HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — While the Harrisonburg City School Board continues to move along with collective bargaining, so are state lawmakers.

The General Assembly passed a measure that would give public service workers across Virginia the freedom to come together and collectively bargain for a fair contract.

Opponents of the measure wanted to exclude Virginia State Police again.

However, Northern Virginia Senator Scott Surovell says it is time to include them in collective bargaining. “I don’t believe that our law enforcement deserves any less rights than anybody else. I know I’ve been reached out to by several frontline state troopers who very much feel like they need a voice, that management is not looking out for them, and they’re looking forward to this legislation passing.”

The measure moves on to the governor’s desk where its fate faces the uncertainty of a veto pen.