The final week of the General Assembly’s first special session of 2021 has finally concluded on Monday, March 1, 2021 as we adjourned “Sine Die.” And after 46 mostly contentious days, I can tell you that the Democrats were able to craft numerous pieces of legislation that fits the radical left agenda of the liberal special interest groups that have been clamoring to change Virginia into, well, more like California. And they have succeeded for the most part. I have equated their efforts to a political “jewelry store smash and grab,” where like a robber, they smash the top of the jewelry counter and grab all the stuff they can before the alarm bell sounds and they get caught. Well, they got a lot passed along strictly party-lines to satisfy their ultra-liberal base in Northern Virginia, but I can guarantee you that they are still hungry for more. That’s why the upcoming state elections in November will be so critical to the future of Virginia, and our ability to stop this deconstruction of Virginia by the Democrats is imperative. And maybe that’s why they are acting so fast in passing such bad and harmful legislation, because they know that they never again may have control of the Senate, House of Delegates and Governor’s mansion when the alarm bells go off and Virginians find out what they have done. They have not governed for you and me, rather they have governed for themselves alone, and the rest of Virginia is irrelevant to them.
This last week saw a flurry of action, and Republicans challenged these bad bills at every turn. We pointed out the inadequacies, the failures and even the just poor writing of some of these proposed laws in lengthy debates on the Senate floor. At this point in any session, debates can be very lengthy because some of most contentious issues are up for final passage. While many of the bills approved by the General Assembly are straightforward, those on particularly contentious issues tend to be complex and detailed. Democrats didn’t care if their bills were flawed though, they just wanted them to pass, without any thought as to the consequences that their agenda would have on everyday citizens of the Commonwealth.
As just one example, the legislation that would set Virginia on course to legalizing and taxing the sale of marijuana for recreational use, is extremely complicated, detailed, and hundreds of pages long. The underlying issue addressed by the bill is contentious on its own. Add in hundreds of pages of complicated policy encompassing issues related to law enforcement, government policy on intoxicants, and taxation, and you get a recipe for a lot of discussion. Finally, since the House and Senate versions of the legislation have substantive differences, a conference committee of legislators representing the House and Senate has to reach an agreement that effectively turns two different bills into a single piece of legislation.
Law enforcement and Virginia’s approach to criminal justice has created many of this year’s most contentious debates. Efforts to end mandatory minimum sentences for violent criminals and abolish the death penalty were extensively debated in the Senate, generating a lot of coverage in the news media. And, this week, another issue related to criminal justice reemerged that again generated extensive media coverage.
Richmond’s WTVR Channel 6 reported that the State Inspector General’s report on malfeasance by the Parole Board related to the case of Vincent Martin had been reduced from 13 pages to the six that were disclosed last summer. Mr. Martin, who had been serving a life sentence for murdering Richmond Police Officer Michael Connors, was granted parole last year. The circumstances surrounding the Parole Board’s decision in the case has been enmeshed in scandal ever since.
The Northam Administration initially tried to prevent disclosure of the State Inspector General’s report on the Parole Board’s handling of the Martin case. Forced to comply with a law requiring they disclose such information to the Minority Leaders of the House and Senate, the six-page report was devastating, recounting violations of both Parole Board policy and Virginia Law by the then Chair of the Parole Board, Adrienne Bennett. WTVR uncovered that what was disclosed to legislators only represented part of the story. There were even more examples of egregious and outrageous behavior by the Board, but those didn’t make it into the report that ultimately became public. More succinctly, what had already been disclosed was very bad; what was covered up was even worse.
Typical of scandals involving a cover-up, no one in a position of authority seems able to explain what happened to the full version of the State Inspector General’s findings, and both Governor Northam and Secretary of Public Safety Moran claim they never saw the longer version.
Despite the Northam Administration’s concerted effort to squelch it, this scandal, which has been unraveling since last summer, appears likely to have continued fallout as more information is uncovered.
LEGISLATION
With the finishing touches being put on legislation, there’s a lot headed to the Governor’s desk for his consideration. Eight of the thirteen bills that I authored and sponsored have now passed both the House and Senate, and are on the Governor’s desk for him to sign into law.
Criminal Justice and Court Reform:
SB 1108, increases the jurisdictional damage limits of our General District Courts from $25,000 to $50,000 for cases of wrongful death and personal injury;
SB 1122, repeals the outdated Habitual Offender statutes that had been partially repealed in 1999;
SB 1415, modifies Child Protective Orders to strengthen punishment of those adults who, while under the restrictions of a Child Protective Order, violate the terms of the Protective Order;
SB 1426, reforms our Court’s Orders of Restitution so that victims of crime who are entitled to receive restitution compensation from their convicted offenders actually received the money that they are entitled to in a timely fashion;
Public Education/Health:
SB 1414, extends the time in which the Henrietta Lacks Commission (created by me in earlier legislation two years ago) can complete their work in the establishment of the Henrietta Lacks Life Sciences and Cancer Research Center in Halifax County;
SB1338, permits health care insurance coverage (Medicare/Medicaid) for patients utilizing telemedicine/telehealth in their medical treatment;
Companion Animal Protection:
SB 1412, prevents anyone who has been previously convicted of animal abuse from being able to either work in a licensed pet shop in the Commonwealth, or purchase a companion animal from a pet shop;
SB 1417, provides that any animal that is bred and/or used for medical experiments shall be made available for adoption to citizens of the Commonwealth (so that these dogs and cats can find their forever homes) once their usefulness for experimentation has ended.
As expected, the Democrats in the House of Delegates killed all my school modernization bills that would have helped modernize our public schools in both the rural and inner-city regions of Virginia. Those bills were:
SB 1106, establishes a “Public School Repair/Modernization Fund,” that pools financial resources from public, private, state and local sources for the repair and modernization of school buildings throughout the Commonwealth, both in our rural areas and inner-cities;
SB 1109, proposes that the voters of Virginia, during the November 2022 election, vote on a referendum to permit the Commonwealth to secure 3 billion dollars in bond funding to be used to modernize our schools throughout the state;
SR 275, proposes a change to the Virginia Constitution that would ensure that all of Virginia’s children who attend a public school, whether primary or secondary, are guaranteed an “equitable education,” regardless of either their financial station in life or where they live;
I will continue to fight the Northern Virginia Democrats next year on these critical public school issues when I bring these bills back for further consideration.
