Video, Tweets: Virginia General Assembly Goes Into Overtime…Reaches Budget Deal, Passes Minimum Wage Hike, etc.

See below for some video, tweets, etc. from (late) last night as the Virginia General Assembly went into overtime, while reaching a budget deal, passing a minimum wage increase, providing drivers licenses for all, etc, etc. Of course, that’s only a very small sampling of what Democrats accomplished this past session, and not *everything* was positive (e.g., the fatally flawed redistricting amendment, unfortunately, was rammed through, largely thanks to Republicans and a few highly confused – or something – Democrats, including Sen. Dick Saslaw, Sen. Louise Lucas, Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, etc.). Still, overall, this was an historic session, with highly significant – and in many cases, highly progressive – legislation passed in just about every area imaginable.

So…thanks to Democratic legislators, who assumed the majority and overwhelmingly – with a few exceptions, which I’m sure we’ll get more into after session is 100% over and we’ve had time to digest things – lived up to (and, in some cases, surpassed) expectations. Congratulations to Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and her entire leadership team, including committee chairs, and the rank-and-file as well. A bunch of these folks are *really* talented and impressive, including ones that I’d never seen shine in previous sessions, before Democrats took charge.

As for Senate Majority Leader Saslaw, let’s just say he’s a complicated guy, with some *very* strong points – for instance, he really did seem to squeeze as much as could be squeezed out of his very narrow (21-19), relatively conservative majority in the State Senate – and then some really weak points, such as when he loses his cool and starts spouting off, as he did about the redistricting amendment and also his obnoxious, classless uncalled-for last night about Speaker Filler-Corn. But…that’s Dick Saslaw for you –  certainly a skilled and experienced – going back to the Stone Age or whatever, lol – legislator, but also can be cringeworthy, embarrassing, obnoxious, etc.