In five weeks, Virginia Democrats reshape decades of state policy
The Virginia General Assembly passed bills to raise the minimum wage, let local governments remove Confederate statues, transform the energy landscape in response to climate change and grant legal driving privileges to undocumented immigrants.
And that was just Tuesday.
At the halfway point of a hectic, 60-day legislative session, Virginia’s new Democratic majorities are dismantling decades of Republican-approved policy and advancing a broad progressive agenda.
A legislature that once made national headlines for requiring transvaginal probes before abortions is now rolling back abortion restrictions like mandatory ultrasounds and the 24-hour waiting period. Past Republican efforts to create legal protections for traditional religious viewpoints have given way to a far-reaching LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill, the first of its kind to advance in the South. The photo ID election rule Republicans enacted as an anti-fraud measure is on the verge of being scrapped and replaced by a more lenient system that would allow excuse-free early voting and automatic voter registration.
In a state where many areas see gun rights as sacrosanct, bills to impose new restrictions on firearm access — including universal background checks and a red flag law — are well on their way to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk.
https://www.virginiamercury.com/2020/02/12/in-five-weeks-virginia-democrats-reshape-decades-of-state-policy/
= new reply since forum marked as read
the great state of Illinois.
We took out the trash, too, and are getting big things done.
Way to go, Virginia Democrats! 
