Contending for “Values” in 2017 VA General Assembly

Top Legislative Priorities: The Good and the Bad
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“The church is the conscience of the nation, and the law is a civil guide to moral behavior for all of us — but especially for the un-churched, who have no other guide.” (Rakazzi)

“Eternal vigilance is the price we must pay to protect Life and Liberty and to advance Virtue in the culture and in the public square.” (Rakazzi)

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The Civil War of Values in the VA General Assembly

The VA General Assembly has now completed nearly two weeks of its 2017 session with five more weeks to go before it adjourns on Feb. 25.

Each chamber must complete work on its pending legislation on or before Feb. 7, at which time all bills approved in one chamber will “Cross-Over” to the other chamber for consideration.

The Republicans, including all members of our Valley delegation, control both chambers, with a slim margin of 21-19 in the Senate and a much wider margin of 66-34 in the House of Delegates.

That is the divide along which these battles for values are being fought, with Republicans working to pass a number of “Family Values” bills, and the Democrats working to defeat them while at the same time offering their own bills that are hostile to these values.

It is not easy. For example, out of the 16 priority bills that we tracked last year, only one of them made it into law. Of the remainder, nine died in either the House or the Senate, and Gov. McAuliffe vetoed the other six.

The Top Tier of “Values” Bills

Nevertheless, the battle continues. Listed below are 15 high-priority “Values” bills that we want to help pass this year. As noted, one of them has already passed.

We will provide you with periodic updates on all of these as they move through the process, or you can track them yourself by bill number at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/.

Finally, we will also be sending you occasional “Action Alerts” that will enable you to contact your representative as well as other specific legislators for their support of or opposition to particular bills at appropriate times.

Please stay tuned and ready for action.

For Life, Faith, Family, and Freedom!

Dean

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— Bills We Support –

1. Physical Privacy Act (HB 1612, R. Marshall). Requires individuals to use locker rooms, showers and bathrooms that correspond to their biological gender in Virginia public schools and government buildings.

2. Personhood of Unborn Child (HJ 589, R. Marshall). Recognizes that Virginia law recognized the unborn child as a person prior to the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.

3. Day of Tears (HR 268, Cline). Designates January 22 in 2017 and each succeeding year, as the Day of Tears in Virginia to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. (Adopted by House 57-36)

4. Written Consent for Abortions (HB 1762, R. Marshall). Any woman seeking an abortion must be given a written consent form at least 24 hours before the abortion. The form must contain information about the risks of an abortion. Physicians who fail to comply will incur penalties.

5. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (HB 1473, LaRock). Prohibits abortion after 20 weeks gestation except to save the life of the mother.

6. Funds Related to Abortions and Family Planning Services (HB 2264, Cline). Prohibits state grants or funds to all entities that perform abortions and instead prioritizes funding for other family planning service providers that do not perform abortions.

7. Religious Freedom and Marriage Beliefs (HB 2025, Freitas). No persons shall be required to participate in any marriage ceremony that violates their belief that marriage is or should be recognized as a union of one man and one woman, nor should they be penalized for such beliefs.

8. Pornography: A Public Health Hazard (HJ 549, R. Marshall). Recognizes pornography as a public health hazard leading up to a broad spectrum of individual, public health, and societal harms.

9. Parental Discretion over “Sexually Explicit” Content in School (HB 2191, Landes). Schools must notify parents of any child enrolled in a class which may include sexually explicit material or activities, permit parental review, and provide alternatives on request to any student whose parents object to such materials or presentations.

10. Parental Choice Education Savings Account (HB 1605, LaRock). Permits parents of a public school child to apply for a PCESA that is equivalent to a certain percentage of the cost for the child to remain in that school district, and use it to pay for alternative educational programs of the parents’ choice.

11. Homeschool Students in Public School Sports (“Tebow” HB 1578, R. Bell). Prohibits public schools from joining interscholastic organizations that do not allow home-schooled students to participate in public school sports programs and other interscholastic activities.

12. Regional Charter School Divisions (SB 1283, Obenshain). Authorizes Board of Education to establish charter school divisions within at least two school divisions of over 3,000 students in which one or more schools have been denied accreditation for two of past three years.

13. Allows State Board of Education to Approve Charter Schools (HJ 629, R. Bell; SJ 240, Obenshain). Amends VA Constitution to grant State Board of Education authority to approve charter schools within Virginia school districts.

14. Immigration Law and Sanctuary City Policy (HB 2236, Cline). Prohibits local entities from adopting policies that restrict or interfere with enforcement of federal immigration law and reduces state funding to any localities in violation of these provisions.

15. Convention of States (HJ 547, Lingamfelter). Makes application to Congress to call an Article V Convention that would propose Constitutional amendments aimed at restraining abuses of power by the federal government.