UVA Center for Politics Dir. Sabato weighs in on General Assembly’s short session

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Virginia’s General Assembly is in its final week of the short session.

Democrats have a majority in the Senate, while Republicans have the House of Delegates. UVA Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato says this makes it hard for any controversial bills to move forward.

“This has gone precisely the way we thought it would go,” Sabato said Monday, February 20.

This divide means any proposed legislation can only move if it has bipartisan support.

“You can say, ‘Well, this is terrible, because they’re not making progress, and they’re not working together.’ Or, you can say, ‘This is terrific, because the Democrats are killing the bad Republican ideas, and the Republicans are killing the bad Democratic ideas,” Sabato said.

Despite the divide, Sabato says the goal of the short session is make changes of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s budget.

“It may not be within the next week. This can go all the way to July 1, I’m sorry to tell you,” Sabato said.

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