Virginia’s Legislative Branch: the General Assembly Virginia’s Legislative branch is the branch of government that makes laws for the state of Virginia. The Legislative branch is called the “General Assembly”. The General Assembly is located in VA’s capitol, Richmond. The General Assembly is like Congress because it is bicameral. The General Assembly is made up of two houses the House of Delegates and The Virginia Senate. These houses meet annually for a fixed amount of days to make laws to meet the needs of Virginia’s citizens. The General Assembly is made up of the Senate and the House of Delegates. The people of Virginia elect 40 Senators and 100 Delegates to represent them in the General Assembly. Each Senator serves a four-year term and represents approximately 176,000 people in Virginia. Each Delegate serves a two-year term and represents approximately 71,000 people in Virginia. The General Assembly’s job is to write the laws for the state of Virginia. They write laws and Senate (Upper House)
House of
take in response to problems and issues within the
Delegates
state of Virginia. For example, the General Assembly
(Lower House) 40 Senators
100 Delegates
4 Year Term
2 Year Term
wrote many laws to deal with the transportation and road issues in Virginia. They have created bus systems and new roads throughout the state over the last ten years!
What does the General Assembly do? The General Assembly has many important responsibilities. One of the most important responsibilities of the General Assembly is to approve the biennial budget. Every two years the Governor must create a budget which outlines how VA will spend it money and this must be approved by the General Assembly. The General Assembly also gets to “confirm” or approve judges chosen by the governor for the VA Supreme Court. The General Assembly can also raise money or revenue through levying (collecting) state taxes. Most importantly, the General Assembly works to write laws in response to problems and issues for VA citizens.
Making Laws: The Primary Issues at the State Level
Elected Officials (Senators and Delegates) of the General Assembly write laws in response to problems and issues within the state. The primary (1 st) issues that the Virginia General Assembly writes laws in response to problems and issues. The issues that are the MOST important are the following:
Education: The State works to create well educated citizens by creating the SOL’s or State’s Standards of Learning that every school district must follow. They also create laws relating to SOL testing, the amount of school days and funding for schools. The state would like to promote citizens being informed and engaged. Meaning they are educated enough to vote in a responsible way!
Public Health: The General Assembly creates laws to promote and protect the health of all citizens. For example, during the H1N1 Virginia created an emergency plan and set up clinics for people to be given treatment.
Environment: Virginia’s General Assembly works to protect the natural resources in Virginia. For example the General Assembly has passed laws to help protect the Chesapeake Bay and our state parks from pollution.
State Budget: The General Assembly must approve the biennial budget (two year) prepared by the Governor.
Revenue: Levy and Collect taxes: The General Assembly collects taxes from Virginia Citizens to provide services to them. The General Assembly decides how much citizens in must pay in the state of Virginia.