Amid all that, the Senate also found time for some 40-year-old unfinished business. It passed the Equal Rights Amendment, which is three states shy of the 38 it needs for ratification. (The House killed it in committee, so Virginia is likely to remain one of the three holdouts.)
There was passion in the Capitol, but not the romantic kind. The tenor in the House was particularly sharp as lawmakers took up bills related to abortion and illegal immigration.
Scrambling to pass Virginia legislation
Virginia General Assembly: 2012 Guide
While debating a bill that would require women to get an ultrasound before an abortion, House Deputy Majority Leader C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) set off abortion-rights advocates by declaring: “In the vast majority of these [abortion] cases, these are matters of lifestyle convenience.” He later said that he regretted his “insensitive” comment.
House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) admonished Del. Joseph D. Morrissey (D-Richmond) more than once after he said the House debate lacked integrity. “You’ve done this time and time again,’’ Howell said. “We’re not going to put up with that.”
Del. Jennifer L. McClellan (D-Richmond) took to Twitter: “Can we dial down the rhetoric in the Virginia House?”
Norment tried to use the holiday to prod senators into moving swiftly through the long agenda. “If we continue at this pace,” he declared just four bills into the session, “all of you will be canceling your plans this evening.”
About 100 members of the progressive group Virginia Organizing tried to leverage the holiday for its own purposes.
Wearing stickers that read, “The Virginia General Assembly Broke My Heart,” the activists handed out empty heart-shaped candy boxes to all 140 legislators.
Inside, in lieu of candy, was a note saying, “Disappointed? So are we! We want a General Assembly that works for All Virginians.”
The activists, who protested bills to restrict abortion rights, gay rights and voting rights, later rallied at the bell tower in Capitol Square. Having lost most of their battles, all they could do was sing: “Stop! In the Name of Love.”
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