Virginia lawmakers began their 402nd General Assembly Wednesday by remembering a colleague who died of COVID-19 and laying the rules for a session shaped by the pandemic. The session also began with the house speaker stripping three Republican House delegates of committee assignments after they supported President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud.

Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) addressed an empty chamber and told delegates meeting remotely that they would address the twin challenges of the public health crisis and an economic downturn.

“This House will continue to deliver on behalf of Virginians, so many who are struggling at this time,” she said.

The Senate met at the Science Museum of Virginia, continuing an arrangement from a special legislative session that started over the summer and ended 83 days later.

It is the second regular session since Democrats won control of both chambers, and it began with partisan debate over how long lawmakers would meet for. After Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to extend the month-long session to 45 days, lawmakers voted to keep the session to its original term, but with an option of carrying over bills to a special session. House members will be limited to seven bills per person, while state Senators are allotted twelve.

Filler-Corn stripped three Republican delegates of committee assignments after they signed a letter urging Vice President Mike Pence to nullify Virginia’s election results: Del. Dave LaRock (R-Loudoun) will no longer sit on the Transportation Committee, Del. Ronnie Campbell (R-Lexington) has been booted from the Courts Committee, and Del. Mark Cole (R-Fauquier) is no longer on the Privileges and Elections Committee.

“Their attempt to cast doubt on our elections process in order to impede the peaceful transfer of power between one president to another is an affront to our democracy and violates the public trust,” wrote Filler-Corn’s spokesperson Kunal Atit in a text message.

Reached Wednesday in Richmond, LaRock said that was a “completely irrational” statement. “I hold a viewpoint, one that aligns with roughly one-fifth of Congress,” he maintained, referring to the 121 Republican lawmakers who voted to object to certifying the electoral college results. Those lawmakers included four Virginia GOP congressmen; however, no federal legislators challenged the validity of Virginia’s electoral votes.

The Leesburg Town Council and other prominent Democrats have urged LaRock to resign after he attended President Trump’s rally last week prior to the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

“They won’t silence me. I speak the truth boldly,” he said.

Ahead of the session, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam announced he hoped to end the death penalty in Virginia and legalize marijuana. House Democrats laid out other priorities for continuing criminal justice reform begun in the special session, including automatic expungement of some criminal records and restoring voting rights for convicted felons.

House Democrats also said they hoped to pass a law requiring paid sick leave, shore up eviction prevention, and offer financial assistance for struggling Virginians. They pledged to devote $200 million to support vaccines and $15 million to expand access to broadband. In education, Democratic lawmakers said they would raise teacher pay, provide assistance to public institutes of higher education, and support additional school counselors.

Republicans, in the minority in both chambers, say they want to provide support to students and families to cope with remote learning. Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), the former House speaker and current candidate for governor, proposed creating a fund to enable school boards to cover parents’ costs for tutors and supplies in lieu of enrolling in the local district; school boards could apply for the state to reimburse half the cost.

Garren Shipley, a spokesman for House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) said his party would push forward “election confidence” measures including tightening voter identification requirements, requiring cameras in places where absentee ballots are counted, and offering legal protections for poll watchers.

“You’re not going to see anybody in the Republican caucus come out and say, ‘we need to change Virginia election laws to stem massive fraud,’ because there was no massive fraud in Virginia,” he said. “We have to be able to shine light on these dark corners where conspiracy theories can grow, to make sure that people know and can trust that their election returns are accurate.”

Lawmakers operated in the shadow of an FBI warning of possible armed attacks in all 50 U.S. capitals in the days leading up to the inauguration. The Department of General Services announced that Capitol Square will be closed for a week beginning Thursday, and access to the buildings it controls, including the Virginia Capitol, will be restricted from Saturday, Jan. 16 until next week on Thursday.

Lawmakers also approved tighter coronavirus restrictions, days after state Sen. A. Ben Chafin (R-Russell), a beloved lawmaker from southwest Virginia, died of COVID-19. Now, lawmakers will have to wear masks and may be subject to daily temperature checks and weekly COVID-19 tests. Senators placed roses on Chafin’s empty desk, laid with a black table cloth, and lawmakers in both chambers mourned his loss.

“I will always see that big warm smile of Ben’s as he approached,” said Del. Terry Austin (R-Alleghany). Governor Northam set March 23, 2021 for a special election to replace Chafin.

As in last year’s General Assembly, a rabbi blessed the lawmakers, a reminder that Filler-Corn is the first Jewish person to preside over the House. Rabbi David Spinrad of Alexandria’s Beth El Hebrew Congregation told the delegates their challenge was similar to that of Moses.

“Through your inspired leadership, you must help us hear the voice of God,” he said.

This story has been updated to reflect that the name of the museum state senators met is the Science Museum of Virginia.