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This week’s reconvened session wasn’t the white-hot festival of speeches that the media expected.

Rather, it was one of the more sedated veto sessions in recent memory with retirement speeches and only a few moments of disagreement. Nonetheless, there were important votes taken.

House Republicans kept our promise to protect children at Wednesday’s session, giving final approval to legislation that will keep synthetic THC off the market.

Since Democrats legalized marijuana without a regulation or retail sales framework, the number of children poisoned by THC-containing products has skyrocketed.

This legislation gets dangerous products like synthetic delta-8 off the market while creating specific carve-outs for products with a 25:1 ratio of natural CBD to THC.

Those products are typically used by people with severe seizure disorders and have proven to be a successful treatment for the condition.

No legislation is perfect, but this bill as amended by the Governor strikes a good balance for all involved.

Democrats, on the other hand, failed our children by voting to block amendments that would have extended the protections for children under 13 years old on social media to all children.

Sites like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook would have been required to make a good-faith effort to obtain parental consent before allowing children over age 13 to use their sites.

The data is clear and social media is dangerous for children.

Democrats also voted to block amendments that would have required projects under the Virginia Clean Economy Act be subjected to competitive bidding.

When this legislation was passed by Democrats two years ago, it gave utilities a blank check at ratepayer expense to build giant environmental boondoggles that will drive up the cost of electricity.

Rolling blackouts, freezing families. This is the future Virginia Democrats want for Virginia.

If a project is mandatory and ratepayers wind up on the hook for the cost, competitive bidding is just common sense.

Virginians are looking to Richmond for safer communities and a more prosperous future for every Virginian. I will continue to preach common sense conservativism in Richmond with the hope to see all Virginians succeed.

Del. Tommy Wright can be reached via email at DelTWright@House.Virginia.gov or (804) 698-1061.