2012 Legislative Session
The 2012 Regular Session adjourned sine die on Saturday, March 10, 2012. The 2012 Reconvened Regular Session was held Wednesday, April 18, 2012 to
consider Governor's amendments and vetoes to legislation from the 2012 Regular Session, and adjourned sine die.
2012 Special Session 1
The 2012 Special Session 1 convened immediately upon adjournment sine die of the 2012 Regular Session, for the purpose of considering budget bills (see HJR 5002). The House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia adjourned 2012 Special
Session I sine die on Tuesday, May 15, 2012.
House and Senate offer live video of 2012 Legislative Sessions
The House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia offer live streaming video of the 2012 Legislative Sessions, when each body
convenes for session.
Minimum system requirements for viewing the streams are available from the links above along with links to related legislative content.
Sculpture of Thomas Jefferson unveiled at the Virginia Capitol
On May 3, 2012, The Virginia Capitol Foundation, joined by leaders of the Virginia General Assembly, unveiled a newly commissioned bronze sculpture at the State Capitol entitled Thomas
Jefferson, Architect of Liberty. The larger-than-life bronze statue represents Mr. Jefferson at approximately age 42 when he designed the Virginia State Capitol. Mr. Jefferson is holding an
architectural drawing of the Capitol which was the first building designed and constructed expressly to house a governmental body in our new nation.
The Virginia State Capitol’s 2007 Restoration and Expansion featured a 27,000 square foot underground extension that included plans for a sculpture of Thomas Jefferson to be placed in the
area known as the Plaza. The statue, which will now be on permanent display in the Plaza, will serve as a guidepost, beckoning the more than 100,000 annual visitors to enter America’s first monument to
democracy.
A full press release, detailing the statue's origins and journey to its permanent home at the State Capitol is
available.
Virginia State Capitol named one of 10 buildings that changed America
The Virginia State Capitol will be featured in "10 Buildings that changed America", a national TV special coming to PBS in 2013 about ten influential American
buildings that changed the way we live, work, and play.
Designed by Thomas Jefferson, the Virginia State Capitol marked the beginning of the American tradition of modeling government buildings on Roman and Greek temples.
A full press release on the upcoming TV special is
available.
Contacting Your Legislator
As a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, one of your greatest responsibilities is to elect the legislators to represent you in the Virginia General Assembly.
There are a number of online resources available on the Virginia General Assembly website to assist you in taking an active role in the legislative process:
Know who your legislators are and how to contact them. If you don't know who
represents you, find out by using Who's My Legislator. Due to this widely used online service, calling the 800 number for
Constituent Viewpoint has been eliminated. Who's My Legislator gives you the
ability to email your Delegate, Senator as well as contact information for your representatives in the US House of Representatives and US Senate.
In addition, a biographical page on each delegate and senator is available from the General Assembly's homepage.
Contact your representative about a particular issue before the Legislature takes action on it. Using the Legislative Information System, you can track legislation and review committee agendas prior to a meeting. You can even
testify before committees on issues important to you.
Capitol Use Policies Adopted by Joint Rules for 2012 Session
The Virginia Capitol, one of the most historic structures in the Western Hemisphere, every year welcomes thousands of Virginia citizens and visitors from around the country and throughout the world.
The Virginia Capitol is unique among historic sites because it also is a working government building. It is important to respect and safeguard the historic nature of the Capitol as well as preserve the
public’s access to their government without impeding the day-to-day operations of state government and the conduct of the people’s business.
In accordance with local, state, and federal laws, rules, and regulations, interim rules regarding the Capitol and the House and Senate galleries have been established jointly by the Clerk of the House and the
Clerk of the Senate at the direction of the General Assembly’s Committee on Joint Rules.
Groups interested in holding an event on Capitol Square will need a permit.
Please see the Commonwealth of Virginia's Division of
Engineering and Buildings (DEB) webpage
for information on obtaining these permits.
Capitol Virtual Tour Website
The General Assembly has released a state of the art virtual tours website that brings
Virginia's State Capitol to the citizens of Virginia. The website provides online tours of both the Capitol Grounds and the Capitol Building. Visitors to this
interactive website will have the ability to explore areas on their own or view video presentations.
Please note the virtual tours website requires the Adobe Flash Player. You can download the Flash Player at the Adobe
website at no charge. If you do not have the Flash Player plug-in installed, you will be prompted to install it before any content is shown.
For visitors with special needs: An accessible segment of this
website has been created for those visitors who use technology other than standard web browsers to
view web content.
|
