General Assembly Week 6 Recap: Life and Religious Liberty
This sixth week of the 2020 General Assembly session was the week of “Crossover,” which is the midway point of session when the House and Senate finish with all their respective bills and send those bills that passed to the other chamber. This was just one of the significant developments of the week.
Thursday was the second annual Virginia March for Life, and despite the rain the turn-out was tremendous! Thousands of people showed up in Richmond to stand in unity to demand that our officials respect the sanctity of life and do everything they can to ensure that innocent unborn babies and mothers are protected. We are thankful for all of the marchers, the dedicated volunteers and law enforcement, and the outstanding speakers, including Delegate Kathy Byron (R-Forest) and Senator Steve Newman (R-Forest), who helped make this event a great success. Now we turn our attention to HB 980 (D-Herring) and SB 733 (D-McLellan) and doing everything we can to stop or amend these dangerous bills that will strip away longstanding health and safety requirements for abortionists, as well as informed consent protections for women.
Also this week The Family Foundation Action released its Mid-session Report Card on Religious Freedom, which shows how all 140 legislators voted on LGBTQ bills that are aimed at undermining religious freedom. This unprecedented single-issue report was in response to the alarming bipartisan support for a host of bills that elevate the fluid concepts of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (SOGI) to protected classes under state nondiscrimination laws. We’ve tried to explain how these bills ultimately target people of faith, specifically Christians who refuse to ignore basic realities, which coincide with their deeply held convictions about marriage and sexuality. In fact, Delegate Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church) openly admitted this week that the intent of these bills is too punish Christian ministries that discriminate on the basis of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” For more about Del. Simon’s remarks and the impact that bills like HB 1049 (D-Levine), HB 1663 (D-Sickles) and SB 868 (D-Ebbin) will have on churches and religious schools, read our blog EMERGENCY Alert: This Bill Will Destroy Churches and Religious Schools!.
In addition to all these events, the TFF policy team was keeping a watchful eye on the General Assembly Monday and Tuesday, as they worked late into the evening passing legislation. While many of the bills TFF was tracking had already been passed by either the House or Senate, there were still a few more bills worth monitoring. Here a few notable highlights.
Thankfully these bad bills didn’t “cross over” this week….
Left in Rules Committee - “Day of Tears” Repeal – HR 6 (D-Convirs-Fowler) would have recognized January 22 (anniversary of Roe v. Wade) as the “Day of Women” and repeal a past resolution that recognized it as the “Day of Tears” to honor the unborn lives lost to abortion. Click HERE to read more.
Left in Senate Appropriations – Video Game Gambling - SB 1063 (D-McPike) would have allowed gambling video game machines to be placed in virtually every convenience store, bar, and gas station in Virginia.
Left in House Appropriations – Right to Work Repeal - (HB 153) would have repealed Virginia's right-to-work law and allow employers and unions to require people to pay dues to a union, and ruined the state's reputation as one of the best places to live and work.
Unfortunately, the following bills did pass this week….
Gambling Expansion (Casinos, Sports Betting, Internet Lottery, Games of Skill) –HB 4 (R-Knight) and SB 36 (D-Lucas) allow casinos in up to five localities (Bristol, Danville, Richmond, Virginia Beach/Norfolk, and Portsmouth) if approved through a local referendum. HB 896 (D-Sickles) and SB 384 (D-McPike) legalize sports betting at both a central location and online. SB 922 (R-Norment) allows lottery tickets to be sold over the internet. And SB 971 (D-Howell) allows the Lottery to regulate and tax the so-called “games of skill.” These bills will usher in an avalanche of gambling that exploits those who can least afford to lose, increase crime, lead to more addictions and the overall degradation of our communities and society.
Legalization of Recreational Marijuana – SB 2 (D-Ebbin) passed 27-13 and HB 972 (D-Herring) passed 64-34. They decriminalize (effectively the same thing as "legalizing") marijuana in Virginia.
Legitimizing Suicide – HB 1063 (D-Kory) abolishes the common-law crime of suicide. It passed 63-36.
Transportation Taxes and Fees - HB 1414 (D-Filler-Corn) is a massive transportation bill that will impose more taxes and fees on every hard-working Virginian. It passed 55-43.
Plastic Bag Tax - HB 534 (D-Carr) imposes a regressive statewide fee of five cents per bag on disposable plastic bags, with a few exemptions. It passed 52-46.
To review what’s happened throughout the General Assembly session thus far you can click on any of the links below to read the previous weekly recaps.
Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Things To Keep An Eye On At The Half-way Point
Please continue to pray for The Family Foundation’s policy team as they finish the second half of session, and for the legislators as they consider legislation that will have significant impacts on families and our communities.
