Richmond lawmakers increasingly use continuation method to delay action on legislation for strategic and procedural reasons.
By Marcus Webb | The Commonwealth Wire
RICHMOND — Virginia lawmakers continued 433 bills to the 2027 General Assembly session during the legislative session that concluded in mid-March, representing 18% of the 2,366 bills introduced this year, according to legislative records.
The practice of continuing legislation — postponing action until the following year — has become an increasingly common tool in the Virginia General Assembly, political experts say. The 433 continued bills mark a notable portion of the total legislative activity in Richmond.
“Continuation serves multiple purposes for legislators,” said Dr. Sarah Mitchell, a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies state legislative processes. “It can be a strategic delay tactic, a way to buy time for further study, or sometimes a polite way to kill a bill without an outright rejection.”
The continuation process allows lawmakers to defer consideration of bills without formally defeating them. This procedural move can occur in committee or on the floor of either chamber, giving sponsors additional time to build support, address concerns, or make revisions.
Some lawmakers use continuation strategically when they lack sufficient votes for passage but believe circumstances may change by the next session. Others employ it when complex legislation requires additional study or when competing priorities crowd the legislative calendar.
“Sometimes it’s genuine — the bill needs more work or more stakeholder input,” Mitchell explained. “Other times, it’s a face-saving measure that allows sponsors to avoid an outright defeat while giving opponents a way to postpone something they oppose without taking a hard ‘no’ vote.”
The high number of continued bills this session reflects the broad range of issues Virginia legislators attempted to address, from local government matters to statewide policy initiatives. Bills covering topics from education funding to transportation infrastructure to regulatory changes were among those postponed to 2027.
Delegate Jennifer Hayes of Virginia Beach, who chairs the House Rules Committee, noted that continuation can be particularly useful for complex legislation that emerges late in the session. “When we’re dealing with intricate policy matters that affect multiple stakeholders across Virginia, sometimes the responsible thing is to take more time to get it right,” Hayes said.
The practice also reflects the compressed timeline of Virginia’s legislative sessions. With lawmakers meeting for just 60 days in even-numbered years and 30 days in odd-numbered years, continuation provides a mechanism to manage the legislative workload.
Continued bills will be eligible for consideration when the 2027 General Assembly convenes in January. Sponsors can reintroduce continued legislation or allow it to die, depending on changing political circumstances and priorities.
The Virginia General Assembly’s next regular session will begin in January 2027, when lawmakers will address both new legislation and the substantial backlog of continued bills from this year’s session.
Key Facts
- 433 bills were continued to 2027 out of 2,366 total bills introduced, representing 18% of all legislation
- The Virginia General Assembly session concluded in mid-March in Richmond
- Continuation allows lawmakers to postpone bills without formally defeating them
- Continued bills remain eligible for consideration in the 2027 legislative session
- Political experts cite strategic, procedural, and time management reasons for the increase in continued legislation
