Virginia lawmakers to hold session unlike any other

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia lawmakers are set to hold a one-day legislative session unlike any other in the state’s 400 year history as they grapple with how to handle fallout of the coronavirus.

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But the coronavirus pandemic has overturned everything, including the logistics of how lawmakers are supposed to gather.

House Delegates plan to meet under a canopy outside the Capitol while the Senate is meeting at a giant event space at the Virginia Science Museum a couple of miles away. Lawmakers will be seated far apart and are asked to wear masks instead of germ-carrying ties to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Del. Ken Plum, who has served in the House for four decades, said he’s never experienced anything like this year’s veto session: not only because of the social distancing involved, he said, but because of the rapid economic collapse that’s occurred right after the legislative session ended in early March.

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