Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has signed multiple bills approved by the General Assembly on issues ranging from alcohol sales to health care and early voting into law, which will go into effect on July 1, 2021.
One bill will allow restaurants to continue to sell mixed alcoholic drinks and premixed wine for takeout and delivery until July 1, 2022.
Another will let people on Medicaid get up to a 12-month prescription of birth control.
Two other bills aim to remove honors for segregationists and Confederates.
One will give Arlington County the power to rename its stretch of Lee Highway, named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The other will allow a statue of Harry Byrd, Sr. that stands in Capitol Square in Richmond to be taken down.
Byrd was a segregationist and served as governor of Virginia and as a U.S. senator.
A measure aimed at increasing sales of electric cars in the state was also signed. It will require carmakers to sell a certain percentage of electric or hybrid cars.
Northam signed two bills related to voting as well.
One will let localities that want to hold early voting on Sundays. The other will drop the requirement for absentee ballots to be signed by a witness during public health emergencies.
Click here for a full list of bills from the General Assembly’s 2021 special session that have been signed or enacted by Gov. Northam so far.
