(The Center Square) – Virginia lawmakers introduced nearly 2,500 bills during the 2025 General Assembly session—of the bills introduced, 964 passed, while more than 1,400 failed and 409 were killed without a recorded vote.
Many proposals die in House and Senate committees before reaching the full chamber, raising the question of whether this practice allows committees to prioritize bills or limits transparency by making it harder for the public to track lawmaker’s actions.
Most of the 1,440 bills died in committee, including 561 dying in the House committee, according to The Virginia Public Access Project.
Three hundred thirty-nine bills died in House subcommittees, 521 died in Senate committees, and 19 failed in conference or floor votes. Of those listed, 409 bills, or 28%, were killed without a recorded vote, meaning there is no public record of who supported or opposed them.
Among the bills that failed without a recorded vote include a car tax relief for single Virginians earning under $50,000, a proposal to reduce early voting days and a bill that would have banned transgender athletes from participating in school sports.
Another notable bill that had failed without a recorded vote would have created an Animal Cruelty Conviction list and required the State Police superintendent to maintain a public registry of individuals convicted of felony animal cruelty offenses.
The list would have been available on the Department of State Police’s website, with offenders paying a fee to fund its maintenance and only being removed from the list after 15 years.
Bill success varied along party lines, with about 63% of bills sponsored by Democratic delegates passing, while 77% of Republican-sponsored bills failed. In the Senate, 61% of Democratic-sponsored bills passed, compared to 36% of Republican-sponsored bills.
The governor will review the nearly 1,000 passed bills, with some conservative policy groups urging vetoes on key measures, including minimum wage increases and energy mandates.
The percentage of bills killed without a recorded vote continues to fluctuate, according to VPAP data. The data shows the 28% recorded in 2025 mimics the amount recorded in 2018 and 2020, dropping to 23% in 2021 and 16% in 2023 and 2024. The highest percentage recorded in recent years was 54% in 2017, showing that this remains a standard part of Virginia’s legislative process.
