ROANOKE, Va. – Lawmakers are back in Richmond on Monday, and they are eager to tackle issues from education, taxes and electric rates.
The 2025 General Assembly session was supposed to reconvene last week but was delayed due to water issues.
They are eager to get started and address issues affecting many Virginians.
10 News spoke with several lawmakers about what laws they would like to see passed this year.
Delegate Jason Ballard said he would like to make communities safer. He is proposing a law that will make it a Class 5 felony for anyone over 18 years old to threaten to fire a gun in a building, church, public transportation or school. It would be a Class One misdemeanor for anyone who is under 18 years old.
Del. Ballard said right now it’s illegal to do this for bomb threats or even to set someone on fire, but it is not unlawful to do this if you threaten to fire a gun.
“I think in our day and age we’re seeing more and more of these threats against vulnerable places. Places of worship [and] schools are really a big concern of individuals,” said Ballard.
Ballard would also like to create a tax credit for anyone who purchases a firearm safety device from a retailer like Walmart instead of a federally licensed dealer.
He even wants to lower the cost of electric bills with another proposed legislation.
“The net result at the end is lowering electricity bills, and we’re expecting to see somewhere between $10 to $20 of your bill,” said Ballard.
Senator Travis Hackworth would also like to tackle the issue of high electric bills.
“Oftentimes, we’re getting emails phone calls texts of individuals that their electric bill is more than their mortgage, that they’re having to choose from buying medicine, and groceries to pay their electric bill,” said Sen. Hackworth.
Hackworth would like to allow Virginians to switch electricity providers if their Appalachian Power bill is 25 percent higher than the statewide average determined by the State Corporation Commission.
He said this bill will trigger a 90-day notice if your bill is 25 percent higher than the statewide average. If this is the case, then you can choose a different provider.
Delegate Sam Rasoul spoke with 10 News about several issues he would like to address in the Commonwealth, including electric rates.
“Introducing a bill that allows for certain businesses to be able to competitively go out onto the marketplace and hopefully that will be able to lure more businesses that are really worried about energy costs. What we know is that the cost of living is just too high and it’s hurting businesses and individuals alike,” said Del. Rasoul.
Hackworth would like to address the shortage of large animal veterinarians. He said he wants to pass a law that would create incentives like grants or tuition assistance that would increase the number of applicants wanting to go into the field of large animal veterinarians.
“You’ve got small farms that can’t afford to have a veterinary staff or one on retainer. Sometimes [individuals] would have to wait a week to get a vet to come out to tend to their animals,” said Hackworth.
He would also like to create more career and technical education opportunities for students.
He wants to lower the late penalty for state taxes too.
“Right now, if you are late on your Virginia tax payment, the state of Virginia charges you three percent more than the federal government does on the late penalty. So, what we are saying is why is Virginia charging more than the federal government? So, we are just trying to bring that in line with the federal government what they are charging as a late penalty and your CPA and the consumer does not have to calculate that differently, what that late payment is, and of course, it costs our constituents more money as well,” said Hackworth.