'Crossover Day' for Virginia legislative session happens Tuesday

RICHMOND, Va. - It's almost halftime of the Virginia legislative session.

This week marks the "crossover", where bills that don't pass either chamber effectively are done and bills that do pass are considered in the other chamber.

As we approach 'Crossover Day', indications are we may not see too much movement on some of the policies that animate Virginia voters most.

"As a matter of fact, I'd say it's doubtful that you're going to see much of the culture war stuff get to the governor's desk. So nothing really on abortion, nothing on guns, nothing really on parental rights in schools," Virginia Public Radio reporter Michael Pope told FOX 5.

There are a handful of reasons why, but divided government is chief among them.

Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate.

Some of the most controversial bills that do pass one chamber will likely fall in the other.

There are also legislative elections this fall, the first with newly drawn districts.

"When you don't know exactly what your electorate looks like and you may even be running against another member of the House of Delegates, you might want to be pretty careful. And that's, I think, the standard that a lot of lawmakers are going to engage in this election cycle," said Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington.

Michael Pope says these legislators know these most controversial Virginia issues resonate:

"All these people want to hit the campaign trail with issues they can talk about. So all this culture war stuff that you're hearing people make speeches about right now: Abortion, guns, parental rights in schools, there's going to be a lot of drama in terms of people introducing bills and talking about stuff, but we're not going to see a lot of action," Pope said.

Some items could still have life after crossover day.

Both Farnsworth and Pope tell FOX 5 there are some big Virginia issues that could see compromise in the next few weeks as the legislative session wraps up.

There's an expectation that there will be budget.

There's also been chatter about improvements to the mental health system in Virginia.

How the bills that make crossover day will look when and if they get to Governor Youngkin's desk will be figured out in the next few weeks.