DOJ clears Virginia’s redrawn congressional districts
The United States Department of Justice informed the office of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on Wednesday that it had no objection to Virginia’s newly redrawn congressional districts, which were drawn by the General Assembly earlier this year.
Virginia is one of 16 states required under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to pre-clear (get federal approval for) changes in voting practices or procedures with the Justice Department. Today, the department has pre-cleared the districts drawn by House Bill 251, so the new districts are now in effect for both primary and general elections. Read more
Chris Graham: McDonnell’s political obit
How would you like to be Bob McDonnell right about now?
It wasn’t that long ago when the pundits had you pegged as the GOP vice-presidential nominee, and that was before you formally endorsed Mitt Romney, right before the critical South Carolina primary.
The endorsement of a Southern Republican governor before a key Southern primary was sure to push Romney over the top toward his inevitable nomination. Read more
HPV repeal tabled in State Senate
The State Senate voted 22-17 Monday to sending HB1112 back to the Education and Health Committee for the year.
The legislation, authored by Del. Kathy Byron (R-Bedford), would have repealed a law requiring parents of pre-teen girls to receive information about the HPV vaccine. The House passed HB1112 on a 62-34 vote in January. Read more
Court dismisses lawsuit over GA’s authority to draw congressional districts
The Richmond Circuit Court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by six Virginia residents that sought to have the court draw Virginia’s congressional districts for the upcoming elections.
The court found that the 2012 General Assembly had the power to draw new congressional districts, and therefore, the plaintiffs’ suit had to be dismissed. Read more
Chris Graham: What’s good for the goose …
Republicans in the United State Senate have used arcane legislative rules to their advantage the past two years to fight from the minority anything substantive that Democrats want to do from coming to fruition.
Republicans in Virginia are now crying foul that their Democratic counterparts are riding an arcane rule related to the 20-20 split in the Virginia Senate to a position of power in state-budget negotiations. Read more
Republicans cave to pressure, block personhood measure in Senate vote
Six Republicans joined Senate Democrats in effectively voting down legislation that would define “personhood” at conception and could in turn outlaw all abortions and some forms of FDA-approved birth control.
A 24-14 Senate vote returned the bill to a Senate committee for consideration in the 2013 General Assembly session. The vote was another defeat for social conservatives on the heels of Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell recommending changes to a measure that would have required invasive ultrasounds for women seeking abortions. Read more
Creigh Deeds: Session update
Posted by afp on February 24, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with creigh deeds, virginia general assembly, virginia senate