Virginia General Assembly to decide on proposed bills during 2024 session

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – State lawmakers are set to meet at the capitol as the Virginia General Assembly session begins Wednesday at noon.

Hundreds of bills are on the agenda this session. WDBJ first reported last week about some of those hot topic issues regarding abortion rights, authorizing skill games and giving home school students the right to play school sports. But there are a few more bills that were also filed that could impact Virginians.

For starters, one bill would charge any gun owner who allows a minor to carry a firearm, or knows a minor can access it, with a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill elevates the penalty to a Class 5 felony if the owner knows the minor has been charged with a violent juvenile felony or has been the subject of a school-initiated threat assessment.

Drivers, listen up, because the proposed House Bill 20 would allow local governments to place traffic speed cameras in any location deemed necessary. However, the bill requires two signs, rather than one, be placed to warn people about those cameras if they are set up somewhere other than a school crossing zone or highway work zone.

One other bill to note is House Bill 1. It’s aiming to raise the state’s minimum wage from its current rate of $12.00 per hour. If passed, the minimum wage would increase to $13.50 per hour starting January 1, 2025, and then to $15.00 per hour in 2026.

According to the Virginia General Assembly’s schedule, a press conference to announce Labor Trafficking Legislation is set to take place at 9:45am Wednesday.

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