As the General Assembly session progresses, we wanted to update you on a number of items our team has been working on. The deadline for filing bills was January 22nd, and over 2700 bills and resolutions were introduced this year. Our government affairs team has been busy tracking over 600 bills. Of those 600, we’ve listed positions on around 100, which you can find on our Bills We’re Watching.

We’re pleased that many anti-business bills have already been defeated, including minimum wage increases, paid sick leave requirements and a provision that would have required business owners to open up their books to the Department of Labor for essentially any reason. You can read more about these harmful bills below.

We will continue to provide you with timely updates as the 2016 General Assembly session progresses.

Last week, on January 27th, we hosted 300 Chamber and business leaders in Richmond  for Chamber Day at the Capitol, where we heard from Speaker Bill Howell, Senator Tommy Norment, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam, Attorney General Mark Herring and Governor McAuliffe. That evening, over 500 people joined us for the Old Dominion Assembly Legislative Reception, including Governor McAuliffe and First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, the Attorney General, many General Assembly Members, members of the Governor’s Cabinet and state agency heads. To view photos from Chamber Day and ODA, click here.

At the Chamber Day luncheon on January 27th, Tom Palmer of Wells Fargo & Company was elected to serve as Chairman of the Virginia Chamber Board of Directors for 2016. Dennis Treacy, President of the Smithfield Foundation was elected first vice chair. 18 new board members were also elected. A full announcement and list of new board members can be found below.