2023-11-21 15:48:05
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave
RICHMOND — Virginia Democrats wasted no time flexing their new majority power this week, filing legislation for the upcoming General Assembly session aimed at banning assault weapons, raising the minimum wage and other party priorities that seem sure to provoke conflict with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Democrats flipped the House blue in the Nov. 7 elections and preserved a slim majority in the Senate, denying Youngkin the ability to enact a conservative agenda in his all-out push to win Republican control. Instead of Youngkin’s proposal for a 15-week ban on most abortions, Democrats will swing in the opposite direction and push for a state constitutional amendment to guarantee access to the procedure.
The window opened Monday for lawmakers to begin submitting legislation for the session that convenes Jan. 10. Traditionally, the first few bills filed in each chamber signal the agendas of each party’s leadership.
“We are proud to kick off what we are sure will be a session that moves Virginia forward,” Speaker-designee Don L. Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth) said in a written statement touting four newly filed measures.
Scott was joined by Democratic leaders of the Senate in announcing the joint legislative priorities — a noteworthy show of unity for two bodies that usually treat one another as rivals, regardless of party control.
The legislation “would be life-changing for tens of thousands of Virginians,” Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), chosen as next year’s Senate majority leader, said in an interview. “Most of these bills have been vetted … in past sessions, which is why we thought it’d be easy to get them out quickly.”
The measures are: a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2026; a bill to ban “AR-15 style” assault weapons; and steps to initiate amendments to the state constitution to guarantee abortion access and to set out the automatic restoration of rights for people convicted of a felony. Virginia is the only state in the country that permanently bans someone convicted of a felony from voting, unless the person has their rights restored by the governor.
One item mentioned by Scott as a priority but not among the first four measures filed is a constitutional amendment to remove language prohibiting same-sex marriage and instead enshrining protections. Surovell and other Democrats said that legislation is on the way.
In a sign of the conflict that lies ahead, House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) — set to relinquish the gavel to Scott when the session convenes — said the Democratic bills are out of touch.
“Virginia Democrats learned nothing from their time in the wilderness,” Gilbert said via text message, referring to the party holding a House majority for the 2020 and 2021 sessions, then losing to Republican control for the past two years. “With the filing of this extreme legislation they have mistaken their slim electoral margin for a mandate and fully signaled their intention to overreach once once more.”
Democrats will hold at least a 51-49 advantage in the House, pending the outcome of a recount in one district where the Republican candidate won by 78 votes.
Youngkin’s office was neutral in its response. “The governor will review all legislation when it comes to his desk,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said via text message. “As has been the case the last two sessions, every bill that becomes law will require bipartisan collaboration, and as he has previously stated, the Governor is looking forward to working with the General Assembly to move forward on commonsense proposals.”
No such restraint by the Republican Party of Virginia, which issued a statement condemning “a slate of radical bills that would upend existing law and turn our Commonwealth into a failed left-wing state like California or New York.”
The GOP statement excoriated three of the Democratic proposals, but did not mention the effort to create a mechanism for restoring felon voting rights. That issue has had some Republican support in past sessions, and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) took steps to address it during his administration from 2010 to 2014.
The other three Democratic measures all have faced conflict before. Democrats mightn’t agree on an assault weapons ban when they passed other gun control measures in 2020 and 2021. The minimum wage increase was included in a bill passed three years ago but had to be reenacted; Republicans tried to kill it earlier this year and were blocked by Democrats in the Senate.
And a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights passed the Senate this year but died in the House, where Republicans contended that the wording was overly broad and would have guaranteed all abortions at any point in a pregnancy. Proposed constitutional amendments do not require a governor’s signature, but have to be passed twice by the General Assembly over at least two years before going to a vote of the public.
The first Republican bill filed this week is aimed at repealing the automobile emissions standards passed by Democrats in 2021 — further emphasizing the gap between the two parties.
1700583873
#Virginia #Dems #confront #Youngkin #bills #abortion #guns
