2023 General Assembly Session Recap
The 2023 General Assembly completed its work on bills and resolutions over the weekend, adjourning to return home and turn their attention to the upcoming elections. While the legislature approved a $250 million appropriation to address an accidental shortfall in revenue for local school systems, lawmakers remained deadlocked over additional changes to the 2022-2024 biennium budget which will need to be resolved in a special session most likely.
With any session there are always challenges and a few pleasant surprises, but we’re very pleased with the passage of HB 2171, patroned by Del. Wren Williams (R-Stuart), that prohibits executive action from treating places of worship different from “essential business” (such as ABC stores!) during times of emergency, as former Governor Ralph Northam did during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a good win for not only for religious liberty but also limited government (click HERE to read more).
Overall, this session ultimately ended up being a draw between the two chambers – in which good bills passed by the House failed in the Senate, and dangerous bills that escaped the Senate were defeated by the House. Our 2023 General Assembly Legislative Report illustrates this narrative perfectly.
House Rules committee protects biblical marriage.
This year it was a House Rules subcommittee that held strong against legislation (SJ 242, D-Ebbin) aimed at initiating the process of amending the state constitution, which currently states that “only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.” The bill sought to tear down all vestiges of natural marriage in our state constitution.
During public testimony on this bill, we reminded lawmakers that no matter the whims of the culture, or the misguided opinions of activist judges, natural marriage between a man and a woman is a bedrock institution for any flourishing society, which provides a loving and stable environment for children. We believe that Virginians rightly recognized marriage between one man and one woman in the state constitution, and if the U.S. Supreme Court corrects its egregious Obergefell decision from 2015, that marriage amendment would immediately go into effect.
House and Senate both thwart efforts to advance legislation to create more education options for Virginia families.
Unfortunately, a bill (HB 1508) carried by Delegate Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach) and championed by Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, which would have created education savings accounts (ESAs) for parents to use for tuition or after-school tutoring at a private elementary or secondary school that better meets their child’s needs, failed to make it out of the House Appropriations committee. In addition, some members on the House Education committee blocked HB 1475 (March, R-Floyd), a bill famously known as the “Tebow Bill” that allows homeschool students to participate in public school sports team and have equal access to athletic opportunities.
The Senate Finance and Appropriations committee also defeated legislation (HB 1821, R-Avoli), which passed the House, that would have made several changes to the Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credits program, Virginia’s stan-alone school choice program, to expand access to this important program. The bill would have allowed current private school students to qualify for the scholarship instead of only students in public school or those who are entering kindergarten or first grade, and it would have increased the tax credit amount from 65 to 100 percent, inviting more investments which lead to more scholarships.
As we say repeatedly, in Virginia too many children are having to attend an underperforming school or a school that does not meet their education needs, and there just are not enough education options available for families. These bills could have helped.
The Senate Education & Health committee defeats bills related to parental rights and the sanctity of life.
The Senate Education and Health Committee, chaired by Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), once again elevated LGBTQ and gender ideology, hyper-sexualized schoolbooks and the government education system above the interests of parents. Bills like HB 1379 (R-Anderson), which would require schools to identify every item in a public school library that contains graphic sexual content and make that list available to parents, and HB 1448 (R-Orrock) that would have simply required the Department of Education to develop recommend model policies for the selection and removing books and audiovisual materials, were soundly rejected by the Democrat-controlled committee.
Despite the heartrending story of Sage, a troubled teenager struggling with gender dysphoria who was sadly sex trafficked into another state, Democrats stood united and voted 9-6 to defeat HB 2432 (R-LaRock), affectionately referred to as “Sage’s Law.” This bill would have ensured a school informs parents in a timely manner when a child has any communication with a school administrator that asks for the administrator’s participation in a gender change, and it also clarified that parents would be deemed “abusive” simply for affirming their child’s biological sex.
The committee also defeated Delegate Karen Greenhalgh’s HB 1387, Fairness in Female Sports, which would have prohibited biological males from participating in female-only sports, taking away scholarships and risking the safety of female athletes.
Senator Lucas also made sure the committee trashed any bill aimed at protecting as many unborn (and even born) lives as possible. All the bills listed below were defeated by the Senate Education and Health committee:
SB 1385 (R-Newman) – the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” – that would have prohibited abortions when the baby can feel pain (15 weeks);
SB 1284 (R-Hackworth) – the “Virginia Unborn Child Protection Act” – which rightfully recognized that life begins at conception and would have prevented abortions at all stages except to save the life of the mother or if pregnancy is the result of rape;
HB 2270 (R-Greenhalgh) – would have reinstated informed consent prior to an abortion; and
HB 1795 (R-Freitas) - the “Infant Born Alive Protection Act,” would have required reasonable medical treatment for an infant that survives a failed abortion.
Pro-life members in the House prevent pro-abortion legislators from advancing legislation that would enshrine unlimited abortion into Virginia’s state constitution.
We are very thankful that a bill (SJ 255, D-Boysko and D-McClellan) passed by pro-abortion Democrats in the Senate, which sought to amend the state constitution to allow abortion on demand with no limitations up to the moment of birth, and with taxpayer money, ultimately failed in the House Courts of Justice committee. A similar bill (HJ 519, D-Herring) failed in a House subcommittee last month on a party-line vote. Not only that, but all 52 House Republicans thwarted an attempt during session by Democrats to change the rules in order to “discharge” – a parliamentary procedure to bring SJ 255 out of committee for a full House vote.
House General Laws stifles efforts to commercialize recreational marijuana, and putting a “pot shop” on every street corner in Virginia.
Thanks to the sound judgement of the House General Laws committee, SB 1133 (D-Ebbin), which would have established the actual framework for the creation of a marijuana market in the Commonwealth, was defeated. Unfortunately, some lawmakers seemed to be more interested in marijuana and gambling than they did improving the education opportunities for our children. However, the giant marijuana industry will not let up, and we know that next year we will have to fight this battle all over again.
Final Thoughts
While we are grateful for the exemplary leadership to stop legislation that would allow abortion without any limitations, undermine parental rights, and push more vices on Virginians, there were many missed opportunities due in large part to a lack of conservative lawmakers.
The reality is that unless Virginians elect more people who hold conservative values and want to protect unborn life, create more education opportunities for families, reduce regulatory and tax burdens on citizens, strengthen parental rights, and promote religious liberty, the same sorts of outcomes we’ve seen the past two years are inevitable.
That’s why elections matter, and this year Virginians will have the opportunity to choose for themselves the candidates for both the House and Senate that fulfill these expectations.
Your voice to see these values represented in our legislature in Richmond is heard loudly at the ballot box.
