Delegate Matt Fariss

Four years ago, Governor McAuliffe was sworn into office pledging to be a bipartisan governor and to work with the General Assembly. But as his term comes to an end, it is obvious that this was nothing more than a political platitude.

Last week, New York law enforcement officials uncovered a gun-trafficking ring operating out of Virginia where 217 firearms were bought in Virginia and sold on the streets in New York.

Twenty-four people, including 22 from Virginia, were charged in the 627-count indictment.

The criminals arrested in this sting were part of a conspiracy to violate existing laws on the books including a felon purchasing a firearm, felons possessing a firearm, the purchase of a firearm in a straw purchase where the purchaser has the intent to transfer a firearm to a person they know cannot legally purchase or possess a firearm, and interstate transport of illegal fire arms.

On Wednesday, The Supreme Court instructed a lower court to re-examine whether the 2011 lines for 11 Virginia House Districts violate the Constitution by denying minority voters an equal voice in elections.

The 2017 General Assembly adjourned sine die Saturday, completing its work on time.  This year, the House of Delegates worked tirelessly to strengthen Virginia’s economy to help middle class families, improve our education system so all children have the opportunity to succeed, and chart a responsible fiscal course for the future.  We continue to offer a positive governing vision for our Commonwealth.

We are now one week away from the scheduled end of our 45-day legislative session. This past week was a productive week for the House of Delegates. We are finishing committee work, reviewing amendments from the Senate, and continuing to work on the budget. As we wind down our General Assembly session, I want to update you on a few important areas of interest.

As of Friday, We have finished day 31 of this year’s 46 day session. Two major deadlines passed – cross over and the vote each chamber’s budget.

As of February 3^rd, the House has completed 24 of the 46 days of the 2017 session. On Sunday, February 5^th, the committees responsible for the budget bills will unveil their complete proposals. Two important deadlines will happen this week. Tuesday is Crossover, the deadline with which each chamber must complete work on bills that originated in their chamber. Thursday the House will vote on their version of the budget.

Moving into the 3^rd week of session, the Capital has seen record numbers of visitors. Daily attendance by the public has consistently been over 4,500 people a day. I’m enjoying meeting with so many who are being active in the political process, especially the Chamber of Commerce, 4-H students, Military Officers Association, and Credit Union League who had their respective organizations annual “day on the hill” this week.

The General Assembly just concluded their first full week of session. The 100 member House has introduced over 1,000 bills, and the 40 member Senate has introduced over 700 bills. Over the next two weeks the 14 House committees will be doing a lot of the heavy lifting to hear the bills before action could be taken on the House floor.

The 2017 General Assembly session has officially begun! This year will be a short session (46 days) as our primary responsibility is to make adjustments to our biennial budget. However, we are still putting forth a breadth of legislative proposals aimed at creating jobs, improving healthcare costs, and creating more educational opportunities. There is a lot before us this year, but we will be focused on doing the work of the people and completing the Session on time!