Virginia's part-time Legislature is moving at a rapid pace. And their lawmakers, pressed for time, expect the same from members of the public who want to make their voices heard.
Year after year, regardless of which party is in charge, committee and subcommittee chairs have repeatedly urged those testifying on Capitol Hill to speed things up. They often remind speakers that a countdown is running or prompt them to consider whether an opinion is necessary.
There is broad agreement that some form of public comment time management is necessary in Virginia's sessions, which generally last no more than 60 days. But critics say the way the General Assembly structures its work means important deliberations take place in private and citizens' concerns receive little attention.
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“Virginia's legislative calendar is simply not designed to receive public input,” said Sally Hudson, a University of Virginia professor and former member of the House of Delegates, who has advocated for rethinking the way sessions are structured. .
One particular exchange last week, during which victims of violent crimes were limited in their comments, highlighted the issue and drew a sharp rebuke from the state's Republican attorney general and governor and Republican lawmakers, who are in the minority in both chambers.
The incident took place during a meeting led by Democrat Vivian Watts, a Democrat who is the third-ranking member of the House of Delegates. The panel was hearing a so-called “second review” bill, backed by criminal justice reform advocates, that would allow people serving long prison sentences to ask a court for a possible reduction in their sentence.
Delegate Vivian Watts addresses the House of Delegates at the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, on January 23, 2007. Virginia lawmakers agree that time should be managed for public comment at public hearings, but after that victims of violent crimes were cut off or impeded. speaking during a recent hearing, strict limitations on public comments drew criticism. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
After the subcommittee heard an explanation of the bill, Watts told lobbyists and the public that he would allow six minutes of testimony for supporters in the room, which also included some crime victims, and then six minutes for opponents. .
When the opponents' six minutes were up after just three speakers, Watts attempted to isolate the group. As the wife of a murder victim insisted on being heard, it appeared that her microphone was muted.
Michael Grey, whose son was shot and killed while trying to sell an iPhone in 2018, was next to take the microphone. Watts asked him to stop talking and then reprimanded him when he insisted, saying, “I'm not happy with the performance. I'll let you get on with it, though.”
Melinda Wallin, looking shaken, went ahead and simply introduced herself to Spotsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney Ryan Mehaffey, whose office prosecuted the fatal shooting of Wallin's son in 2019, said: “I would respectfully ask for a minute for Ms. “Wallin… Her son died in her arms and she just wants a minute. We've been here all day. Please.”
“Next speaker, please,” Watts said after a long pause, according to a recording of the meeting.
“I felt pressured. I felt very disrespected,” Wallin said in an interview this week.
Watts said she had tried to be clear and fair about the expectations she had raised and had tried to give speakers some leeway. Virginia's compressed session means that, at some point, you have to move on, she said.
“We try to cover as many bills in eight weeks as Congress does in an entire year,” he said.
While the exchange was surprising, it represented a common back-and-forth and underscored the time crunch facing lawmakers, most of whom earn about $18,000 a year and many of whom commute long distances to Richmond.
The General Assembly legislates for a closely divided political state of about 8.7 million people and considers thousands of bills in sessions scheduled for up to 60 days in even-numbered years, and fewer in odd-numbered years. Lawmakers typically do not meet on weekends and generally structure weeks so that work can be completed more quickly on Fridays.
Nationally, state legislatures, which differ widely in the length of their meetings, have different policies on handling public input. Some offer visitors more time and latitude than others. Members of the public who visit capitols to petition their government also face various regulations that limit the display of signs, political messages on clothing and even where people can gather.
Virginia lawmakers can't slog through each issue or they would run out of time, said House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert. But the general public deserves more time, and especially on sensitive issues like the second review bill, he said.
Gilbert also suggested that the limited public comment may have been intentional in this case.
Last year, the measure passed unanimously in the Senate, but failed with a unanimous, bipartisan vote in a House of Delegates subcommittee after a public hearing that featured more than an hour of testimony, including emotional pleas from the victims who said the measure would increase their trauma.
At the end of public comment, then-sponsor Democratic Sen. Chap Petersen raised his hands and said, “Do what you want with the bill… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for these families.”
Overall, the Assembly's time limits on speakers, which vary from panel to panel, have generally seemed stricter this session, said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. She also questioned why the Senate does not accept online public comments in subcommittees or allow written public comments to be submitted.
Joan Porte, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia, expressed similar concerns about the Senate's virtual testimony policies and the lack of an option to submit written comments.
But other Assembly observers have noted how much access and transparency have improved since the pre-pandemic days, when not all meetings were recorded and there was no ability to testify online.
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The current Assembly session has been filled with other examples of visitors and even lawmakers being asked to make brief comments or questions. One case occurred in a House subcommittee discussing the closure of several state prisons and another in a Senate committee debating collective bargaining and other employment-related measures.
“Please do it quickly!” Democratic committee chairman Sen. Creigh Deeds added with a smile of a later bill: “You might talk too much and we'll kill you.”
In an interview, Deeds said he seeks to allow as much public comment as possible, but with so many bills, “there's not a lot of time for it.”
