The Senate committee convened and considered a wide docket of joint resolutions, bills and studies on topics ranging from election timing and judicial staffing to pandemic preparedness and school health services.

Senators reported many items out of committee, approved technical and friendly amendments, and in several cases laid bills on the table but directed the presiding officer to send letters to state agencies asking them to convene work groups or carry out certain studies.

The committee debated a handful of items at length and primarily handled the remainder as routine reports. Senator Servais described SJ 253 as “a 2 part thing. 1 is to study whether or not we should consolidate our elections with the federal cycle and number 2 is if so, how do we do it,” and warned the transition “is actually very complicated probably 6 to 8 year[s] process to do it starting from today if we were to actually do it.”

On judicial selection, Senator Sarva (transcript: “Senate Joint Resolution 2 59”) said the current weighted caseload study recommended eliminating judgeships and recommended JLARC take “a deep dive” to review the methodology; the committee agreed to report that resolution out of committee.

Several pandemic-related studies that had been submitted by a joint subcommittee were not advanced as standalone statutes. Instead the committee voted to lay multiple pandemic-response bills on the table with letters asking the Department of Emergency Management, the Department of Health, or other relevant agencies to convene work groups and report back. Senator Perry described the joint subcommittee recommendations as addressing the Commonwealth’s reliance on grants, continuity-of-technology issues, and the need for a “comprehensive legal and regulatory framework” during emergencies.

Other items reported or acted on included: appointments to the VCU Health System Board of Directors (HJ 673 reported), legislation directing the Department of Health to provide outreach materials about WIC to food banks (SB 1019 reported), measures on school health services and sunsets, a proposal to create a Legislative Compensation Commission following a JLARC study (SB 1219 reported as amended), and a bill adding the City of Falls Church to the list of localities authorized to run an affordable dwelling unit program (SB 1011 reported).

Votes at a glance
- SJ 253 (study to consider consolidating state elections with federal cycle): moved and reported; no roll-call tally given in the transcript for final committee report.
- SJ 259 (weighted caseload / judicial staffing, JLARC study requested): reported; roll-call recorded as I 17, no 0 in the transcript when reported to the committee.
- HJ 673 (appointments — VCU Health System Board of Directors): reported 17-0.
- SB 1278 (heroin and fentanyl task force meeting frequency amended from bimonthly to quarterly): reported as amended 17-0.
- SB 1028 (DMV tow-truck license plate work group): laid on the table (motion to lay on table carried; transcript records the bill was laid on the table 12-5 when closed).
- SB 883 (purchase/possession/transportation of firearm penalties for assault of household/intimate partner): reported 13-4.
- SB 885 (Office of the State Inspector General — behavioral health and developmental services oversight): reported 17-0 (committee recorded report counts in transcript).
- SB 886 (trigger activator definition and penalty): reported 12-5.
- SB 1326 (Emergency Management / pandemic-response work group): laid on the table with a letter to the Department of Emergency Management to convene a work group (16-1 or tabled by roll call recorded in transcript: 16-1 in places; committee language indicates it was tabled with a letter).
- SJ 254 (Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month — designate May): reported 17-9 (transcript records “SA 2 54, report 17 9”).
- SB 1217A (reference in transcript: SB1217A reported 17-0): reported, details of bill text not specified in transcript.
- SB 932 / SB 932 (accessory dwelling units / tiny homes — SB 9 32 in transcript): failed for lack of motion; not reported.
- SB 1165 / SB 11 65 (procurement / solar PV product standards): reported (vote recorded as passed in committee; transcript notes “SB 11 65 reports 11 pass”).
- SB 1011 (City of Falls Church — affordable dwelling unit authority): reported 11-5.
- SB 748 (Board of Housing and Community Development, USB C temperature regulation): gently laid on the table 17-0.
- SB 768 (survey of local education agencies re: school-based mental/behavioral health): reported 16-1.
- SB 799 (School Health Services Committee sunset extension): reported (vote recorded as reported 16-0 in transcript passages).
- SB 1385 / SB 13 85 (Department of Emergency Management and Department of Health study — pandemic preparedness): tabled with a letter 17-0.
- SB 1019 (WIC outreach to food banks): reported 16-17-0 (transcript lists a committee vote; committee reported the bill).
- SB 1118 (cemetery register for private-property burials in Planning District 8 — Northern Virginia): reported 14-3.
- SB 1219 (Legislative Compensation Commission, technical amendment adopted and amendment to membership proportionality): reported as amended 13-4.

What the committee directed and next steps
- For several pandemic-response and emergency-preparedness measures, the committee specifically chose to lay bills on the table while directing the presiding officer to send letters to the Department of Emergency Management or the Department of Health asking the agencies to convene work groups and issue reports, rather than enacting statutory changes now.
- The committee adopted friendly technical amendments on multiple bills (for example, changing meeting frequency for a heroin/fentanyl task force from bimonthly to quarterly) and accepted substitutes on cybersecurity and other items where staff and federal rulemaking had recently changed the regulatory landscape.
- Where JLARC involvement was requested (judicial selection study; an intercollegiate athletics/JLARC review tied to changing NIL rules), the committee placed requests in bills or enactment clauses asking for audits or reports due in a future year (the athletics/JLARC study included a report due in late 2025 or 2026 as noted in the transcript).

The committee closed after reporting or tabling the large docket; many items moved without debate or with short statements from the bill patrons. Several roll-call tallies and formal outcomes are recorded above as they appear in the transcript. The committee frequently used “lay on the table with a letter” as the vehicle to ask executive-branch agencies to carry out studies or convene work groups instead of enacting new statutory language immediately.