Richmond, Feb. 16
I won’t sugar coat it. The new Left-Wing majorities in the General Assembly not only have made it nearly impossible to pass any commonsense, family values legislation, but they’ve made stopping the ultra-progressive agenda of a determined party with great discipline – even with only one vote majorities in each chamber – just as difficult.
But there is light shining through the cracks. In fact, some pretty big progressive agenda items have been stopped cold, either through defeats in committee, on the floor or from behind-the-scenes pressure to withdraw the measures. The Family Foundation has played at least a bit, and often a leading role in their demise.
Most recently, and dramatically, Delegate Patrick Hope (D-1, Arlington) pulled his HB 858, the assisted suicide bill, on the verge of its floor vote. The indication is that there was at least one member of the Democrat caucus who was uncomfortable with such a bill and the votes just weren’t there. The Senate version (SB 280), introduced by Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-15, Chesterfield) recently passed the Senate on a 21-19 party line vote, but what seemed like a slam dunk to pass each chamber now seems unlikely.
Another particularly bad medical decision making bill was HB 813, which would have prevented parents from making decisions on their children’s behavioral and emotional disorders if a doctor deemed it necessary, and let a 16 year-old, who can‘t make those medical decisions when of sound mind, make them instead.
Other bills that went down to defeat include: HB 375, the so-called National Popular Vote Compact, which would bind Virginia’s presidential electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote; HB 276 and SB 78, bills that would disclose the names of donors to 501(c)(4) groups, such as TFF Action, chilling free speech; HB 502, which would have forced every state agency to include a third sex option (“Gender X)” on all forms and license applications; HB 636 and SB 567, especially bad bills, would have taken zoning authority for solar and windmill farms away from local government and given it to unelected bureaucrats at the State Corporation Commission in Richmond, blatantly stripping away your voice to your local – and accountable – representatives on a very local matter.
Think that’s good? Here’s more: HB 735 and SB 123 were bills to chip away at long and hard fought protections on your property rights with the former taking away your right to reacquire property the government took from you but never used; and the latter would have allowed owners of adjoining property, and even government agencies with a temporary construction easement, to use your property without compensating you.
Speaking of property, HB 1414, the re-imposition of the death tax from its nearly 20 year-old grave, also was killed. We’ve even paused the gambling fervor, with SB 124, betting on Virginia college athletic teams, carried over to 2025, in effect killing it. There are additional gambling bills being heavily scrutinized legislatively, and we’re doing all we can to put a full stop to them in the next few weeks.
We still have half the session to battle, and with your prayers and support, battle we will, because these victories do show, no matter how bleak the situation seems to be, light does make it through the cracks.
Visit the Walt Barbee Legislative Action Center for additional legislative information.
By Victoria Cobb. Cobb is President of the Richmond-based, non-partisan Virginia Family Foundation.