Episode 80: Why is Virginia's government getting so little done?

After two years of Democratic control, Virginia's elected government is now divided once again. The result? A lot fewer laws likely to pass this year.

This podcast started partly as a response to the media cycle that covered the General Assembly--every year around this time, there was a parade of stories about bills being introduced… and then they’d quietly die in committee. Or a bill that would pass in one chamber … and then quietly die in the other. Hardly anything ever translated into meaningful laws. Why were things like that?

This week, we talk to two state reporters about the structural and historical reasons for the General Assembly's inaction and the media coverage that follows: Peter Galuszka, a Richmond-based journalist who has covered the state for decades, and Michael Pope, a reporter covering the General Assembly and the head of the Virginia Capital Correspondents Association.