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Virginia Senate adopts operating rules and committee nominations, takes up house joint resolutions and recesses for committee work
Summary
On Jan. 14 the Senate of Virginia adopted its operating resolution, approved committee nominations and agreed to take up House Joint Resolutions 29 and 30; the chamber recessed for committee and joint assembly activity and recorded several unanimous procedural votes.
The Senate of Virginia opened its 2026 session in Richmond on Jan. 14 and moved quickly through organizational business, adopting an operating resolution, approving committee nominations and agreeing to take up House Joint Resolutions that set procedural schedules for the regular session.
Senator Locke (Hampton) moved to suspend the rules to take up Senate Resolution 3, the operating resolution, and the motion passed by recorded vote. The clerk later reported the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to by voice and recorded counts in the chamber.
The clerk read a committee nominations report listing the Senate standing committees and chairs. The Senate moved to adopt the committee nominations report; the report was adopted by recorded vote (reported as 39–0). The report listed chairs and membership across committees including Finance and Appropriations, Education and Health, Transportation, Courts of Justice, and Rules.
House Joint Resolutions 29 and 30, which the House had transmitted to the Senate, were taken up for immediate consideration after the rules were suspended by the Senate. HJR 29 (organizational/operational provisions for the 2026 session) and HJR 30 (establishing a pre‑file period beginning Nov. 30, 2026 for the 2027 session) were agreed to by recorded vote (reported as 39–0 and 40–0 in separate proceedings).
The clerk also read communications filed with the Senate, including a letter introduced by the clerk reading text attributed to Ghazala F. Hashmi, PhD. The transcript records the letter text and the fact of its introduction; the clerk read the communication during the communications portion of the session.
Senator Sarravel (Eastern Fairfax County) moved that the Senate stand in recess at points during the day to allow committee and House work to proceed; the motions to recess were agreed to and the Senate temporarily recessed to allow the privileges and elections committee and other business to meet.
The Senate then proceeded to a joint assembly in the House chamber to receive the governor, after which senators returned to the Senate chamber to continue scheduled business.
Sources: Proceedings and clerk's announcements in the Senate chamber, Jan. 14, 2026.
