Most of what I know about legislating I learned from watching School House Rock’s “I’m Just a Bill”
song, where I met an anthropomorphic “Bill” who was hoping to become a
law someday. He sang the process to the young boy who found him sitting
alone on the steps of the Capitol on Capitol Hill.
One of the reasons I’ve always loved state level politics and
the Virginia General Assembly so much is that, unlike Congress, things
still follow a pretty regular and predictable order in Richmond.
In
2025, 13 of my bills grew up to become laws, and they followed the
School House Rock process almost exactly, with a few twists and turns
thrown in.
One Bill's Life - A True Origin Story
Last
September, I met with a constituent who was being sued by the person
who had sexually harassed her after she filed a complaint under Title IX
and testified during the ensuing investigation. The law professor who
was the subject of the complaint was ultimately dismissed from the
university for reasons unrelated to this complaint.
He has since filed a defamation lawsuit against her using statements
made during the investigation, seeking over $100 million in damages. She
believes that the suit is retaliatory and unfounded, designed to
inflict extreme economic hardship rather than to win a judgement.
Why Virginia is Different
In many states, there are ways to dispose of frivolous lawsuits
relatively quickly, and to recover attorney’s fees and have sanctions
imposed if the court agrees that the suit was brought for improper
purposes.
Virginia has what’s called an Anti-SLAPP statute,
(Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Policy) but its application is
extremely narrow and hard to invoke, making Virginia a “law tourism”
destination for people looking to bring these kinds of defamation suits.
Initially, we expanded the scope of the existing law to include immunity for statements made in connection with all official proceedings and added a mandatory award of attorney’s fees and sanctions to deter people from bringing these suits in the first place.
Session Semantics
The
bill’s first stop after being drafted was in the Civil Law
Subcommittee, which I happen to chair. My constituent drove down from
Falls Church that morning and had about 10 minutes to testify and
explain her particular situation.
While my fellow legislators were sympathetic, they were concerned with
the mandatory award of sanctions, so we made that optional again,
advancing the bill with only one NO vote. At full committee, an attorney
who frequently worked for those bringing defamation suits surprised us
with testimony that he thought the bill, even as trimmed by the
subcommittee, went too far. We passed it over his objections on a narrow
vote, but when the bill came to the House Floor, where we couldn’t
afford to lose any votes, we took out the mandatory attorney’s fees as
well.
So far, things were going just like the cartoon - we went to
committee where it was argued and amended, then to the Floor, where it
was amended some more, and voted on and passed. The next stop was the
State Senate, to start all over again.
In the Senate, I didn’t have the advantage of chairing the committee
where the bill would be heard, so I spent a lot of one-on-one time
talking with my Senate colleagues. My constituent returned to Richmond
to have individual meetings with Senators and their staff, once again
sharing her traumatic story with the hope that she could tip the scales.
Some wordsmithing later, the Senate Courts Committee and ultimately the
Senate passed the amended version, 39-1. The House accepted the changes
and the bill headed to the Governor.
The Bill Passes With a Twist
One Virginia specific twist. While the President can only sign or veto a
bill, the Governor can recommend amendments, which he did. His
amendment narrowed the scope even further so that it only applies to
Title IX processes.
While it’s not all we were hoping for, our bill makes it clear that
someone who is suffering sexual harassment in an academic setting can
file a Title IX complaint and feel safe to testify about their
experience without living in fear of a 9 figure lawsuit being filed for
the purpose of bringing about financial ruin and years of emotional
distress. This bill will become law on July 1, 2025.