SARAH RANKIN

FILE - Ted Leonsis, left, owner of the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team and the Washington Capitals NHL hockey team, shakes hands with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin as they announce plans for a new sports stadium for the teams, Dec. 13, 2023, in Alexandria, Va. Influential labor groups announced Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, that they are opposing efforts to move the two professional sports franchises from the nation's capital to northern Virginia, citing in part an apparent inability to reach a satisfactory deal for union workers on the construction projects. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Unions oppose plan to move NBA, NHL teams to northern Virginia, another blow to Youngkin-backed deal

Influential labor groups now say they are opposing efforts to move two professional sports franchises from the nation’s capital to northern Virginia, partially due to the apparent inability to reach a satisfactory deal for union workers on the construction projects.

FILE - Virginia State Sen-elect, Ghazala Hashmi speaks to supporters at a Democratic victory party in Richmond, Va., Nov. 5, 2019. Virginia Democrats who control the state Legislature are advancing legislation that aims to protect access to a wide range of contraception, something they say should not be taken for granted after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia lawmakers advancing bills that aim to protect access to contraception

Virginia Democrats who control the state Legislature are advancing legislation that aims to protect access to a wide range of contraception.

FILE - The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. A GOP legislative effort to prevent Virginia children from using the popular video-sharing app TikTok — an idea backed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin — died this week in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

Proposed TikTok ban for kids fails in Virginia’s Legislature

A GOP legislative effort to prevent Virginia children from using the video-sharing app TikTok died this week in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

FILE - The Virginia Capitol is viewed on March 4, 2010, in Richmond, Va. Virginia lawmakers plowed through hundreds of bills Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, as they approached a key deadline for this year's legislative session. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Lawmakers take up ‘skill games,’ minimum wage, marijuana as Assembly hits midpoint deadline

Virginia lawmakers have worked their way through hundreds of bills ahead of a key deadline for this year’s legislative session.

FILE - Sen. Louise Lucas celebrates her win for Virginia's 18th District State Senate Democratic nomination at Bide-A-Wee golf course in Portsmouth, Va., on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. A leading Democratic Virginia legislator says proposed legislation to help pave the way for the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to relocate to northern Virginia is dead. Sen. L. Louise Lucas holds great sway in the General Assembly as chair of the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee. She told reporters Monday morning, Feb. 12, 2024, that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin had made a series of mistakes in trying to advance the deal through a General Assembly now in full Democratic control after November’s elections.(Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)

Top Virginia Senate Democrats deal setback to legislation to relocate Washington Capitals, Wizards

A leading Democratic Virginia legislator says proposed legislation to help pave the way for the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to relocate to northern Virginia is dead. Sen. L.

Marion Police Chief John Clair poses outside the Marion Police Department building, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Marion, Va. Clair, chief of the small Appalachian town, spends his days consumed by a growing problem: the frequency with which his officers are tapped to detain, transport and wait in hospitals with people in the throes of a mental health crisis. (AP Photo/Earl Neikirk)

Virginia’s Youngkin aims to bolster mental health care, part of national focus after the pandemic

There’s consensus in Virginia that the mental health care system is in need of reform, due to what Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration says is an overreliance on hospitalization at a time of growing need.

FILE - Ted Leonsis, left, owner of the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team and the Washington Capitals NHL hockey team, shakes hands with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin as they announce plans for a new sports stadium for the teams, Dec. 13, 2023, in Alexandria, Va. Legislation underpinning a plan to relocate the Wizards and the Capitals across the Potomac River to northern Virginia easily cleared an early hurdle in the state Legislature, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Bill to help relocate Washington Capitals, Wizards sails through 1st Virginia legislative hearing

Legislation underpinning a plan to relocate the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals across the Potomac River to northern Virginia has easily cleared an early hurdle in the state legislature.

FILE - Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, gestures as she addresses the House of Delegates on transportation issues at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007. In Virginia’s part-time legislature, there’s broad agreement that some type of time management is needed for public comment at public hearings on proposed legislation. But after victims of violent crime were cut off or prevented from speaking altogether during a recent hearing, Virginia’s governor and other Republican leaders criticized the strict limitations on public comment. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia lawmakers limit public comment and tell folks taking the mic to ‘make it quick’

Virginia’s part-time Legislature moves at a quick clip. And its lawmakers expect the same from members of the public who want to make their voices heard on any given bill.

FILE - Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivers his State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. Dozens of pieces of gun-related legislation that advocates say will bolster public safety are winding their way through Virginia’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly, including a measure that would halt the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles and pistols. The question hanging over all the bills is: Just how many will a the Republican governor veto? (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia Democrats are sending gun-control bills to a skeptical Gov. Youngkin

Dozens of pieces of gun-related legislation that advocates say will bolster public safety are winding their way through Virginia’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly.

Virginia State Sen. Aaron Rouse speaks at a campaign rally on Nov. 4, 2023, Virginia Beach, Va. Dueling Virginia legislative proposals backed by differing gambling companies would open the door for an expansion of slots-like betting machines in businesses like truck stops, restaurants and convenience stores around the state. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, file)

Virginia considers a major expansion of gambling by legalizing ‘skill games’

Dueling Virginia legislative proposals backed by different gambling companies would open the door for an expansion of slot-like betting machines in businesses such as truck stops, restaurants and convenience stores.

FILE - House of Delegates members eat boxed lunches on the steps of the Virginia Capitol, April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. A bill that cleared an early hurdle Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, in the Virginia House of Delegates would broaden Virginia's revenge porn law by adding a new category of “sexual” images that would be unlawful to disseminate and extending the statute of limitations for potential prosecutions. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP, File)

Revenge porn bill backed by former candidate Susanna Gibson advances

Virginia may be on its way to expanding the state law against distributing so-called revenge porn. A subcommittee of the Virginia House of Delegates on Wednesday advanced a bill that would add a new category of sexual images that would be unlawful to disseminate.

FILE - A room is full during a meeting of the State Corporations Commission on May 17, 2022, in Richmond, Va. Virginia lawmakers nominated experienced attorneys on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, to fill two long-standing vacancies on the state’s powerful regulatory panel that oversees interests ranging from utilities to insurers. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

After long delay, Virginia lawmakers advance nominees for powerful regulatory jobs

Virginia lawmakers have nominated two veteran attorneys to fill long-standing vacancies on a powerful regulatory panel that oversees utility companies, insurers and others.

FILE - Democratic Virginia Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg speaks to supporters at an election party, Nov. 7, 2023, in Glenn Allen, Va. Public universities would be prohibited from giving preferential treatment in admissions to applicants who are related to alumni or donors under a bill that sailed out of the Virginia Senate on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. The Senate bill, which is sponsored by VanValkenburg, passed 39-0. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia Senate votes to ban preferential treatment for public college legacy applicants

Public universities would be prohibited from giving preferential treatment in admissions to applicants who are related to alumni or donors under a bill that has sailed out of the Virginia Senate.

Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, speaks to the Senate Courts of Justice committee about a bill to let prosecutors bring felony homicide charges for drug dealers who supplied fatal overdoses, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Margo Wagner/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Virginia Senate panel defeats bill that aimed to expand use of murder charge against drug dealers

A Virginia Senate committee has narrowly defeated legislation that would expand the circumstances in which a drug dealer could be charged with felony homicide in connection with a user’s death. The bill voted down Wednesday was a priority of Gov.

FILE - In this Saturday Feb. 26, 2011 file photo, flags wave on the roof of the State Capitol in Richmond, Va. A Democrat-led Virginia Senate panel on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, defeated a handful of Republican-sponsored voting bills and moved to put on hold consideration of several proposed constitutional amendments until after this year's session. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia House panel advances perennial measure seeking to ban personal use of campaign funds

Virginia elected officials would be prohibited from spending their campaign funds on personal expenses such as mortgages, vacations or gym memberships under a bill a House subcommittee has advanced on a bipartisan basis.

FILE - In this Saturday Feb. 26, 2011 file photo, flags wave on the roof of the State Capitol in Richmond, Va. A Democrat-led Virginia Senate panel on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, defeated a handful of Republican-sponsored voting bills and moved to put on hold consideration of several proposed constitutional amendments until after this year's session. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia Senate Democrats postpone work on constitutional amendments and kill GOP voting bills

A Democrat-led Virginia Senate panel has defeated a handful of Republican-sponsored voting bills and moved to put on hold consideration of several proposed constitutional amendments until after this year’s session.

FILE - An electric car charging station is positioned outside the Science Museum, Feb. 18, 2021, in Richmond, Va. On Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, Virginia Senate Democrats defeated for a third straight year Republican efforts to repeal an electric vehicle mandate that aims to reduce carbon pollution through the adoption of California’s stringent rules for vehicle emissions. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia Senate Democrats vote down GOP-sponsored ‘clean cars’ repeal bills

Virginia Senate Democrats have again defeated Republican efforts to repeal an electric vehicle mandate that aims to reduce carbon pollution through the adoption of California’s stringent rules for vehicle emissions.

A demonstrator holds up a sign during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Annual Virginia ‘Lobby Day’ features gun-related rallies and an unusual move on skill games

Hundreds of gun-rights supporters have gathered for an annual rally at the Virginia Capitol, calling on the state’s Democratic legislative majority to back down from its push to send GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin bills further restricting firearms.

State Senate majority leader Sen. Scott Surovell D-Fairfax, right, gestures during a press conference at the Capitol, Wednesday Jan. 10, 2024, in Richmond, Va. The 2024 session of the Virginia General Assembly opens today. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Virginia Senate Democrats decline to adopt proportional party representation on committees

Democrats who control the Virginia Senate are continuing the practice of stacking General Assembly committees with their own members in a proportion greater than their razor-thin majority.

Viriginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, bottom center, is welcomed as he prepares to delivers his State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly as Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, top left, House Speaker Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, and Senate President pro tempore Se. Louis Lucas, D-Portsmouth, top right, listens at the Capitol Wednesday Jan. 10, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

New speaker makes history as Virginia Legislature opens; Youngkin calls for bipartisan progress

A remade Virginia General Assembly has convened its 2024 session. The Legislature kicked off 60 days of work on Wednesday with a Democratic majority newly in charge of both chambers.

Virginia lawmakers set to take up proposal to help fund new arena for Capitals, Wizards

Virginia lawmakers are set to take up legislation to enable Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plan to build a new professional sports arena and entertainment district in Alexandria.

FILE - Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, at an event in Alexandria, Va. Youngkin said Thursday, Dec. 14, that he would pursue mental health reform legislation next year in honor of Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man whose death earlier this year while in custody at a state mental hospital sparked outrage and led to both legal charges and a wrongful death settlement. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Youngkin pledges to seek mental health legislation in honor of Irvo Otieno

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin plans to pursue mental health reform legislation next year in honor of Irvo Otieno. The 28-year-old Black man died earlier this year while in custody at a state mental hospital, sparking outrage and led to legal charges.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks with reporters after an event where he and Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team and Washington Capitals HNL hockey team, announce plans for a new sports stadium for the teams, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Alexandria, Va. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has reached a tentative agreement with the parent company of the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals to move those teams from the District of Columbia to what he called a new "visionary sports and entertainment venue" in northern Virginia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Wizards, Capitals would move to Virginia in tentative deal, Youngkin says. Mystics would stay in DC

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has a tentative agreement with the parent company of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to move those teams out of D.C. to northern Virginia.

FILE - Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin addresses the crowd during an early voting rally, Sept. 21, 2023, in Petersburg, Va. Youngkin says the proposed budget he will soon unveil for the next two fiscal years will include an increase in state spending on early learning and childcare programs. Youngkin said in a speech Thursday, Dec. 7, that the central aim of the proposal is to ensure that the end of federal pandemic-era funds used to expand those initiatives doesn't leave families in the lurch. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Youngkin calls for increased state spending on child care programs

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin says the proposed budget he will soon unveil for the next two fiscal years will include an increase in state spending on early learning and child care programs.

FILE - The exterior of the Virginia Employment Commission is seen, April 15, 2021, in Richmond, Va. Virginia’s agency that processes unemployment benefits has made great strides at clearing pandemic-related backlogs, but that work isn't expected to be finished until next summer, a top official told lawmakers Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia expects to wipe out pandemic unemployment backlog next summer

The Virginia agency that processes unemployment benefits doesn’t expect to finish clearing its pandemic-related backlog until next summer. A top agency official gave that update to lawmakers at an oversight hearing in Richmond on Wednesday.

FILE - Spectators watch during the unveiling ceremony for a statue at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va., Dec. 10, 2019. Virginia’s state-run fine arts museum is returning 44 ancient pieces of art to their countries of origin after law enforcement officials presented the institution with what it called “irrefutable evidence” that the works had been stolen or looted. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced in a news release Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 that it had “safely delivered” the pieces to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, file)

Virginia state art museum returns 44 pieces authorities determined were stolen or looted

Virginia’s state-run fine arts museum is returning 44 ancient pieces of art to their countries of origin after law enforcement officials presented the institution with what it called “irrefutable evidence” that the works had been stolen or looted.

Virginia officials certify 2023 legislative election results, other electoral contests

Virginia’s State Board of Elections has voted unanimously to certify the 2023 legislative elections and other electoral contests during a meeting in Richmond.

FILE - Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, back left, and Virginia Delegate Rodney Willett, back middle, look on as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney speaks during a campaign rally for Virginia State Delegates Willett and Schuyler VanValkenburg on Nov. 4, 2023, Henrico, Va. Stoney announced Monday Dec. 4, 2023 that he will run for Virginia governor in 2025. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)

Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announces run for Virginia governor in 2025

Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has announced he is running for Virginia governor in 2025. In a campaign video released Monday, Stoney says he wants all Virginians to have a fair shot at success.

FILE - Virginia State Sen-elect, Ghazala Hashmi speaks to supporters at a Democratic victory party in Richmond, Va., Nov. 5, 2019. Hashmi asked a court Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges her qualification to hold office over what her attorneys called “baseless” allegations that she did not meet the state's residency requirements. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Judge dismisses legal challenge against Virginia state senator over residency allegations

A Virginia judge has dismissed a legal challenge that sought to prevent the certification of the election of a state senator. Friday’s ruling rejected claims that Democrat Ghazala Hashmi had not met the state’s residency requirements.

FILE - Virginia State Sen-elect, Ghazala Hashmi speaks to supporters at a Democratic victory party in Richmond, Va., Nov. 5, 2019. Hashmi asked a court Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges her qualification to hold office over what her attorneys called “baseless” allegations that she did not meet the state's residency requirements. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Virginia state senator seeks dismissal of lawsuit over ‘baseless’ residency allegations

A Virginia state senator is asking a court to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges her qualification to hold office over what her attorneys call “baseless” allegations that she did not meet the state’s residency requirements.