Summary#

HJR-317 is an enacted joint resolution applying to the Governor to call a special session of Virginia’s General Assembly. It asks for the session to begin April 23, 2026, to consider the budget bill and other matters allowed by a separate procedural resolution; its goal is to set the session’s business and schedule.

• The resolution asks the Governor to convene the session at noon. It cites the Virginia Constitution’s rule that the Governor must do so when two-thirds of the elected members of each house apply.
• After the session first meets, it may recess and reconvene later on a joint call from the House Speaker and the chair of the Senate Rules Committee.
• Neither house is required to prepare an engrossed version of the budget bill (a formal version incorporating amendments).
• “Budget Bill” here means a general appropriation bill for public spending from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028. This resolution does not itself pass that budget or appropriate money.

What it means for you#

• Governor and legislators: The resolution requests a special session for the stated date and sets rules for recessing and reconvening. The supplied material does not give vote totals to verify that the two-thirds constitutional threshold was met.
• Taxpayers and public services: The resolution creates no direct tax, benefit, or service change. Those could be affected by a budget bill considered at the session, but its contents are not supplied.
• General public: The scheduled date has passed. The resolution does not establish whether the Governor convened the session or what business was ultimately considered.

Money#

No cost information is in the available material.

• The resolution authorizes no spending and sets no fee or tax.
• It concerns consideration of a budget bill, but provides no budget amount or estimate of any costs from holding the session.

What is unclear#

• The separate procedural resolution that defines what other matters may be considered is not supplied.
• The material does not confirm whether the session was called, held, recessed, or reconvened.
• It does not explain what replaces the engrossment step when neither house is required to prepare an engrossed budget bill.
• The text does not give the vote totals needed to confirm the constitutional two-thirds application threshold.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the resolution is that it sets a date for lawmakers to consider the state’s budget for the next two-year period.
• Allowing the session to recess and reconvene by joint leadership call could provide flexibility if lawmakers need more time.
• Not requiring an engrossed budget bill could avoid making that formal step a condition of proceeding, though the resolution does not explain the practical effect.

Case against#

• The resolution gives no final end date for the session and allows repeated recesses and reconvenings, so the schedule’s duration is unclear.
• The scope of “other matters” depends on a separate procedural resolution that is not included in the available material.
• Removing the requirement to engross the budget bill may leave readers unsure what version lawmakers would use; the resolution does not explain what process replaces that step.