Virginia This Week (October 28, 2022)

“Happy Session Preparation Season, to those who celebrate!”

Commissions are holding year-end meetings to issue legislative recommendations; interim workgroups are prepping to issue their study reports; there’s been a slight uptick in volume of prefiled legislation. 

And Election Day is less than two weeks away. 

Mutual complaining about this time of the year is almost a work requirement in the government affairs space, and yet – even after decades of working around Capitol Square – it still remains an exciting season for us. Every year manages to be a uniquely familiar experience: preparation takes place, and then reality intervenes. Usually around the same time the Governor presents his planned budget amendments to the money committees.

These weeks represent the professional tension between apprehension and anticipation. You grow accustomed to updating the bill trackers and walk lists on one screen and your holiday card list on another, with a half-eaten meal on the desk between. Jokes about dressing up as the LIS website for Halloween get texted back and forth. Legislators call to catch up, and sigh in relief when you utter the words: “Only one draft request, and it’s a bipartisan light lift.”

We look forward to connecting more substantially with our clients and partners in the days ahead, as seasonal celebrations – and productive 2023 preparations – continue. 

In closing: a reminder that successful preparation requires for constant vigilance. Focus on what is ahead – and overhead, at least while the owl attacking citizens across the U of R campus remains at large. 

Cheers –

Davis Consultants