RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Attorney General announced his legislative goals on Tuesday ahead of the General Assembly's first 2025 session.
Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, says he doesn't want this session to be swamped by partisan gridlock.
“As the 'People's Protector,' I have remained resolute in my commitment to fulfill the promises I made from day one. Every Virginian deserves to feel safe in their homes, confident in their communities, and secure in their futures," said Miyares.
Watch: What new laws take effect Virginia, NC in 2025?
Miyares's agenda included 11 proposed policies that he intends to support:
- HB1556 — Authorizes the Attorney General to conduct criminal prosecutions against child sexual assault offenders and human trafficking involving children.
- HB1650 — Enables victims of terrorism to pursue civil claims against those who aid and abet terrorism.
- HB1809 — Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as males, females or coed based on the biological sex of the students who participate on the team or in the sport. The bill requires that the biological sex of any student seeking to participate on such an expressly designated team be affirmed by a signed physician's statement. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females from being open to students whose biological sex is male.
- HB1846 — Informs victims and gives them a chance to weigh-in when offenders convicted of certain crimes, particularly violent or sex-related offenses, when the offender seeks to change their name.
- HB1548 — Requires high school students to achieve a passing score on questions from the U.S. Naturalization Test to graduate.
- SB861 — Closes a loophole under the violent escape statute by updating the current definition of law-enforcement officer to prevent dangerous offenders from exploiting gaps in the legal system.
- Pending — Strengthens efforts to protect victims of human trafficking by ensuring that organized crime linked to these cases can be fully prosecuted.
- Pending — Ensures integrity in sentencing by providing that a person who is convicted of an inchoate crime (attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy) will earn sentence credits at the same rate as someone who is convicted of the completed offense for certain enumerated offenses.
- Pending — Establishes a private cause of action for parents against TikTok’s practices, addressing concerns related to data privacy, child exploitation, and security threats.
- Pending — Expands the Address Confidentiality Program to support the broader mission of victim protection in Virginia.
- Pending — Allows boards of public universities to review partnerships with countries of concern, safeguarding Virginia's academic institutions from foreign influence.
So far, all the proposed policies listed above that have been introduced were done so by Republicans.
Watch: Virginia Attorney General urges Supreme Court to uphold law that could ban TikTok
Virginia Democrats currently have a razor-thin majority in both chambers of the General Assembly.
- State Senate: 20 Democrats, 18 Republicans, 2 vacancies.
- House of Delegates: 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans, 1 vacancy.
Special elections are being held Tuesday to fill three vacant seats.
Two State Senate seats are up for grabs, one representing the Greater Richmond Region (SD10) and one representing part of Loudoun County (SD32). There's also an open House of Delegates seat also representing part of Loudoun County (HD26).
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Democrats are poised to pick up two of the three remaining General Assembly seats based off their performance during the general election. Both SD32 and HD26 in northern Virginia reliably voted blue in the presidential race and in both congressional races on the ballot.
SD10 on the other hand consistently leaned towards Republican candidates across all races in 2024.
Virginia's General Assembly will meet and begin swearing in members at noon on Wednesday.
