The General Assembly, officially the name of the State Legislature, dates from the establishment of the House of Burgesses at Jamestown in 1619. It is now composed of a Senate and a House of Delegates which have the power to: levy taxes, enact laws not specifically prohibited by the state or federal constitution, confirm the Governor’s appointments of state agency heads and board members, approve the budget, elect State Supreme Court Justices, Court of Appeals, Circuit and District Court Judges, members of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, the Auditor of Public Accounts, the Commissioners of the State Corporation Commission, and members of the Virginia Worker’s Compensation Commission.The General Assembly meets annually, beginning on the second Wednesday in January, for 60 days in even-numbered years and for 30days in odd-numbered years, with an option to extend the annual session for a maximum of 30 days.

The General Assembly is BICAMERAL!

HOUSE OF DELEGATES: the lower house

The House of Delegates consists of 100 members. Each member represents approximately 71,000 citizens. The House membership primarily consists of attorneys, business executives, educators, and farmers. The term of office for a member of the House of Delegates is two years. Each member receives an annual salary of $17,640. To be a member, a person must be 21 years old and reside in the district he or she is representing. Members are considered “civil representatives” as most hold outside jobsThe Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the House and is elected by the House in even-numbered years for a two-year term. The Speaker’s duties are dictated by the Rules of the House. Among these duties are the assigning of bills to committee and appointing the membership of the 14 House standing committees. The Clerk of the House is elected by the House in even-numbered years and continues in office until another is chosen. The Clerk is responsible for the administration of the House under the direction of the Speaker.

STATE SENATE:the upper house

The Senate of Virginia consists of 40 members. Each member is elected for a term of four years and receives an annual salary of $18,000. A Senator represents approximately 176,000 citizens of the Commonwealth. The membership of the current Senate is composed of lawyers, business executives, farmers, and those from a variety of other occupational backgrounds. To be a member of this house, a person must be 21 years old and live in the district he or she is representing. Members are considered “civil representatives” as most hold outside jobsThe Lieutenant Governor is the presiding officer of the Senate and is elected in a statewide election for a four-year term. In the event of his absence, the President pro tempore carries out the duties of the presiding officer. The President pro tempore is elected by the Senate for a term of four years.The Clerk of the Senate is elected by the Senate and serves as the chief administrative officer. The Clerk's duties are overseeing the daily operations of the Senate, maintaining all Senate records, keeping the daily Journal, referring bills to committees, personnel management, information technology, and facilities management.

How a Bill Becomes a Law:• This is a very similar process

to national bills in Congress!• Our state legislators are

forced to be quick with their work because of their limited time in session.

• Each house has standing committees which do much of the work prior to the beginning of the session.

• Bills must pass both houses and be signed by the Governor to become law!

Virginia uses several types of

direct legislation:

• Initiative: process of voters proposing legislation (direct and indirect)

• Referendum: allowing voters to approve a proposed law directly- compulsory: required by law- advisory: request for “input”- popular: sent to people by

assembly• Recall: election held to

withdraw a person from office

2007 Election Breakdown

39

59

2

DemocratsRepublicansIndependents

22

18DemocratsRepublicans

The Great Seal of the Commonwealth has been in use since 1776. There are two sides of the Great Seal. The front side is called the obverse. The back side of the Great Seal is called the reverse.

Roman mythology defines the unique Great Seal of Virginia. The obverse of the seal features the

Roman goddess Virtus standing over a defeated opponent. Virtus is dressed in Amazonian garb, and holds a spear and a sheathed sword. She represents the virtues of heroism, righteousness, freedom, and valor. She stands in a classical victor's pose over a fallen tyrannical foe, whose crown lies on the ground. The state's motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis" ("Thus Always to Tyrants") appears at the lower edge. The seal was approved at Virginia's 1776 Constitutional Convention, and the principal designer is said to have been George Wythe. A committee composed of Wythe, George Mason, Robert Carter Nicholas, and Richard Henry Lee collaborated on the design. In 1930 another committee was charged with standardizing the seal's design because of all the variations that came into use over the years. What the committee approved was basically adopting the 1776 seal as the standard. In 1949, another standard was implemented, when Virginia's Art Commission defined the official color scheme for the seal.

The reverse of the seal pictures the blessings of freedom and peace, as represented by three Roman goddesses. In the center is the matron Libertas the goddess of individual liberties. In her hand she holds a wand showing her magical gifts, at the top of the wand hangs a Phrygian Cap, also called a Liberty Cap - later made popular by French revolutionaries. To the left of Libertas stands Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. In her left hand is a horn of plenty overflowing with the abundance of Virginia's harvests, while in her right hand is an enormous stalk of wheat, representing one of Virginia's leading crops. Aeternitas, representing Virginia's eternity, stands at the right of Libertas. In her right hand is a golden ball, an emblem of authority, and atop the ball is a Phoenix, symbolizing immortality. On the Virginia seal, the phoenix represents effective government. The motto gracing the reverse with its trio of Libertas, Ceres, and Aeternitas is Perservando, or in English, Persevering, a reminder to future generations of the need to persist in maintaining the blessings of liberty.

House of Delegates Mace The Mace is a ceremonial staff presented to the House of Delegates in 1700 by the Governor General of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. Displayed in the old House chamber is an Edwardian style mace made of silver with a 24-karat gold wash. The importance of the mace lies in its symbolism, which derives from English tradition.

Senate of Virginia Seal The Senate of Virginia adopted its Seal in 1981. The Seal of the Senate has a shield of armor in the center which is divided into four sections, representing the arms of four countries (England, France, Scotland, and Ireland) that contributed to Virginia's early history. The coats of arms, Queen Elizabeth, and the dragon (part of royal seal of England) represent Virginia's heritage. The ivory gavel represents the Senate as a law making body. The cardinal and dogwood depict are two of our state emblems. The ribbon contains the Latin motto of the Senate, which means "May the Senate of Virginia flourish."

ELECTION 2009: How voter turnout decided the Virginia governor's race

Of all the hype and spin attempting to explain this week's Virginia governor's race, which saw Republican Bob McDonnell score a resounding victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds, the most convincing argument comes down to this: voter turnout. As Larry Sabato notes today, turnout for the Virginia governor's race was the lowest since 1969: The 2009 turnout of 39.8 percent of the registered voters was the lowest in forty years. Even with all the population growth since 2005, the absolute voter turnout in 2009 (1.97 million) fell below that of four years ago (2.0 million). And the electorate was barely more than half that of 2008 (3.7 million). Astounding. To put it in exact numbers, the number of registered Virginians who voted for governor in 2009 was 53% of the number who voted for president in 2008. And who didn't go vote? I pointed out yesterday that the Virginia youth vote -- a critical piece of the "new majority" key to electing Democrats in Southern states -- tracked almost perfectly with the overall decline: Virginia's under-30 vote dropped by half between 2008 and 2009, while the 60+ vote doubled. The same was true for African-American and Latino voters, so critical to Obama's victory in Virginia last year. According to Nate Silver at 538.com, the share of Virginia voters that were voters of color dropped from 30 to 22 percent between 2008 and 2009. Without Obama at the top of the ticket, young voters and African-American and Latino voters weren't motivated -- a reality likely exacerbated by Deeds' distancing himself from Obama and progressives. But older and whiter voters -- the ones who didn't support Obama last year, and who don't now -- made a point of getting to the polls.

By Chris Kromm on November 5, 2009 10:50 AM