RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia General Assembly reconvened Wednesday for a one-day session that was unlike any other in either chamber's history.
Members of the House of Delegates met under a tent outside the Virginia Capitol, wearing masks and following COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. Their counterparts in the Virginia Senate took similar measures but met at the Virginia Science Museum a few miles away.
Delegates and senators took up Governor Ralph Northam's proposed changes to legislation passed earlier this year.
A few big ones included HB 395 Minimum wage and HB 340 Emergency laws.
The House accepted the governor's amendment to a bill that now provides rent and mortgage relief to people furloughed or not getting paid because of the pandemic.
Delegate Jeion Ward, who represents part of Hampton, introduced a bill that increases the minimum wage to $9.50/hour, but that move is delayed until next May because of COVID-19.
Any amendments that the House passes, the Senate must pass as well, and vice versa.
You can check out the legislative agenda here.
While the lawmakers met, demonstrators gathered around the capitol's grounds Many of them were in cars, SUVs, and trucks. They circled the area, honking, holding signs. They're message to delegates and senators as well as Gov. Ralph Northam was to put an end to all the coronavirus closures and reopen Virginia.
Northam extended the period of closures for some businesses, including barbershops and hair salons until May 8. That date could change again.
A stay-at-home order has been in place for weeks and is set to end June 10. People, in general, only are supposed to leave their homes if they can't work remotely or need essential items or services including groceries, meals, or medications. The stay-at-home order is subject to change, too, depending on how the state is doing in fighting the spread of COVID-19.
Northam repeatedly has said in his briefings people have to continue to follow the stay-at-home order and social distancing guidelines in order to control the spread of the disease. While the efforts have worked, he emphasized the need that letting up on them too soon was not an option.
As of April 22, Virginia Department of Health said there had been 9,952 confirmed cases in the state and 347 people had died because of COVID-19.