Kathy Byron

FILE - Virginia Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, left, D-Fairfax, and Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment Jr., R-James City, have a word during a session of the Virginia Senate in the state Capitol in Richmond, Va., Jan. 24, 2023. Over a dozen Virginia legislators, including the long-tenured Norment, have recently ruled out seeking re-election this year under maps overhauled during the latest redistricting cycle. (Alexa Welch Edlund/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP, File)

Flurry of Virginia legislators announce retirements

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Over a dozen Virginia legislators, including the long-serving Senate Republican Leader Tommy Norment, have recently ruled out seeking re-election this year under maps overhauled during the latest redistricting cycle.

Bid for localities to add surcharge to build schools fails

RICHMOND, VA. (AP) — A bill that would have given Virginia cities and counties the option to ask local voters to approve a sales tax surcharge to finance school construction has died in the General Assembly.