While I used to consider myself somewhat astute to the happenings of local and state government, I haven't had the opportunity to really follow until this year, because of the pandemic, and our governing bodies doing things online/streaming (which I love and think we should continue!).
But according to this (official?)
LIS VA Legislature doc, there might(?) have been limits before. I don't know; I'll reach out to my state-level reps who I've had conversations with and ask them. But I do know they were in place for this Session and not necessarily because of the pandemic. It's been an ongoing complaint from both sides. (I'd like to provide links but not sure I can. It's more of me listening to the people who represent me/mine.) Our state legislature runs on two different cycles (a budget one...and an 'off-year') with different time frames and state constitutional requirements. It's why I hesitate to make broad conclusions on how things c/should be done elsewhere and was careful to speak only to VA requirements.