Senate approves appropriations and constitutional-amendment package after hours of debate over retroactive repeal of Va. Code §30-13
Loading...
Summary
Senate Bill 7 69, an appropriation and constitutional-amendment package that includes $5 million to the Department of Elections and language repealing Va. Code §30‑13 retroactive to 1971, passed after extended floor debate about notice, retroactivity and venue for related lawsuits.
Senators spent a large portion of Tuesday's session debating Senate Bill 7 69, a multipart appropriation and constitutional-amendment package that includes funding for the Department of Elections, technical renumbering of enactments and a provision that would repeal Va. Code §30‑13 retroactive to 1971 and centralize venue for related litigation in the Richmond City Circuit Court.
The senator from Portsmouth moved the bill and described the appropriations components, including an appropriation of $5 million in fiscal year 2026 to the Department of Elections for costs associated with a special April election and related voter outreach and local grants. The measure also added enabling language for a special April 21, 2026 election related to redistricting constitutional amendments.
Opponents — including senators who said the retroactive repeal would effectively admit prior noncompliance with the statute and who called retroactivity unconstitutional — urged foes to vote no. The senator from Rockingham told the floor the repeal was a "clear admission" that the General Assembly had violated an existing law and warned that retroactive repeal going back to 1971 was "patently unconstitutional." Senators questioning the bill also raised forum-shopping concerns because the measure would direct certain suits to Richmond.
Proponents, including the senator from Eastern Fairfax, said the code section is antiquated, that the Code Commission had recommended deleting it, and that the retroactive effective date was included, proponents said, to ensure earlier constitutional amendments are not vulnerable to challenge in multiple venues.
After extended exchange the Senate voted 21–18 to pass SB 7 69. Floor debate made clear the measure touches election administration, constitutional amendments, and long-running questions about notice and the timing of public posting of proposed constitutional amendments (Va. Code §30‑13).
Provenance: debate begins at SEG 1600; vote recorded at SEG 2345–2347.
