As Gov. Ralph Northam tacked on an extra two weeks to the Virginia legislative session, lawmakers reached Crossover Day on Friday. The deadline for a bill to be approved by at least one chamber offered a glimpse into broad changes Democrats hope to make in criminal justice, beginning with legalizing marijuana and abolishing the death penalty. It also showed the tension between moderates and progressives in the party on questions of resuming school and worker rights.

Criminal justice reform advocates said lawmakers were effecting a sea change that extended beyond marijuana and capital punishment to include sentencing, probation and parole. Republicans, in the minority of both chambers of the General Assembly, say the sweeping approach would result in Virginia becoming too easy on criminals.

Political commentator Bob Holsworth recalled that Democrats once supported Republican Gov. George Allen’s push in the 1990s to crack down on crime, including eliminating parole. Now the party, in its second year in power in the state legislature, is driving the change.

“A lot of this has to do with what has been first perceived and now shown with a lot of evidence to be the racial inequities that have accompanied the administration of justice,” he said.

It hasn’t all been wins for the left: a years-long push to make Virginia more union-friendly isn’t going anywhere this session, and paid sick leave still has some significant hurdles to overcome.

The session initially was slated to end next week, but on Thursday Northam called for a special legislative session starting Feb. 10, granting more time for lawmakers to debate thornier legislative issues and ending a Republican effort to keep the session short. 

Here’s an overview of some of the major initiatives that have passed at least one chamber, followed by notable bills that have been defeated or left to die for the year.

What’s moving forward

• Cannabis legalization

It’s a political pivot that would have been unimaginable just two years ago: Democrats in Virginia have suddenly embraced legalizing weed. (A few years ago, they were barely considering medical marijuana.) A recreational cannabis marketplace would be a cash cow for the state, raking in an estimated $31 to $62 million in tax revenue during its first full year of sales, according to a legislative analysis. That’s one reason legalization has become a top priority for Gov. Ralph Northam during his final year in office. But the sheer complexity of creating a regulated cannabis market has proven to be a challenge.

“This thing is a 1,000 pound monster with tentacles that reach everywhere,” said Democratic Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) during a recent subcommittee meeting on the Senate’s legalization bill.

As of Friday morning, lawmakers in both chambers are still debating their respective proposals’ finer points, such as what agency will regulate the marketplace and when retail sales can actually begin. But support for passing some version of a legalization bill remains robust, meaning Virginia could very well become the first southern state to give the green light to legal pot use.

• Abolishment of the death penalty

The Virginia Senate voted Wednesday 21-17 to repeal the death penalty. Surovell said he sponsored the bill because capital punishment falls unevenly on minorities and the poor, and costs the commonwealth millions in legal defense for the indigent. He noted that public opinion supports ending the death penalty, and states across the nation have been moving to end their use of capital punishment. The House of Delegates is considering a second bill to abolish capital punishment.

• Criminal justice reform

A bill to end mandatory minimum sentences is moving through the Senate. That body passed a bill to end presumptions against bail, which put the burden of proof on the defendant to prove worthiness for bail. The House passed a bill to limit probation terms. The House also approved an effort to create degrees of robbery charges — rather than one category carrying a five-year sentence — and to eliminate a felony conviction for a person charged with their third offense of petit larceny. The House passed a bill to create a process for automatic expungement of records for certain convictions and for charges that have been dismissed; the Senate is considering similar legislation. The House voted unanimously to allow defendants to enter evidence of mental illness in trial and to collect pretrial data on all adults charged with crimes that have prison penalties.

“It’s been really encouraging,” said Brad Haywood, executive director of Justice Forward Virginia and an Arlington County public defender. “We haven’t been winning wins with all our legislative priorities, but a ton of it is being warmly received, even by people we didn’t necessarily consider allies of criminal justice reform.”

Garren Shipley, spokesperson for Republican House Leader Todd Gilbert, said Democrat-sponsored proposals are going too far. “All of them, with a few exceptions, seem to be aimed at making life easier for criminals and making it harder for police and victims to find justice,” Gilbert said.

• In-person education

A bipartisan bill to require local schools to offer in-person learning passed the Senate with the blessings of Republican sponsor Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico) and Democratic Sens. Chap Peterson (D-Fairfax) and Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond). The three defended their bill in a Richmond Times-Dispatch column, writing, “For 10 months, 1 million children have been barred from public school classrooms, without a scientific rationale. It is the duty of the General Assembly to end this school shutdown.”

“I cannot tell you how positively the Republican caucus is disposed to that,” Shipley told DCist/WAMU. Meanwhile, Democrats were split on the bill.

“The kids may not be affected, but they are spreaders, and live in communities of vulnerable at-risk people,” said Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond).

• Paid leave

Worker advocates celebrated Thursday when the House of Delegates passed legislation to guarantee a maximum of five days paid sick leave for certain essential workers. First responders, grocery store workers, home care providers, domestic workers, transportation personnel, cleaning and security staff, and others who work at least 20 hours per week are covered under the measure sponsored by Del. Elizabeth Guzmán (D-Prince William). The bill’s current version doesn’t apply to retailers with fewer than 25 employees. The effort now faces a tough path in the Senate, whose members have shot down previous iterations of the bill.

• Protections for workers

The House of Delegates has passed two bills that could benefit vulnerable workers in the state. Legislation from Del. Cia Price (D-Newport News) categorizes people who employ domestic workers as employers, subjecting them to the same laws and regulations as any other employer. The House also approved a proposal from Del. Jeion Ward (D-Hampton) to remove the state’s minimum wage exemption for farm workers, meaning agricultural laborers could see a raise when Virginia’s minimum wage increases to $9.50 — up from $7.25 — on May 1.

• Amanda Chase censure

The Senate issued a rare rebuke of one of its lawmakers, determining that Sen. Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) “created and aggravated tensions, misled constituents and citizens, and obstructed the Senate’s business in service of the Commonwealth.” Senate Republican Leader Tommy Norment of Williamsburg, Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Fredericksburg), and Sen. Jill Vogel (R-Warrenton) supported the bill sponsored by Sen. John Bell (D-Loudoun).

Chase spoke at the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that escalated into the assault on the U.S. Capitol, and later describing participants as “patriots.” Facebook banned her account after she falsely claimed that Antifa, not Trump supporters, were behind the attack. Chase has sued to undo the Senate resolution, claiming she was singled out “for taking unpopular political positions.”

What’s dead

• Repealing “right to work”

A revived effort to overturn a state law loathed by labor unions and progressives failed again this session. Virginia’s so-called “right to work” statute, which forbids employers from requiring workers to pay union dues, will remain on the books for at least another year, despite a third attempt by gubernatorial candidate Del. Lee Carter (D-Manassas) to scrub the 74-year-old law from the books. (Carter attempted to force a floor vote on the bill Wednesday, only to be shut down by his fellow Democrats.) “Right to work” is guarded closely by business interests, Republicans and many moderate Democrats in the state, who say limiting the power of labor unions is vital to maintaining Virginia’s economic competitiveness.

• Ending qualified immunity

Reform-minded Democratic lawmakers tussled with Virginia police last year when they first raised the idea of ending legal protections for law enforcement. This year both the Senate and House killed bills aimed at slimming down qualified immunity.

Virginia NAACP State President Robert N. Barnette, Jr. disparaged the decision. “It is disappointing to say at least that the bills to end qualified immunity failed,” he said. “This only makes it harder for Black people, people of color, and quite frankly all Virginians to turn to the police when needed.”

• Campaign finance reform

Lawmakers this session denied most meaningful attempts at overhauling Virginia’s campaign finance system, which has been described as “the Wild West” because it allows unlimited contributions from individuals and businesses. Failed legislation from Carter, Del. Ibraheem Samirah (D-Herndon), and Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) would have banned campaign contributions from corporations and major donors such as Dominion Energy; Petersen’s proposal to limit single campaign contributions to $20,000 was also defeated. But an effort to study comprehensive campaign finance reform passed the House and now awaits debate in the Senate.