Members of the General Assembly may be returning to the Capitol for a special session.
Members of the General Assembly are clearing their calendars for a potential special session the second week of September. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell says Democrats who run the legislature have yet to decide if they want to call a special session, although they’re working with the budget staff to see if it's necessary.
"The big, beautiful, so-called bill, whatever it is, is a big mess, and it's taking people a lot of time to figure out what it actually does," Surovell says. "I don't think most of the people who passed it or voted on it, for it, even know what it says. And we're trying to figure that out ourselves right now along with 50 other states."
Normally, the governor would call a special session. But the General Assembly is technically still in session even though they're not currently meeting.
"This practice of pretending that they’re still in session; I question the legality of that, but I'm not on the court and I'm not the attorney general," says former attorney general and former Governor Jim Gilmore.
"I'm a strict constitutionalist myself. That's the way I am. I think that the previous people who created the constitution and who’ve amended the constitution; you got a duty to follow the constitution. That's the way I feel, so I am not sympathetic to manipulations."
Surovell says a special session might not be necessary if Democrats conclude the governor will end up vetoing anything they pass anyway.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
