Last Tuesday marked crossover, the halfway point through the 2016 General Assembly session. Bills were reported out of the house of origin in order to be considered by the other house. Additionally, the House and Senate released their budgets on Sunday.  To see where our priorities stand as we head into next week, please check out our updates below:

Criminal Justice:

  • Virginia is ranked as one of the worst states for referring youth in schools to the criminal justice system. Delegate LaRock’s bills, HB 1132 and HB 1134, and Delegate Bagby’s HB 1061 to address school discipline and school referrals to law enforcement failed to crossover into the Senate this week. However, Senator McEachin’s bill, SB458, to decrease the number of school suspensions, passed the Senate and will be heard in the House’s Committee on Education. VICPP remains in support of legislation to end the school to prison pipeline. These bills are part of the RISE for Youth effort (RISE = Reinvest In Supportive Environments).
  • Raising the felony threshold from $200 until $1500 has failed for this year. Senator Reeves’ bill, SB 23, has been voted out of the Senate and has been assigned to the House Courts of Justice Committee, which had failed to report other felony threshold bills that originated in the House. While we can hope, we should not delude ourselves.

Economic Justice:

All efforts to raise the minimum wage and to provide additional consumer protections for payday and car title lending have been tabled, passed by indefinitely or failed to report out of committee.

Gun Violence Prevention:

All legislation related to Governor McAuliffe’s gun deal were passed on the house and senate floors. This deal;

  • Restores concealed handgun permit reciprocity with other states that Attorney General Mark Herring had revoked last fall.
  • Increases state police presence at gun shows to perform voluntary background checks
  • Creates a felony for those who have a protective order against them to possess a firearm.

 

Healthcare Access

On Wednesday VICPP held a press conference with faith leaders to address the importance of closing the coverage gap. To read about the press conference, check out the Richmond Times Dispatch’s coverage here, read the Virginia Interfaith Center’s news release here, or watch the entire press conference on YouTube here .

VICPP and VCV will continue to advocate for closing the coverage gap, a decision that will be made during budget deliberations. Continue to contact your legislators to let them know why closing the coverage gap is good for Virginia’s uninsured and our economy. For more information on the issue, visit vaconsumervoices.org.

Fair Redistricting

Three Senate bills, SB 31, SB 59 and SB 191, calling for an independent redistricting commission have passed the Senate and will now be heard in the House Elections subcommittee next Tuesday. One Virginia 2021 just released a call to action, and we are copying it below because it will take you to your Delegate. It is asking the Delegates to get these bills to the House floor for an open vote rather than a subcommittee vote with only a few Delegates deciding for all. Click on THIS LINK.

Immigration

HB 481, Delegate Marshall’s bill related to ICE detainers died in the  Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee this week. This bill would negatively impacted the immigrant community, and we are grateful for its loss.

It is also time to take action on SB 705 and SB 270, anti-sanctuary bills. This coming Monday, contact your delegate to ask him/her to VOTE NO on both bills. Call your delegate’s capitol office. The bills have the potential to prevent policies that should reassure immigrant communities that law enforcement will not ask about the immigration status of victims OR witnesses to crimes. Make your calls to your delegate only on this coming Monday.

Links to bill lists by priority:

If you have questions, please email Becky Bowers-Lanier at: becky@B2Lconsulting.com, or Kim Bobo at kim@virginiainterfaithcenter.org.

 

Roberta Oster General Assembly, Uncategorized