Virginia's General Assembly session underway

RICHMOND (WSLS 10) - State lawmakers are in Richmond for the 2017 regular session of the general assembly.

Some of the topics lawmakers are set to consider this session include if school security officers should be armed, who should be able to dispense naloxone for opioid overdoses, as well as a bill introduced by delegate Greg Habeeb about restoring gun rights to non-violent ex-felons who have had their civil rights restored.

Delegate Habeeb says there's a big coalition of support.

Virginia's six-week general assembly session kicks off today.

Delegate Sam Rasoul says he is looking to change the way the primary elections work on both the state and national level. He's introduced a bill for an open primary.

"Get rid of primaries the way we know them because they're so partisan, people are just so worried about five-percent of folks on one side or the other," sid Rasoul. "So have one big primary have the top two people go on to the general election so it changes our primary, deemphasizes the parties altogether and gives way more voice to the majority of America, I think that's the kind of real reform people are looking for"

Rasoul and Habeeb both agree that the state's budget will be the biggest discussion in Richmond over the next couple of months.