A view of the Virginia House of Delegates Chamber in Richmond. (Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)
When the General Assembly session kicked off last month, Democrats in the House of Delegates introduced two amendments to the Constitution of Virginia: one proposal would explicitly add a fundamental right to reproductive freedom to Virginia’s Constitution; the other would remove the governor’s power to review the restoration of voting rights to convicted felons and grant automatic restoration once these folks finished their sentence.
It seemed major changes to the constitution were in store – for a minute. Instead, both proposals have been tabled until next year. The only constitutional change likely to happen right now is a particular Virginia specialty – a final vote on a previously approved exemption to property taxes that affects a handful of Virginia citizens, if any.
What happened?
The Democrats’ resolutions were first announced last November, seemingly designed to extend important issues from last year’s state elections into 2024. Abortion rights and access to voting are areas of deep partisan disagreement, both nationally and here in Virginia, and they’re also two areas where Americans generally side with Democrats. By pursuing constitutional amendments on these issues, the Democrats could not only remind citizens of which party was on their side, but could also bypass Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who cannot veto amendment proposals like he can with legislation.