke Church and reporter Michael Pope will break down the highlights from the Capitol each week. It was the last week of the session, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

The session is scheduled to adjourn on Saturday, but there's one major task still left to tackle: a final budget agreement. The major sticking point seems to be Medicaid expansion.

The end of the 2018 General Assembly session is in sight, but there are still some big issues to tackle. Gun control reform measures went nowhere, and there are still vast differences over how to reach a final budget agreement.

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Micheal Pope and Luke Church bring you the latest happenings from the General Assembly this week.

Money, money, money. The push to approve budget amendments was the main highlight of the session this week. Both chambers reached a final budget, but a showdown over Medicaid expansion could be a major sticking point as budget discussions continue over the next several weeks.

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Luke Church and Michael Pope are back at it again to bring you all of the major developments from the General Assembly this week. Budget discussions and more deliberations over Medicaid expansion were at the forefront.

The session reached the halfway point this week.  Democrats and Republicans alike say they've been surprised at how much has been accomplished.  Some big fights likely remain though, including medicaid expansion and the budget.

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Host Luke Church and reporter Michael Pope discuss lawmaker reaction to the Florida shooting as well as what has been accomplished at the halfway point of the 2018 session.

Lawmakers came together in a bipartisan manner this week to strike a deal that will reform Virginia's criminal justice system. Democrats got to raise the felony theft threshold limit, while Republicans got reform the state's restitution system, which is plagued by hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid money to victims.

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Reporter Michael Pope and All Things Considered host Luke Church sit down to discuss a major bipartisan deal struck this week at the General Assembly.

Discussions over Medicaid expansion continued this week at the General Assembly. Republicans indicated a desire to potentially compromise, but they want a work requirement to be included in any possible expansion. The debate over Confederate monuments also came to the forefront of discussions this week.

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Luke Church and Michael Pope sit down to discuss the on-going debate in Richmond over Medicaid expansion and Confederate monuments.

Medicaid expansion was at the forefront of discussions at the General Assembly this week. In addition, many in Richmond are still reeling from the way the tied 94th House District race was decided -- by the luck of the draw. There have been calls on both sides of the aisle to make sure that sort of thing doesn't happen again.

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Luke Church and Michael Pope bring us the highlights from a week full of discussions about Medicaid expansion and Virginia's election processes.

Governor Ralph Northam's honeymoon as the new Governor of Virginia didn't last long, as week two at the General Assembly saw partisan lines reemerge. Republicans saw Northam's first address to the joint chamber as a continuation of rhetoric from out-going Governor Terry McAuliffe. Despite a tense atmosphere in Richmond, there were attempts to move forward with legislation in a bipartisan manner.

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New faces marked the second week of Virginia's General Assembly session. ATC host Luke Church and Michael Pope discuss the week's highlights.

The first week of the session was largely centered around outgoing Governor Terry McAuliffe, who delivered his final State of the Commonwealth Address to the joint chamber. McAuliffe discussed the accomplishments of his administration, although expanding Medicaid coverage in the state was one of his priorities that did not come to fruition.

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All Things Considered host Luke Church sits down with reporter Michael Pope as they discuss reaction from both sides of the aisle to Governor Terry McAuliffe's final State of the Commonwealth Address.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Luke Church
Luke Church hosts Roots Down on WVTF Music.
Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.