Senator Yvonne Miller was a Democrat from Norfolk who spent years trying to get the General Assembly to approve a constitutional amendment expanding voting rights to people who served time in prison. She introduced proposals in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
None of those were successful, but Senator Angelia Williams Graves of Norfolk says her persistence is now paying off.
"She was planting the seed of a shade tree that she would never sit under," Williams Graves said. "And the senator from Hampton has taken on watering that seed to become the tree we see today."
The senator from Hampton she's talking about is Mamie Locke, who gave Yvonne Miller a shoutout the day the Senate approved sending the amendment to voters.
"This began with Senator Yvonne Miller. It was a passion of hers, and I picked up the mantle after her passing. It's been a long time coming and we owe it all to her," Locke said.
Yvonne Miller was the first African American woman elected to the Virginia legislature. She died in 2012 at the age of 77.
Members of the Senate are also considering a bill to commission a new portrait of Yvonne Miller to be appropriately framed and placed in the Capitol.
