As we start to wind down the 2021 General Assembly session and enter our final week, I must say that the Northern Virginia (“NoVa”) Democrats have demonstrated that when it comes to the needs of the rest of Virginia (“RoVa”), they just don’t care. The liberal legislative agenda that they have put forth is not only aggressive, but also is single-minded in that they believe that if it is good for NoVa, it must be good for the rest of us. And it is all being passed through each chamber of the General Assembly with little debate, consideration or even a complete understanding by them of how these policy decisions will affect everyday Virginians. But, they just don’t care to get it right, they just don’t care if it hurts small businesses, and they just don’t care if it makes us less safe. Case in point, the Northern Virginia liberal demonstrated how they actually feel about the poor in both our inner cities and rural areas when they defeated SJR 275, my bill that would have amended the Virginia Constitution to ensure that all children who attend public school, no matter where they live, would receive the same equitable education opportunities as those children who attend public school in the more affluent regions of our Commonwealth. You see, it is the responsibility of the General Assembly to provide for a free, quality education for all children who attend public school, whether it be elementary, middle or high school. In our inner cities and rural areas, most of our schools were built before World War II, some even earlier than that. These schools are deteriorating at a rapid pace, and need to be modernized, so that the child in Petersburg or Pearisburg receive the same world class education as those children who attend public school in a shiny new school building in Loudoun County. The reasoning behind this is easy: modern schools in rural and urban areas will create a talent pool and workforce pipeline that will attract businesses to these regions who will bring the high paying jobs with them. That is how you revitalize the economies in these areas. But Northern Virginia just doesn’t give a damn. One would think that this would be a “no brainer” for the liberal left of Northern Virginia, for they profess to care about the poor, but in actuality, they don’t. Northern Virginia legislators proved once again that they are either too scared to deal with this critical issue, or more likely that they just don’t care. I believe it to be the latter. They don’t care about using public education to help our children in our rural areas and our inner cities break the cycle of poverty. They don’t care about fixing the schools in those areas, so long as their children get to attend nice new shiny and modern schools and receive a world class education while others who live in the rest of Virginia can’t. Delegate Mark Sickles, a liberal Democrat from Northern Virginia let it be known during the House committee hearing just how they feel about us. To him, when it comes to the modernization of our schools, we should just be on our own to handle it ourselves. His answer to just have the rural and inner-city localities raise their taxes to pay for it demonstrates both a regional ignorance and arrogance on their part. Consequently, they killed my proposed constitutional amendment. The reason that the Democrats gave to the press for killing the measure was that “Virginia’s voters should only consider 2 amendments to the constitution in 2022 election.” And what were those proposed amendments that were more important than providing equal educational opportunities to all of Virginia’s public school students? The first is a proposal to fully restore all convicted felons (even the most violent ones) with their civil rights; the second, redefining marriage in our constitution regardless of orientation or gender – the true priorities of their liberal agenda. Other than this spectacle, there’s still a lot that has to be done before the session ends. House and Senate negotiators must reach agreement on a package of amendments to the 2020- 2022 Biennial Budget. There are more than 300 bills still under consideration by the House and Senate. Before Saturday the 27th ends, final determinations must be made on all these bills. Among the scores of bills debated by the Senate this week, legislation to give illegal immigrants an additional taxpayer-funded benefit won approval. In addition to receiving subsidized in-state tuition rates at Virginia’s state-supported colleges and universities, those here in violation of federal immigration laws will now be eligible for taxpayer-funded tuition assistance at state and private schools. Every Republican senator opposed this legislation. Like their national counterparts, Virginia Democrats have adopted “open borders” policies that give taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants. As a result, the legislation passed on party-line vote. It is now headed to Governor Northam’s desk, and, having previously expressed his support for the measure, he is expected to sign it. But that’s not all. Next week, I will give you a list of all the outlandish legislation that the Democrats have passed, over our objection, that will change Virginia in ways that we never imagined possible. Weather continues to dominate Richmond’s local news coverage, which intensified during the ice and sleet storms that wreaked havoc with traffic and transportation in the city toward the end of the work week. It makes it hard to believe that the forecast for the coming week includes temperatures above 60 degrees. I’ll be back next week with what should be a wrap-up of Special Session I for 2021. Until then, have a great week.
