The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers is disappointed to report that HB 1442, this year’s homeschool sports access bill, failed to report from the Senate Education and Health Committee this morning. The committee members voted exactly as they did last year, with 8 opposed and 7 in favor. Senator Harry Blevins (R-Chesapeake) was once again the only Republican member of the committee to oppose the bill. No Democrats voted in favor. (See more voting details below.)

Some supporters of the bill remained after the vote to meet with Delegate Bell, Senator Martin, and VaHomeschoolers Government Affairs Director Amy Wilson and President Parrish Mort.
(Photo courtesy of Jeanne Faulconer)

After waiting through three hours of committee business and testimony on other bills, homeschooled students and their parents testified about the importance of this issue to their families. One student, Eli Marcellus, brought a letter from the Goochland County school board stating that the board strongly favors the idea of homeschool sports access for their community. Colin O’Brien, a public high school student, told the senators that he and his teammates would like their homeschooled friends to be able to try out for their baseball team.

Thanks from VaHomeschoolers

 VaHomeschoolers would like to thank Eli and Colin and their families, as well as the other students who offered excellent testimony, and their families who took the time to bring them to Richmond: Campbell Niehaus, Josh Henderson, Courtney Calvert, Rainier Lee, Madeline Newman, and our two legislative student-interns, Sydney Bowman and Micah Fitz.

We’d also like to thank, once again, Delegate Robert Bell (R-Albemarle), the bill’s patron, for his perennial support. Our appreciation also extends to Senator Steve Martin (R-Chesterfield), the chairman of the Senate Education and Health Committee, who was an outspoken supporter of home education with his comments and questions during testimony.  Senator Thomas Garrett (R- Lynchburg) also strongly supported the bill with questions and comments from a fresh perspective.  We encourage homeschooling families to express their appreciation to these legislators, as well as the other senators voting in favor today and all of those in the House of Delegates  who supported the creation of homeschool sports access in Virginia.

Progress Was Made

All of the news is not bad with regard to homeschool sports access here in Virginia. Thanks to a survey conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University, we now know that 67 percent of Virginians favor the idea of homeschool sports access. We had hoped more of the senators would be among that group, but it’s clear that the message is getting out that it’s reasonable to allow homeschooled students to participate in programs at their local public schools. This is progress to build on.

Another significant accomplishment this year was the publication of a favorable editorial on homeschool sports access in The Washington Post. Last year, The Post published a number of negative opinions on the subject, but this week, the editorial board noted ,“State athletic officials ought to look for a solution that preserves a level playing field but doesn’t deny local school districts or their students the important right to choose.”

Moving Forward

Delegate Bell, Senator Martin, and VaHomeschoolers spoke with supporters after the hearing today about what homeschoolers can do to contribute to this bill’s success next year. VaHomeschoolers feels that what we need is grassroots action on the part of many homeschoolers across Virginia. We need to go beyond emails and phone calls. Our legislators need to meet real homeschooling families from their districts and learn more about the wide variety of reasons why we choose home education, the fact that most of us support and value high-quality public education (even if it is not the right choice for our child or children right now), and the fact that home education is no longer a fringe movement – it is an inclusive and increasingly mainstream educational choice, made by families of all stripes.

How VaHomeschoolers Can Help

To that end, VaHomeschoolers will be working to encourage and support homeschoolers to meet with their legislators in their district offices this year, before the 2014 General Assembly. We have a wealth of research and educational materials available, and we will be providing guidance on how best to approach your delegate and senators. We will soon be helping to launch a grassroots action group to connect families who are interested in supporting the creation of homeschool sports access.

New Free Conference Session!

We have decided to offer a free afternoon session on Friday, March 22 from 4:30-5:30 at our 2013 Conference & Resource Fair to present information on effective advocacy on this issue.  We’ll provide background on the issue, effective rebuttals to opposition arguments, information on the educational materials we have to offer, and do’s and don’t’s about speaking with legislators, members of the media, school board members and others.  Any interested homeschooling parent or student is welcome, as are grandparents, friends, public school students, coaches, and any other member of the public who supports homeschool sports access.  To join us, you need only to register as an attendee or as a shop-for-free patron.  We hope to see many families there!

Here is how the votes were cast both today and in 2012:

Contact VaHomeschoolers

If you have any questions or concerns about this legislation, or any other legislative issue, please contact VaHomeschoolers’ Director of Government Affairs, Amy Wilson.

Del. Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) has told VaHomeschoolers that HB 1442, his homeschool sports access bill (which the media has nicknamed a “Tebow Bill”), is scheduled for debate in the Senate Education and Health Committee on Thursday, February 14 at 8:00 a.m.

This is the same committee that killed last year’s sports access bill by a single vote, and Del. Bell is working to find that vote by Thursday. If you have not yet called or emailed your senator to express support for HB 1442, now is the time to take action. Please encourage neighbors, friends, and family in Virginia to do so as well.

Local Option

We hope that the “local option” included in this year’s bill, which clearly states that local school board policy would govern homeschool participation, will allow legislators who opposed it last year to support it this year. This is a good point to make in your communication with your senator: a YES vote won’t mandate homeschool participation for school divisions in your district, but it will allow school divisions elsewhere in the state a choice if they’d like to allow it.

Field Trip

Senators who are on the fence about this bill may be influenced by seeing how many Virginia citizens want them to vote yes. If you would like to see homeschool sports access become a reality in Virginia – for your own children, for other homeschoolers you know, or simply because you think it’s the right thing to do – your presence at the hearing could make a difference.

Speaking Out

Our legislators want to hear what students have to say, since students are the ones who are directly affected. (Last year, those opposed to the bill brought a school bus of public school athletes to testify against it.) If your child would like to testify in support of the bill, encourage him or her to prepare a very brief (2 or 3 sentences) statement to read about how this issue affects him or her personally. Time for testimony will be very limited, and we’d like as many homeschooled students as possible to have a chance to speak.  Please email VaHomeschoolers if your child might like to testify.  We are happy to help with speaking tips, and this will also help us organize student-speakers on the day of the hearing.

Hearing Details

WHEN:  Thursday, 2/14, at 8 a.m. (please arrive early to find a seat)
WHERE:  Senate Room B of the General Assembly Building, on the corner of 9^th and Broad Streets in Richmond. There are two parking garages nearby along North 8^th Street, between East Grace Street and East Franklin Street.
WHO: Homeschoolers and others who support sports access
WHY:  So HB 1442 can reach the Senate floor

Listed below are the committee members. If any of these is your senator, it is especially important that you contact him or her before Thursday to express your support for HB 1442. (If your senator is not on the committee, it’s still a good idea to contact him or her.)

Other Bills VaHomeschoolers is Watching

Sports access isn’t the only issue VaHomeschoolers is keeping an eye on in the 2013 General Assembly, though it is the one that has generated the most debate and discussion state-wide. We have been watching more than two dozen other bills on topics that are tangentially related to homeschooling, to ensure that they don’t impact our homeschooling freedoms in any way.

Home Education Month

Sen. Steve Martin (R-Chesterfield) has patroned a bill to establish February 2013, and every February thereafter, as Home Education Month in Virginia. This bill is a Senate Joint Resolution (SJ 357), which means that it does not affect Virginia law, but expresses the sentiment of the legislature – it simply recognizes and honors homeschoolers. SJ 357 passed in the Senate and is expected to do the same in the House of Delegates. VaHomeschoolers encourages you to read the positive statements about home education contained in this bill!

Parental Rights

Two companion bills that seek to establish parental rights as “fundamental” rights in Virginia law have been passed by their bodies of origin (one in the House and one in the Senate) and “crossed over” for consideration in the opposite body. These are HB 1642 (Del. Brenda Pogge, R-Williamsburg) and SB 908 (Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania). These bills do not address homeschooling specifically, but VaHomeschoolers has been monitoring them carefully because the issue of parental rights is tangentially related to homeschooling freedoms.

Various Education Bills

A number of education bills in both the House of Delegates and the Senate touch on, but do not amend, sections of law that relate to homeschooling, such as the code that establishes part-time enrollment, driver education rules for homeschoolers, and the home instruction statute itself. Others address related topics such as virtual and charter schools. We are watching these bills carefully, in case any unfavorable amendments should be added in debate – if that happened, VaHomeschoolers would immediately step in to challenge those amendments.

To Learn More

Visit our website to learn more about VaHomeschoolers work to protect homeschooling freedoms in Virginia. We also have a comprehensive new page with information about homeschool sports access!

Contact VaHomeschoolers

If you have any questions or concerns about this legislation, or any other legislative issue, please contact VaHomeschoolers’ Director of Government Affairs, Amy Wilson.

VaHomeschoolers’ student interns Micah Fitz and Sydney Bowman along with their mothers were interviewed for this Washington Post article on the Homeschoolers Sports Access bill being debated in the Virginia General Assembly this session. VaHomeschoolers’ Director of Government Affairs, Amy Wilson was also quoted.

For more information on this issue, see Homeschoolers Sports Access.

Amy Wilson, director of Government Affairs for The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers is quoted in this Christian Post  article about homeschoolers’ sports access in Virginia.

HB 1442, Del. Rob Bell’s homeschool sports access bill, passed by a vote of 56-43 on the floor of the House of Delegates yesterday. Check to see how your delegate voted. The bill will “cross over” to the Senate next, where it will be debated in the Senate Education and Health Committee. If you haven’t contacted your senator yet to request him or her to “Please Vote YES on HB 1442!” now is the time. As soon as we know when the next hearing will be, we will let you know. It will be very important to have homeschoolers in attendance.

HB 1442, Del. Rob Bell’s (R-Albemarle) homeschool sports access bill, reported favorably from the House Education Committee this Monday, January 28. That means it passed, with a vote of 13-8!  It was “read” for the first time on the floor of the House of Delegates yesterday, and we expect it will receive its second reading today, followed by a third reading and floor vote tomorrow.  Then it will cross over to the Senate next week to begin the second part of its legislative journey.

Last year’s bill passed in the House by a vote of 59-39, and we hope for similar levels of support this year. It’s important to call or email your delegate (if you have not already) to ask him or her to “Vote Yes on HB 1442.” Please do this today or first thing tomorrow morning.

The Senate version of the bill, SB 812, introduced by Sen. Tom Garrett (R-Lynchburg), is expected to be stricken by its patron in committee tomorrow. This means that it will not be debated or voted upon, since HB 1442 seems clearly to be headed for the Senate, where we expect it will be heard in committee sometime in the next two weeks.

Showdown in the Senate

he next hurdle for HB 1442, after the House floor, is the Senate Education and Health Committee, where last year’s sports access bill failed by a single vote. Sen. Garrett and Del. Bell are hoping to pick up one more vote in the 15-member committee this year.  Seven senators voted in favor of last year’s bill and are expected to, or have already pledged to, do the same this year (in fact, Sen. Garrett serves on this committee, and he is one of those seven). We hope that one more senator will vote yes and allow this bill to proceed to the floor of the Senate.

Listed below are the committee members. If any of these is your senator, it is especially important that you contact him or her to express your support for HB 1442. (If your senator is not on the committee, we are still requesting that you contact him or her to ask for a YES vote if the bill reaches the full Senate.)

What You Can Do to Help

1. Call or email your senator and your delegate. If you have not yet done so, now is the time. Identify your legislators and contact them right away. Ask them to “Vote YES on HB 1442″
2. Ask others to call and email their legislators. It only takes a few minutes. Their message can be simple: “Please vote YES on HB 1442” Support from non-homeschooling friends, neighbors and family members is actually very helpful, too.
3. Prepare to come to Richmond if possible. The Senate Education and Health Committee meets on Thursday mornings at 8 a.m. We need supporters in the room when HB 1442 is heard in this committee.  to show the committee members that this issue matters to Virginians. As soon as we have information on the exact date (likely to be 2/7 or 2/14), we will share it with you.

To Learn More

Visit our new Homeschool Sports Access web page! Read our position statement on the bills, peruse our press releases, find out how sports access works for homeschoolers in other states, and learn more about what VaHomeschoolers is doing to help create access for Virginia’s homeschooling students to public school sports and activities.

Contact VaHomeschoolers

If you have any questions or concerns about this legislation, or any other legislative issue, please contact VaHomeschoolers’ Director of Government Affairs, Amy Wilson.

By Amy Wilson, VaHomeschoolers Government Affairs Director

The House Education Committee has released its agenda for Monday, January 28, and HB 1442, Del. Rob Bell’s (R-Albemarle) homeschool sports access bill, is included, as we expected. The time for the hearing has been moved up to 8:30 a.m. – half an hour earlier than the usual time. Homeschoolers who plan to attend should try to be there early to find a seat, and so that we can identify any students who would like to testify.

The hearing will be in House Room C of the General Assembly Building, on the corner of 9^th and Broad Streets. There are two parking garages nearby along North 8^th Street, between East Grace Street and East Franklin Street.

Constituents, Please Contact Committee Members!

If you cannot attend the hearing – and even if you can – please be sure to contact your delegate if he or she is a member of the committee. First, identify your delegate using the General Assembly’s Who’s My Legislator Service. Then, check to see if he or she is a member of the House Education Committee (listed below). If your delegate is on the committee, please email this evening or over the weekend to ask him or her to vote YES on HB 1442. Remember, the hearing is on Monday morning at 8:30, so we need to be sure constituents contact committee members before then.

Email is the best way to reach your delegate before Monday’s hearing, since legislative offices are closed over the weekend. A clear subject line, such as “Please vote YES on HB 1442 on Monday, 1/28!” will ensure that your delegate’s staff notices that your message is urgent for Monday morning.

Here are three important points you may want to mention (restating in your own words will mean more than copying and pasting):

• HB 1442 allows local school boards set their own policies regarding homeschool sports access.
• Poll results released this week by Virginia Commonwealth University show that more than 2/3 of Virginians favor allowing homeschooled students to try out for public school teams.
• The bill would only allow homeschoolers to try out at the school assigned for their attendance zone. “School shopping” would not be possible.

Ask Your Friends and Neighbors

Every single call or email our legislators get makes an impact. They literally tally the “YES” and “NO” messages they receive, and this factors into their voting. Please ask your neighbor, friend, or family member to call or email before Monday if they are a constituent of one of the committee members. If legislators hear from non-homeschoolers who are in favor of this bill, that will also make an impact.

House Education Committee Members

* Voted NO on homeschool sports access in 2012.

Please email VaHomeschoolers Government Affairs Director, Amy Wilson if you plan to attend the hearing on Monday. That way we will be able to reach you with any important information (such as last-minute schedule changes.) 

To Learn More

Visit our new Homeschool Sports Access web page! Read our position statement on the bills, peruse our press releases, find out how sports access works for homeschoolers in other states, and learn more about what VaHomeschoolers is doing to help create access for Virginia’s homeschooling students to public school sports and activities.

Contact VaHomeschoolers

If you have any questions or concerns about this legislation, or any other legislative issue, please contact VaHomeschoolers’ Director of Government Affairs, Amy Wilson.

Next Hearing Expected Monday, 1/28 at 9a.m.

By Amy Wilson, VaHomeschoolers Government Affairs Director

Today was a busy day in the General Assembly for the VaHomeschoolers Government Affairs team! Director of Government Affairs Amy Wilson, Vice President Leslie Nathaniel, and our lobbyist Scott Price attended hearings for homeschool sports access bills on both the House and Senate sides of the General Assembly beginning at 7:30 AM. We were proud to introduce to legislators our two young Legislative Interns, Sydney Bowman (age 12) and Micah Fitz (age 14), who testified about why sports access matters to them.

House Subcommittee Votes 7-1 to Approve Sports Access Bill

HB 1442, patroned by Del. Robert Bell (R-Albemarle), addresses public school sports and interscholastic activities access for homeschooled high school students. The House Education Subcommittee on Students and Early Education amended the bill to include a sunset provision which would discontinue the provisions of the bill in June 2018 unless further action is taken.  HB 1442, as amended, passed the subcommittee by a vote of 7-1 (as compared with a vote of 6-2 for a similar bill in 2012).

The Votes

Voting in favor of HB 1442 were subcommittee chair Del. Dickie Bell (R-Staunton) and Delegates Steve Landes (R-Weyers Cave), Chris Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), Roxann Robinson (R-Chesterfield), Joseph Yost (R-Blacksburg), Joe Morrissey (D-Highland Springs), and Daun Hester (D-Norfolk).  Delegate Mark Keam (D-Vienna) voted against the bill.

Senate Committee Did Not Consider Companion Bill

On the Senate side, SB 812, a companion bill to HB 1442, patroned by Sen. Tom Garrett (R-Lynchburg), was on the docket for the Senate Education and Health Committee this morning at 8 o’clock. In a strategic move to try to ensure the bill’s success, Sen. Garrett requested that the bill be “passed by” for the day. The hope is that a little extra time may help the patron and the bill’s supporters (including homeschooling constituents) to convince enough senators on the committee to vote in favor of SB 812. Last year’s sports access bill (HB 947) failed by a single vote in this same committee.

What Happens Next

• HB 1442 is expected to be on the docket for consideration by the full House Education committee at its next hearing this coming Monday, January 28, at 9 a.m. (possibly a bit earlier – subcommittee schedules can shift)
• SB 812 could be back on the Senate Education and Health Committee docket as soon as next Thursday, Jan. 31, at 8 a.m., though we have no information at this time. We will keep you informed as soon as we know the details.

In Favor of Homeschool Sports Access? We Need Your Help!

Del. Bell has asked that homeschoolers in favor of sports access do everything they can to attend the House Education Committee hearing THIS COMING MONDAY, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m.  One of the primary arguments in favor of the bill is the benefit that it could extend to homeschooled students, so an audience full of families in favor of the bill will definitely make an impression on legislators.  There will also be an opportunity for a few students to testify, though we expect testimony to be limited due to time constraints.

If your child would like to testify, please help him or her prepare a written statement about the personal impact that homeschool sports access could have. Help your child practice reading the statement with a strong, clear voice and use a timer to be sure it is no longer than one minute.

Contact Your Legislators

If you would like to express your opinion but are not able to attend the hearing, there are other options.  If your delegate is one of those on the House Education Committee, or if your senator serves on the Senate Education and Health Committee, please call or email to ask for them to support HB 1442 and SB 812. Ask your friends, neighbors and family members (homeschooling or not) to please do the same. 

Click your legislator’s name below to find email and telephone contact information. To find out who your legislator is, use the General Assembly’s “Who’s My Legislator” service.

To Learn More

Visit our new Homeschool Sports Access web page! Read our position statement on the bills, peruse our press releases, find out how sports access works for homeschoolers in other states, and learn more about what VaHomeschoolers is doing to help create access for Virginia’s homeschooling students to public school sports and activities.

Contact VaHomeschoolers

If you have any questions or concerns about this legislation, or any other legislative issue, please contact VaHomeschoolers’ Director of Government Affairs, Amy Wilson.

Contact: Amy Wilson, Director of Government Affairs
http://vahomeschoolers.org/protecting-homeschooling/issues/sports-access/
Phone: 866-513-6173 

HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE AGREES WITH OVER TWO-THIRDS OF VIRGINIANS: LET HOMESCHOOLERS PLAY!

HB 1442, “TEBOW” BILL APPROVED BY HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE TODAY 

With homeschooling families looking on, a subcommittee of the House of Delegates’ Education Committee voted 7 to 1 this morning in favor of sending HB 1442 to the full committee for consideration. The bill, patroned by Del. Rob Bell (R-Albemarle), would create eligibility requirements to allow qualified homeschooled students to participate in athletics and other programs at their local public high schools. (In 2012, the same subcommittee favored a similar bill by a vote of 6 to 2.)

A companion bill in the Senate, SB 812, was part of a heavy docket in the Senate Education and Health Committee and was “passed by for the day” at the request of its patron, Sen. Tom Garrett (R-Lynchburg).

Two-Thirds of Virginians Favor Homeschool Sports Access

The decision of the subcommittee members mirrors the results of a statewide survey released this week by Virginia Commonwealth University: the university’s Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute found in its 2012-2013 Commonwealth Education Poll that more than two-thirds of respondents (67%) favored allowing homeschoolers to participate on public high school teams. Support for homeschool sports access was strong among survey respondents who are school employees or retirees (62% of whom favor it) and parents of public school students (68% in favor). Notable majorities of respondents who identified as politically Independent (73%), Republican (69%) and Democrat (62%) all favored allowing homeschoolers to try out for local public school athletic programs.

VaHomeschoolers: Provisions of Bill Are Reasonable

Parrish Mort, president of The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers (VaHomeschoolers), was not surprised. “People understand that kids should not have to give up academics that work for them in order to be allowed to try out for their community’s sports teams at their local high school,” said Mort.

Amy Wilson, VaHomeschoolers Director of Government Affairs, agrees. “The bill has been designed to eliminate the kinds of problems that opponents try to point to,” said Wilson. “Students would have to try out only in a school division where they could otherwise attend, and they would have to be homeschooled for two full years before they could try out. That way someone who drops out could not just suddenly acquire homeschool status.”

Wilson says homeschoolers would also have to meet the state’s current academic requirements for homeschoolers. “People understand that homeschoolers are operating legally, not with some kind of work-arounds. They are supportive of how homeschooling works, and they don’t think kids should have to automatically give up state-supported and tax-supported high school sports when they are meeting the legal education requirements of the state,” said Wilson.

Homeschooled Students Speak Out

 Micah Fitz of Prince William County, age 14, a homeschooled student legislative intern for VaHomeschoolers, explained that his competitive soccer opportunities are limited because “my club team has decided to take the spring season off to play for their high schools…which leaves me with little option to play and train during the spring season.”

12-year-old Sydney Bowman, a wrestler and lacrosse player from Leesburg who also serves as a VaHomeschoolers legislative intern, asked the subcommittee to approve the bill so that “I will have more choices.” With the bill’s approval, Sydney dreams, “It might even help me reach my dream of becoming a college women’s wrestling champion.”

——————————————————————————–

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers (VaHomeschoolers), a statewide homeschooling association, supports both 2013 “Tebow” bills – HB 1442 and SB 812. VaHomeschoolers has worked on the issue of homeschool sports access since 1997, supporting legislation on the topic and participating in extended discussions aimed at addressing the concerns of the Virginia High School League and other organizations opposed to including homeschoolers in public school programs.

### 

For more information or an interview:

Contact Amy Wilson, Director of Government Affairs, or call 866-513-6173.

SB 812, Sen. Tom Garrett’s (R-Louisa) homeschool sports access bill, has just appeared on the docket of the Senate Education and Health Committee for TOMORROW MORNING, 1/24 AT 8 a.m.  This is the committee where last year’s bill failed by a single vote. VaHomeschoolers had no advance notice of this development, and we are relying on the homeschooling community to help get the word out.

(This hearing is in addition to the House subcommittee hearing for HB 1442 at 7:30 in the 5th Floor East conference room. It is much more important for homeschoolers to attend the Senate hearing, since the bill’s fate is very uncertain there. We are fairly confident that it will succeed in the House subcommittee.)

It is URGENT that as many homeschoolers as possible attend this hearing. We need lots of families in the hearing room, and we need as many students as possible to come prepared to give brief, one-minute testimony about why this bill matters to them in particular.

It’s possible that the reason this hearing was scheduled suddenly and at the last minute was in order to make it harder for homeschoolers to appear. We need to show that tactics like that won’t work.

WE NEED HOMESCHOOLERS IN ATTENDANCE!

WHEN:  Tomorrow, 1/24, at 8 a.m.
WHERE:  Senate Room B of the General Assembly Building, at 910 Capitol Street in Richmond.
WHO: Homeschoolers who support sports access – and any friends and family you can bring!
WHY:  So the senators will pass the bill this year!

If you cannot possibly come, here is what you can still do to help:

• Share this message widely! Post it on email lists, tell friends on Facebook, and forward this email to those who might be able to attend.
• Call or email your senator, particularly if he or she is on the Education and Health Committee. Do this tonight and leave a message, and then please call and email again in the morning to be sure your message to Support SB 812 gets through.

Senate Education and Health Committee Members

(Chairman) Sen. Stephen Martin (R-Chesterfield)
Sen. George Barker (D-Alexandria)
Sen. Richard Black (R-Leesburg)
Sen. Harry Blevins (R-Chesapeake)
Sen. Bill Carrico (R-Grayson)
Sen. Thomas Garrett (R-Lynchburg)
Sen. Janet Howell (D-Reston)
Sen. Mamie Locke (D-Hampton)
Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth)
Sen. Jeffrey McWaters (R-Virginia Beach)
Sen. John Miller (D-Newport News)
Sen. Stephen Newman (R-Forest)
Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk)
Sen. Richard Saslaw (D-Springfield)
Sen. Ralph Smith (R-Roanoke)