General Assembly Calls Off Oct. 26 Special Session to Elect Judges

An Oct. 26 special session to elect judges to the Court of Appeals of Virginia has been called off because of scheduling conflicts, scrapping lawmakers’ return to Richmond.

The session was expected to last at least three days, which Senate Majority Leader Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said was difficult for many lawmakers to plan around.

“Members were planning on all kinds of travel plans and family plans and all kinds of stuff. Scheduling special sessions is difficult outside of the regular session,” Surovell told The Mercury in a phone interview Monday.

A special session brings lawmakers together outside their annual regular session to conduct legislative business. Under the Virginia Constitution, the governor can call one when the interests of the state require it and must do so if two-thirds of elected members of each chamber request it.

This planned meeting was part of the ongoing special session that lawmakers have kept open by recessing rather than adjourning after completing their business. That allows them to return at the request of leaders in both chambers.

Surovell said the reason for the session was intended to address a backlog of judicial appointments that could delay some panel decisions.

Disagreements over taxing data centers delayed final passage of the state budget until June, months after the regular session ended.  That, in turn, delayed funding for the positions and pushed back the vetting process, he said.

Aside from selecting the judges, Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, had planned to bring a data center moratorium up for debate ahead of the regular session in January.

“We’re trying to lower power bills for Virginians and make data centers pay their own way instead of passing their costs on to families,” Sturtevant said in a statement Monday.

Sturtevant has been an early voice in the growing chorus calling for some form of pause on data center development in the commonwealth while lawmakers pass more guardrails and regulations. Multiple such bills have been introduced, or are expected to be, for the regular General Assembly session that begins Jan. 13.

“The problem exists today. Virginians are dealing with rising power costs now, and we need to make sure data centers pay their own costs rather than shifting them onto families,” Sturtevant said. “If everyone agrees this needs attention, there’s no reason not to start the work Monday.”

However, even if the session had moved forward, bringing Sturtevant’s bill up for a vote would have violated a procedural resolution limiting the introduction of legislation that the House adopted earlier this year.

Surovell also said the tight schedule did not accommodate committee hearings, which would be necessary to pass legislation such as a moratorium, because the session was focused on electing judges.

By Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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