Session Update: January 13, 2023
And…. we’re off! The first week of a General Assembly session is always very busy. Especially during a short session, since we will accomplish more in the next six weeks than some other state legislatures accomplish in two years. The velocity is remarkable. Before the session started, I held a press conference on Tuesday with […]
Sen. McClellan, Sen. Deeds, Del. Ware, Del. Sullivan Announce Bipartisan Affordable Energy Act
Legislation aims to address Virginia’s energy burden crisis by restoring SCC authority Richmond — Democratic Senators Jennifer McClellan and Creigh Deeds joined Republican Delegate Lee Ware and Democratic Delegate Rip Sullivan today in announcing the Affordable Energy Act (House Bill 1604), legislation that seeks to address rising electricity bills in Virginia. Speaking from the General […]
Roanoke Times Editorial: Bipartisan consensus on solar encouraging
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s energy plan makes solar farms and wind farms sound like a threat to the availability of the commonwealth’s diminishing supply of farmable and developable land. That document rants against the Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020, legislation passed when Democrats controlled the governor’s office and the General Assembly, which for the sake […]
Rip Sullivan: Youngkin’s energy plan would set Virginia back
Richmond Times-Dispatch Column: Oh, to have been a fly on the wall. I would have enjoyed watching Gov. Glenn Youngkin labor over what words to use in his energy plan that wouldn’t enrage the climate deniers he cannot cross as he considers a run for president. The words “clean energy” are in there — they […]
Richmond Times Dispatch: Could Virginia’s red flag law have helped in the UVa case?
University of Virginia shooting suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. had been on the radar of the university’s Threat Assessment Team a couple of times, university Police Chief Tim Longo said during a news conference on Monday. Virginia has had a law on the books since 2020 that is aimed at keeping firearms away from people […]
Richmond Times Dispatch: No, electric vehicles aren’t a threat to Virginians
By DEL. RIP SULLIVAN and DEL. LAMONT BAGBY To hear Gov. Glenn Youngkin (“ludicrous”) or House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, (“dumb, dangerous and expensive”) on the subject of electric vehicles, you’d conclude EVs represent a terrible threat to Virginians. But you — like they — would be wrong. The automotive industry is quickly going electric […]
Virginia Business: Electric vehicle infrastructure buildout gathers power
Virginia Del. Richard “Rip” Sullivan Jr. is one of the General Assembly’s biggest advocates for electric vehicles. But when the Fairfax County Democrat went to buy a car in 2018, he started feeling anxious about the electric cars on offer — particularly their relatively limited range, given the lack of electric vehicle (EV) chargers in […]
Roanoke Times Op-Ed: Who’s the snowflake now?
We celebrated Black History Month in the Virginia General Assembly as we always do, with a series of speeches on the floor. Both sides of the aisle participated.I spoke as the month wound down about a number of “firsts.” Black men and women who were the first to accomplish a feat of one sort or […]
Washington Post Op-Ed: We Don’t Want Any Missed Flags in Virginia
I have run out of adjectives to describe mass shootings in our country and their maddening regularity: heartbreaking, terrifying, tragic. We have all used those words so many times that they almost lose their meaning. But there are two adjectives we don’t use often enough. Predictable — we know another one will happen soon. Too […]
General Assembly Update: Week 8
Governor Youngkin’s effort to rid our K-12 classrooms of what he calls “divisive concepts” has been one of the most controversial topics of this session. When he says, “don’t focus on race” he means “don’t even talk about race.” When he says out of one side of his mouth that our teachers are heroes, and professionals who deserve a […]
