Virginia's Public Square
Virginia's Public Square
The one-two legislative strategy by Delegates Scott Garrett and Kathy Byron would prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion providers in this year’s budget and begin working towards prohibiting it in Virginia’s constitution. The move comes as Governor Northam and Democratic lawmakers proposed a sweeping repeal of abortion restrictions, including on late term abortions in the third trimester.
When Senator Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) first ran for office in 2015, he said Virginia needed more lawmakers focused on solving problems with common sense. This session, he’s fighting for a bill which he says does exactly that.
Peake introduced SB1038 to require voter registrars throughout Virginia to electronically verify the name, date of birth, and social security number of each voter against existing federal databases to confirm that every registered voter is a citizen of Virginia and the United States.
Calling it a “very simple bill” and “very common sense”, Peake urged the committee to pass the measure, which he said would strengthen election integrity in Virginia and help fight voter fraud.
“I just kind of would like to make sure that people who are registered to vote in Virginia are actually Virginia citizens and the people they say they are,” he said.
Peake noted his legislation would cost less than a million dollars, contrasting the fiscal impact of the bill with the much larger sums of money spent every year on campaigns in Virginia.
“We’re talking about less than a million dollars to make sure that people who register to vote in the Commonwealth of Virginia are actually citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia and are actually the people they say they are. That’s my bill,” Peake added, following a short presentation.
On Wednesday, Peake’s bill advanced out of the Senate’s Finance Committee, following an earlier favorable recommendation by the committee on Privileges and Elections, which handles election-related legislation. The legislation advanced out of Finance on a party line vote, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed, after passing out of Privileges and Elections with bipartisan support, when Senator Lionel Spruill (D-Chesapeake) broke ranks with his party to support the bill.
During Wednesday’s hearing, no representatives from the Department of Elections came to speak for or against the bill.
Following a short presentation, the committee, with Peake’s blessing, adopted an amendment giving registrars until 2021 to implement the legislation. This amendment, observers said, was necessary to give localities time to implement the electronic verification in their computer systems, as well as move the bill’s modest implementation cost beyond the current budget cycle, a move intended to put the law on the books and protect its passage against the possibility of becoming caught up in a larger budget dispute over Governor Northam’s proposal to increase spending and taxes this year.
While Northam has not indicated whether he would sign the legislation, the governor has shown disdain for other election integrity measures, calling for a repeal of Virginia’s voter ID law in his annual State of the Commonwealth address, in which he also called for higher spending, sweeping gun control, and creating a “fundamental right” to abortion, including late term abortions in the third trimester.
Northam’s opposition comes in spite of public polling showing voter ID measures to be very popular. According to Gallup, four in five Americans support voter ID laws.
Peake’s bill will now be heard by the full Senate, which favored the measure last year. If passed, it would need to gain approval in the House of Delegates before heading to the governor’s desk.
Photo ID requirements became a topic of debate during Tuesday’s floor session of the Virginia House of Delegates, with Republican Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) sparring with his Democratic colleague Mike Mullin (D-Newport News) over identification requirements related to voting and pawnbrokers.
Earlier this year, Mullin introduced HB1774, a bill requiring Virginians to show valid and unexpired government ID when offering goods to a pawnshop. Mullin said his bill would help cut down on illegal transactions at pawnshops.
“HB1774 is a bill to clarify that unexpired government-issued IDs are required for pawning goods,” said Mullin on the floor, speaking to the bill. “Current law only states that the ID must be government issued.”
“HB1773 [sic] came as a direct recommendation from the city of Newport News to allow for more effective enforcement of the identification requirement to pawn goods, to ensure more accurate record keeping, and to deter attempts to fence stolen goods,” he continued.
During his 2017 campaign, Mullin opposed a voter ID requirement, even though polls show it is backed by a strong majority of voters, with some surveys pegging support as high as four in five, according to Gallup.
“No, restricting access to the polls on Election Day is a form of voter suppression,” Mullin told the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily.
Earlier this year, Governor Ralph Northam made the repeal of Virginia’s voter ID requirement a priority during his annual State of the Commonwealth address. Democratic lawmakers answered his call, with Delegate Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church) introducing HB2565 to implement the governor’s policy proposal. Similar legislation was offered by Senator Mamie Locke (D-Hampton) as SB1447 in the upper chamber.
The proposed legislation would completely repeal Virginia’s photo ID requirement for voting, despite public support.
When presenting his bill on the floor, Mullin faced pushback from House Republican Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), who used the discussion on pawnbroker ID requirements to ask his Democratic colleagues about their support for repealing the voter ID law.
“I would ask the gentleman if he likewise believes that the general principle of verification of identity before pawning goods is a good thing,” Gilbert inquired of Mullin.
Appearing visibly nervous, perhaps suspecting a voter ID debate lay ahead, Mullin asked Gilbert to restate the question, before ultimately agreeing with his premise.
“I would ask the delegate if he has inquired of the governor if the governor, likewise, believes in that principle, given his recent edicts or commentary on his desires, with respect to showing government ID to perform certain necessary functions in our society,” Gilbert added. “I would ask the delegate if he believes the right to pawn goods is an essential function of our democracy.”
“Everybody, all the time, has to show an identification to do all kinds of things, and that is perfectly acceptable thing to do, even when you’re pawning your watch,” Gilbert continued. “The one time that we find that is never appropriate, from our friends on the other side of the aisle, to have to show an ID, is when you do something so essential and fundamental to our democratic process as cast a vote.”
“One can see where there are all kinds of reasons we would want to prevent someone from pretending to be someone else in order to pawn goods, I would hope that we would all agree, although we obviously do not, given the governor’s recent desire to repeal the voter ID law, I would hope we all agree that pretending to be someone else when you’re voting is likewise we should try to deter.”
“I just wanted to join the chorus of support for having to show identification,” Gilbert added in closing.
House Republican leaders have vowed to defend Virginia’s voter ID law against Governor Northam’s attempts to repeal it.
Republican leaders have indicated the governor’s repeal proposal will not pass this session, though that could change if Republicans lose seats in the General Assembly this November. Currently, Republicans control the House of Delegates and Senate, holding majorities of 51-48 and 21-19, respectively.
Fourteen gun control bills were defeated by Virginia House Republicans, leaving four remaining. While gun rights supporters said Governor Northam’s agenda appeared dead for the year, they warned these bills represented a wishlist by gun control proponents which could pass if Republicans lose the House and Senate this November.
“Republicans have won the ‘framing war’ over voter ID, largely neutralizing the Democratic voter suppression frame, even among average Democrats,” a 2017 study shows.
“We are free to declare, and do declare that the rights hereby asserted, are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right,” said Thomas Jefferson regarding any enacted premise that would strip Virginians, and indeed Americans, of their religious liberty.
On Thursday in Richmond, Democratic leaders announced their support for a sweeping repeal of abortion restrictions in Virginia, including deregulation of third trimester late term abortions up until the moment of birth. The press conference, attended by Governor Ralph Northam, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, Attorney General Mark Herring, and a host of Democratic lawmakers, touted two pieces of legislation filed by Democratic lawmakers, the Repeal Act and the Reproductive Freedom Act.
The Repeal Act, introduced as HB2491 by Delegate Kathy Tran (D-Springfield), would repeal restrictions on third trimester abortions, allow abortionists to self-certify the necessity of the procedures, eliminate informed consent requirements, repeal health and safety standards for abortion clinics, allow late term abortions to be performed in outpatient clinics, waive ultrasound requirements, and eliminate the 24 hour waiting period for abortions in Virginia, among other provisions.
“I introduced House bill 2491, the repeal law, to lift medically unnecessary and unduly burdensome requirements for women to access abortions in the Commonwealth,” said Tran.
“This bill removes hospital requirements on clinics and providers, laws that mandate informed consent, a combination of mandatory ultrasounds, biased literature, and the 24 hour waiting period, and additional doctor requirements for late term abortions,” Tran continued, describing the provisions of the bill.
Third trimester abortions remain highly unpopular with voters, with just 13% saying the procedure should “generally be legal”, according to nonpartisan polling conducted by Gallup, which noted that trimesters were “still key to U.S. abortion views.”
The Reproductive Freedom Act, introduced by Delegate Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) as HB2369 in the House, and by Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon) as SB1637 in the Senate, would establish a “fundamental right” to abortion in the Code of Virginia, prohibiting the Commonwealth from enacting restrictions on abortions, including late term procedures in the third trimester of pregnancy. The measure was backed by Governor Northam during his annual State of the Commonwealth address, in which the governor also called for higher spending, sweeping gun control, and a repeal of Virginia’s law requiring voters show photo ID at the polls.
The Democratic leaders were joined by Amy Hagstrom Miller, President and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, a chain of abortion clinics currently operating in six states, including one location in Charlottesville, Virginia. Miller’s abortion business was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which overturned certain restrictions applicable to abortion clinics.
“We provide fabulous abortion care and we fight the draconian abortion regulations and restrictions,” said Miller. “As abortion providers, we believe that everybody deserves dignity, deserves respect, and that our patients should be at the center of their own health care decisions.”
“That’s why we fight harmful anti-abortion laws, and that’s why we support legislation like this,” continued Miller, saying that passage of the Repeal Act was the “first step” in the fight to expand abortion in Virginia.
An hour before the press conference, lawmakers defeated the Senate’s version of the Repeal Act in the Committee on Education and Health, introduced by Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), on a party line vote, with seven Democrats in support and eight Republicans in opposition.
“So, we continue to fight, and we will be back next year to make sure that the Repeal Act passes,” said McClellan.
At the same committee hearing, Boysko’s Reproductive Freedom Act was also defeated on a party line vote.
Boysko, a former board member of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia and staunch abortion advocate, said she was disappointed by the failure of her bill.
Following the defeat of the Senate bills, and foreshadowing the likely defeat of the measures in the House this year, Northam, Fairfax, and Herring said it was necessary to elect Democratic majorities in November to repeal restrictions on abortion next session.
“So when can’t change peoples minds, we need to change seats,” said Governor Northam, speaking to the upcoming November elections.
Northam, who is a doctor, worked as a pediatric neurologist prior to being elected governor.
Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, a strong supporter of abortion, echoed the governor’s electoral sentiments.
“Though we had some setbacks today in committee around this legislation, please be on notice that when we come back for our next General Assembly session, it will be a very different outcome, because we will have more allies in the House and the Senate,” added Fairfax, who formerly served as a board member of the Planned Parenthood Metropolitan Washington Action Fund.
“I will continue to bang that gavel for progress,” said Fairfax.
Vowing to be a “brick wall” against restrictions on abortion, Attorney General Mark Herring also called on Virginians to elect a pro-choice Democratic majority, while also noting his work as Attorney General fighting against a twenty-week abortion ban and working to protect funding for Planned Parenthood.
“In 2017, Virginia elected three pro-choice, statewide, state elected officials, fifteen new pro-choice delegates, and this past election, elected three pro-choice congresswomen,” added Herring.
“We need a pro-choice majority in the General Assembly,” Herring continued.
During the 2016-2017 statewide campaign cycle, abortion advocates contributed heavily to Democratic campaigns in hopes of repealing abortion restrictions, donating a combined total of $4,871,584 directly and in-kind to pro-abortion politicians, according to campaign finance reports compiled by VPAP.
While that investment helped elect Democrats to the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General, it stopped short of capturing legislative majorities in the House of Delegates and the state Senate, where Republicans held on to narrow majorities of 51-49 and 21-19, respectively.
Though the rollback of abortion regulations is unlikely to pass this year, due to opposition from Republican lawmakers, that could change following November’s elections.
Watch highlights from the press conference below, in longer form than the summary above.
Less than one week into Virginia’s 2019 legislative session, tax policy issues are quickly becoming the top issue of debate, with Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly charting starkly different courses.
Earlier today, Republicans announced a unified front behind tax relief legislation offered by Delegate Tim Hugo (R-Clifton), aimed at blocking a hidden $1.2 billion tax hike championed by Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, which the governor used as the basis for a $2.2 billion spending increase contained within his budget.
“Our first and foremost effort is to say no to a hidden tax increase that’s found in the governor’s budget,” said Hugo, speaking on the House floor, following the GOP’s earlier announcement. “Let’s give the money back to the people who are paying the taxes.”
Minutes later, Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) took to the House floor, denying that the governor’s budget was built on higher taxes, during a speech touting Democratic priorities, including higher spending and gun control.
“We also heard some incorrect information from the delegate from Fairfax, stating that Governor Northam’s proposal was a tax increase,” said Filler-Corn.
“There is no tax increase in the governor’s budget plan,” she continued.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial board disagreed with that assessment.
In an editorial entitled, “Gov. Northam’s tax plan wallops the middle class,” written last year after Northam released his plan, the Times-Dispatch said:
“Virginia Democrats, led by Gov. Ralph Northam, are preparing to do what Democrats were born to do: raise taxes and spend other people’s money. The opportunity arises thanks to the simplification reforms in last year’s federal tax-cut legislation. This makes the current opportunity to tax and spend especially appealing because state Democrats can use the changing and complex relationship between state and federal tax codes as a cover to ding middle-class Virginians.”
“The Democrats’ media allies are already doing their part by claiming that the state income tax increase the governor and fellow Democrats support will mainly affect ‘the wealthy.’ That’s accurate only if your definition of wealthy extends to, say, a married couple of twenty-something public schoolteachers who just bought their first house. Assuming a net income of about $80,000 for our two young educators, a back-of-the-envelope calculation of their state income tax liability suggests it would balloon by at least $700 under the Northam plan.”
In her speech, Filler-Corn touted several spending priorities paid for by the $1.2 billion in additional revenue referenced by the Times-Dispatch, but said it wasn’t a “tax increase” on the 600,000 Virginians who would pay higher taxes under the governor’s plan, choosing instead to blame President Trump for the refusal of Virginia Democrats to conform the state’s tax code.
In contrast to the unified Republican opposition, Filler-Corn’s Democratic caucus is already showing signs of internal division over the governor’s plan.
In an op-ed published in by the Times-Dispatch, Delegate Dawn Adams (D-Richmond) agreed with the Republican-led effort to allow taxpayers the opportunity to choose between taking the state’s standard deduction and itemizing, regardless of how they file their taxes.
“As a short-term solution, I have drafted legislation that first allows filers to choose whether they want to itemize irrespective of what they do at the federal level,” wrote Adams. “Knowing the backstory gives individuals power to decide how they want to spend their money.”
Adams stopped short, however, of backing the GOP’s proposal to increase Virginia’s standard deduction from $3000 to $4000 for individuals, and from $6000 to $8000 for married couples, a move which would primarily benefit lower and middle income taxpayers.
“‘Doubling Virginia’s standard deduction’ is a bad idea,” she said, in closing.
Another Democratic lawmaker, Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas), suggested the governor’s tax increases might be less than he would like, suggesting disagreement within the Democratic caucus.
“So you know I’m looking for ways to get that 5 percent raise entirely on state dollars so localities aren’t feeling that pinch,” said Carter, who self-identifies as “socialist”, during a January 8th interview on the Kojo Nnamdi show.
“But there are some folks, some of my colleagues, who are maybe more skeptical of the idea of the 5 percent raise entirely.”
In contrast to the mixed messages coming from House Democrats, their Republican counterparts are unified against the proposal.
“To be very clear, the governor’s proposal to increase taxes on hard-working Virginians is dead on arrival,” remarked GOP Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), during proceedings on the House floor on Monday.
“We are not going to participate in that,” he said. “We are not going to discuss that. That is a non-starter for this caucus, and we are not going to go along with it, and I just wanted to lay down that marker.”
At the direction of Republican House Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), Virginia’s House of Delegates will consider Hugo’s bill as a high-priority item early in the session, which is scheduled to last through mid-February.
Cox said addressing the tax issue early was vital to hearing budget amendments, which could not be done until the General Assembly’s money committees had a revenue baseline to work with.
House Republicans announced a unified front behind a plan offering tax relief to 2.7 million low and middle income Virginians. The House GOP plan blocks Governor Northam’s “hidden tax increase” on 600,000 middle class taxpayers.
The bill allows outpatient late term abortions, repeals informed consent and abdominal ultrasound requirements, eliminates the 24 hour waiting period, allows abortionists to self-certify third trimester abortions, and exempts abortion clinics from health and safety standards.