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It’s back-to-school season

General Assembly Update – End of Session

Saturday, February 25th, marked what is known as “Sine Die” at the Virginia General Assembly, the final day of the 2023 regular session. Thousands of bills were heard and debated during the 46 days of session. LAJC’s team worked tirelessly to prevent the rollback of rights for our communities and to push for progress during […]

Crossover Update – Legislative Session 2023

In the first half of the 2023 General Assembly session, LAJC staff have advocated, testified, and supported the testimony of community members in favor of bills that would improve public school funding, expand comprehensive and affordable children’s health care coverage, increase tenants’ rights, ease the burden and harm court fines can have on those returning […]

Virginia’s 2023 Legislative Session Starts!

January 11, 2023, marks the start of the Virginia General Assembly legislative session and LAJC is ready.   Our teams have worked with community groups and advocacy partners throughout the past year to identify priorities and issues of concern that are likely to arise as members bring bills to committees and legislation moves forward in the […]

Veto Session Update – 2022 Legislative Session

Every legislative session in Virginia culminates in a brief “Reconvene” or “Veto” session where the General Assembly considers any vetoes or amendments from the Governor. On April 27th, legislators gathered to act on approximately 100 bills that Gov. Youngkin proposed amending, as well as 26 bills that he vetoed. Several of those bills directly implicated our […]

LAJC/Youth Justice Program’s statement on HB 1197

Virginia has received national attention in recent years for shifting its approach to juvenile justice from a punitive, carceral system to a more rehabilitative, restorative, and community-based model. The bipartisan passage of HB 1197 continues this trajectory by establishing a stakeholder workgroup to initiate the transfer of the Department of Juvenile Justice from under the […]

LAJC Asks Richmond Schools to End Police MOU

In solidarity with Richmond youth and as part of our multi-year effort to end school pushout and the school-to-prison pipeline, today the Legal Aid Justice Center sent a letter to the City of Richmond School Board and the Richmond Public Schools administration asking that Richmond divest from its School Resource Officer program and invest in […]

Big Wins – LAJC at the 2021 Legislative Session

The 2021 General Assembly session is wrapping up, and all the bills and budget amendments that passed the Virginia House and Senate are on their way to the Governor to be signed into law. Successfully advocating for legislation at the GA is a tough job in the best of circumstances, but during a pandemic, with […]