This post was updated at 4:00 p.m. on June 26 to reflect proposals from Virginia Senate Democrats.

Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Springfield) said Friday that lawmakers would hold three hearings on criminal justice and police reform ahead of a summer legislative session.

“We need not wait till the special session, which we still believe will be at the end of August. Let’s hear now,” she told DCist/WAMU.

Lawmakers are planning to return for a special session in August to discuss the state’s budget. In April, Gov. Ralph Northam froze all new spending in light of economic damage inflicted by the pandemic. Earlier in June, Filler-Corn announced lawmakers would also take up police reform following protests over the death of George Floyd.

The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus released a list of priorities this week for the special session, including ending qualified immunity for police, creating civilian review boards with subpoena powers and reducing the role of police in schools.

“I deeply value the ideas,” Filler-Corn said of the list, adding that she spoke with caucus chair Del. Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico).

The speaker said House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) and Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) will chair the three virtual meetings in July and August. While Filler-Corn declined to outline the specific proposals lawmakers are considering, she said there were common themes.

“I’m hearing a lot about certain issues,” she said. “They include police accreditation and certification, community engaged policing, bias, hate crimes, banning choke holds, no-knock warrants, civilian review boards, overall use of force, making sure police officers with a history of abuse don’t continue working.”

Virginia Senate Democrats released a plan Friday to reform policing and criminal justice. The list includes many of the proposals outlined by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, including a ban on no-knock warrants, a ban on chokeholds and empowering civilian review boards to investigate and act on potential police abuse.

The proposals by Democratic state senators did not include ending qualified immunity for police, reducing police presence in schools or legalizing marijuana, which the VLBC had suggested. State Senate Democrats wrote that they would delay until January discussions on reinstating parole or ending mandatory minimum sentencing.

Senate Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) said the caucus focused on attainable goals.

“Our Caucus is trying to come up with a list of policy proposals we thought we could get done in an August special session,” he said, noting that many of the ideas have been implemented in Virginia and elsewhere. “We’re not inventing any new wheels here.”

Asked if she would support defunding police, Filler-Corn said part of the process of reform would include examining the budget.

Policing in Virginia has been under renewed scrutiny in the past weeks. In Richmond, Mayor Levar Stoney ousted Police Chief William Smith this month after a police SUV struck protesters near a statue to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The interim chief who replaced him is also facing criticism for his involvement in a 2002 fatal police shooting.

In Northern Virginia, data released in Fairfax County this week revealed that African American residents made up nearly half of police use-of-force incidents in 2019, far more than their share of less than 10% of the population.

Julius Spain, president of the Arlington branch of the NAACP and the vice president of the group’s Northern Virginia region, applauded Filler-Corn for holding hearings on criminal justice reform.

“It’s progress, but I also would say a lot of the issues and concerns our elected officials will hear at this meeting will have been concerns they’ve heard previously,” he told DCist/WAMU. “Hopefully they will have the political will and courage to stand up and actually enact some of this legislation.”

Further, Spain anticipated pushback from lawmakers in the state Senate, including Democrats, where members are more conservative.

Garren Shipley, a spokesman for House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) said his party had not yet heard about the hearings.

“The speaker’s office didn’t reach out to any Republicans to let us know in advance that this was coming,” he told DCist/WAMU.

He declined to comment on specific measures for reform but said the party is largely not in favor of defunding police.

“No police department is perfect, but by and large, law enforcement provides a critical role in our societies,” Shipley said.