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Tomorrow morning in Senate Room B beginning at 8:30, the Senate Education  and Health Committee will vote on three remaining life bills. Not known for its dedication to the sanctity of life, thus the moniker Committee of Death, makes Thursday’s battle is an uphill climb. In fact, it typically waits until the last committee meeting of session each year to kill House pro-life bills, i.e., “Black Thursday.” However, despite its reputation, it’s important that each of the 15 senators on this committee hear from Virginia citizens who value life. Click here to get committee members’ contact information and urge them to support HB2147, HB1428, and HB1440. 

Here is a short description of the bills the committee will vote on:
 
Abortion Funding Opt-Out for ObamaCare
ObamaCare puts states in charge (see ObamaCare Lies) of their own health insurance exchanges for individuals and small businesses. If enacted today, Virginia potentially could include in its exchange health insurance plans that cover elective abortion. Pro-family citizens opposed to abortion would be mandated to fund this unethical destruction of human life. HB2147, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge) is a bill that would prevent insurance plans in the Virginia health insurance exchange from providing abortion coverage. Five states have taken this step and several more are considering doing so, while Maryland and Pennsylvania will allow abortion coverage. This bill passed the House 60-36-2, but the Senate version died earlier this session in this committee 10-5.
 
Abortion Center Safety
HB1428, patroned by Delegate Dickie Bell (R-20, Augusta), requires the regulation of abortion centers. This bill has only three simple conditions: an annual inspection, a requirement of life saving equipment on premises, and licensure by a state regulatory agency. Abortion center safety has received increased attention recently due to two unrelated events: a botched abortion originating in New Jersey and a “horror shop” abortion center in Philadelphia. Virginians must demand a higher level of professionalism and medical aptitude from abortion providers and facilities. This bill passed the House 66-33.
 
Wrongful Death
HB1440, patroned by Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas) is a bill that would provide protection (civil recourse) for the unborn in cases where they lose their life due to the negligence of another. While Virginia’s Code does include a fetal homicide law, the same unborn life, taken without intention or premeditation, elicits no civil penalty. Improving our civil law to recognize fetal manslaughter is essential. An unborn life is not only of value when it is wanted by the mother or when it is intentionally killed. This bill passed 62-36-1 in the House, but the Senate version died 10-5 earlier this session in this committee.

Today is crossover at the General Assembly, the day when the House and Senate have to complete work on bills introduced in their respective chambers. Consequently, yesterday the House spent nearly 11 hours on the floor debating bills, with final votes taking place today. The Senate did their marathon debate and vote session today.

Several Family Foundation priorities passed the House of Delegates, some after lengthy debates took place on the proposals yesterday.

HB 1440, patroned by Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas), which would provide protection (civil recourse) for the unborn in cases where they lose their life due to the negligence of another, passed 62-36 — despite the wild accusations by Delegate Vivian Watts (D-39, Fairfax), who claimed the legislation would outlaw contraception. Delegate Dave Albo (R-42, Fairfax), the chairman of the Courts of Justice Committee, which reviewed the bill, defended it on the floor. He said that he had several attorneys and committee legal counsel review the legislation and all agreed that the bill, nearly identical to a 20-year-plus Missouri law, and which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989, would not affect legal contraception in any way.

HB 2147, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge), would prevent health insurance plans in the Virginia health insurance exchange, required by ObamaCare, from providing abortion coverage. This preemptive strike against ObamaCare, should it be implemented, passed 60-36.

The House today also passed by a vote of 54-45 HB 2314, legislation patroned by Delegate Jimmie Massie (R-72, Henrico), that would provide a tax credit for corporate donations to private scholarship programs. This education opportunity legislation is tailored to help low-income families. It is modeled after a successful Florida scholarship program that has helped more than 20,000 students and saved the state more than $36 million in FY2008-09. (We hope you join us this Thursday for our Family Foundation Day at the Capitol and Rally, which will focus on this legislation.)

Also passing today was legislation that will create an “In God We Trust” license plate. The bill, HB 1418, is an omnibus license plate bill patroned by Delegate John O’Bannon (R-73, Richmond) that incorporates the “IGWT” plate bill introduced by Delegate Dickie Bell (R-20, Staunton). A Senate bill (SB 811), patroned by Senator Mark Obenshain (R-26, Harrisonburg) creating the same license plate also passed the Senate today.

Thank you to everyone who has contacted their delegates and senators on these and other issues. After today the bills that have passed the House or Senate will “crossover” to the other chamber to go through the committee process. Please continue to respond to our action alerts (sign up here) and keep up with all the General Assembly news and video by returning to this site, and by following us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as the General Assembly session continues in the coming weeks.

Virginia took the lead in opposing ObamaCare — first, with last year’s Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act, then, later in the year, with a legal challenge to ObamaCare’s constitutionality. This year, HB 2147, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge), would prevent insurance plans in the Virginia health insurance exchange, required by ObamaCare, from providing abortion coverage. 

HB 2147 was introduced as a preemptive measure to ensure that Virginia taxpayers are not forced to subsidize abortion in the event that the lawsuit is not successful. If ObamaCare was fully implemented today, Virginia could potentially include in its exchange health insurance plans that cover elective abortion. Pro-family citizens opposed to abortion would be mandated to fund this unethical destruction of human life. However, the new federal healthcare law allows states to opt out of abortion funding in their statewide exchanges. More than 30 states have either passed or are introducing opt-out legislation regarding the coverage of abortion in these exchanges, while Pennsylvania and Maryland include it.

Please contact your delegate as soon as possible (contact information here) and urge him or her to vote for the bill (or, click here to determine your delegate).

Last night HB 2147, which provides an abortion funding opt-out for ObamaCare, and patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge), barely made it out of a House sub-committee on a 6-5 vote. It next goes to the full House Commerce and Labor Committee Thursday afternoon.

Please contact members today and ask them to vote to report HB 2147.

HB 2147 was introduced as a preemptive measure to ensure that Virginia taxpayers are not forced to subsidize abortion in ObamaCare’s mandated state-run health insurance exchanges. If Virginia’s constitutional challenge is ultimately not successful, and ObamaCare gets fully enacted, Virginia could potentially offer taxpayer funded elective abortion coverage through its insurance exchange. Pro-family citizens opposed to abortion would be mandated to fund this unethical destruction of human life.

Anticipating this problem, there is a clause in the federal health care law that allows states to opt out of abortion funding in their statewide exchanges.  More than 30 states have either passed or are introducing opt-out legislation regarding the coverage of abortion in these exchanges, while Pennsylvania and Maryland are offering this coverage.

Even so, debate was hot last night in subcommittee (see video below). NARAL’s representative claimed in her testimony that “this bill is the ultimate example of government intrusion into private contracts.” If excluding taxpayer dollars from funding elective abortion is “the ultimate” in government intrusion, what exactly is ObamaCare? Others argued that this bill is premature, since a health care exchange has not been set up yet in Virginia — exactly why we (and those 30 states) must be proactive, not reactive, in preventing the funding of the destruction of human life.

HB 2147 is on the docket for the House Commerce and Labor committee meeting this Thursday afternoon. Committee members need to hear today from their constituents on the importance of this bill!

Delegate Cline makes the case: Virginia must be prepared not to spend taxpayers’ money on elective abortion.

Hearing is sometimes not believing, which is good when NARAL presents testimony.

I know everyone is tired of the snow, the rain, the overcast skies. But there will be a little more sunshine in Virginia before too long. This isn’t a weather forecast. But thanks to SB 431, the books in Richmond will be easier to inspect.

Monday morning, the House Appropriations Sub-committee on Technology Oversight and Government Activities, amended, then passed unanimously SB 431. Later that day, it passed the full committee 22-0 and is on its way to the House floor.

The bill, patroned by Senator Mark Herring (D-33, Leesburg) builds on the landmark spending transparency bills last year by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Amherst) and then-Senator Ken Cuccinelli. Although it was more detailed in its original incarnation — it was stripped down due to the ever-present and dreaded “Fiscal Impact Statement” — it adds yet more sunshine to the current law. It will require each state agency to put their check and credit card purchases online, including a description of the good or service and the date of purchase. It also makes finding this information easier for citizen budget hawks — each agency must place an icon on its home page that links directly to a page that details its spending. Believe it or not, this simple procedure has been lacking and will make navigating the often confusing state spending trail much easier for concerned citizens, watchdog groups and grassroots organizations who care where or hard-earned tax dollars go.

Perhaps most important, it will save the Commonwealth money because the more people looking, the more waste and duplication is caught. This has been the case in every state that has opened itself up, and even with the federal government. After all, private citizens looking over the federal budget online detected the infamous “Bridge To Nowhere.”

Along with Senator Herring, thanks go to the sub-committee chairman, Delegate John O’Bannon (R-73, Henrico), who arranged the committee meeting late in session to guarantee the bill’s fair hearing. The Virginia Coalition For Open Government and Americans For Tax Reform joined us in supporting SB 431. Once passed by the full House, it will go back to the Senate to work out differences but is expected to maintain the features outlined above.

You never know during the General Assembly where a bill is going to come from that will give an unexpected lift for good policy and constitutional government. Sometimes, less publicized bills pop up on your radar screen and other times high profile bills crash and burn. Better the former than the latter when it actually accomplishes something.

You may remember last year one of our priority areas of legislation was government spending transparency. After two years of persistence, Virginia now is in the process of creating more windows and letting in more sunshine to the way it spends the hard earned money we send them, thanks to bills patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Amherst) and then-Senator Ken Cuccinelli.

But the issue hasn’t gone away because to have true government by the people and for the people, the people must be given every tool to monitor its own government’s operations. This session, two very good bills were introduced. One, HB 62, patroned by Delegate David Toscano (D-57, Charlottesville), would have added transparency to the budget making process. Unfortunately, it was left in the House Appropriations Committee where it died, having never received a hearing.

The other bill, SB 431, patroned by Senator Mark Herring (D-33, Leesburg), would fill in some gaps in the laws written by Cline and Cuccinelli. Although the bill as originally crafted had a lot more to it — it was pared down due to the inevitable Fiscal Impact Statement — it retains two important provisions: That each agency post online all checks and credit card purchases it makes, including the vendor name, date of purchase and purchase description. It also stipulates that each agency install an icon on its Web site that links directly to a page on Commonwealth DataPoint, the state’s window on government spending and accountability. In an editorial yesterday in the Loudon Independent, called “Checking the Checkbook,” the paper wrote:

A bill is being reviewed by the House of Delegates that could shed light on the age-old question, “Why does government spend so much?” For those with a bit more innate trust in government, the question could also be, “Where are my tax dollars going?”

We agree. Making it easier to find and locate government spending has numerous benefits, among them that the more eyes looking into how bureaucrats spend out money, the more chances we have of saving it by catching waste and eliminating it. That’s something lawmakers should embrace anytime, not to mention these challenging times. Currently, the bill sits in the Appropriations Technology Oversight and Government Activities Sub-committee, although a hearing date is not scheduled. However, we are hopeful one is in the works and look forward to supporting it once it’s scheduled.

The term “Chicago thug politics” has been used to describe some events in national campaigns over the last two years or so — a conviction in the Midwest of a liberal activist who slashed tires on a conservative get-out-the-vote van on election day and all of the forged and made-up voter registration signatures from ACORN last year, come to mind. But after an eyewitness account and the pictures below were sent to me, we may have a new term for campaign misDeeds.

Although less physically intimidating than tire slashing and not quite the level as felony vote fraud, it seems liberal activists are practicing a more deft style intimidation in this year’s statewide elections. It may not have started at the traditional Labor Day Parade in Buena Vista, but it was well documented there. Thus, the term, “Buena Vista-Style Politics.” However, as the campaign now heats up, we’re sure this kind of activity is only the tip of the Angry Left Spear.

Here is the eyewitness account:

Basically, McDonnell and Bolling’s crews came in early on Saturday/Sunday to set up signs in preparation for the parade. Deeds’ crew, plus purple shirted SEIU folks, acted overnight Sunday to cover those signs with Deeds’ signs, sometimes stapling signs over the top of the big 4×8 foot signs. The locals said they’d never seen anything like it in all the years that they’ve been having this event. Chicago thug style politics have arrived in Va.

. . . . see how Deeds signs covered all of McD’s signs. This was EVERYWHERE. It was truly a disgraceful display, with the Dirty Deeds crew in all their full regalia. I have started to refer to the CreighP Deeds’ sign with the blue stripe with the white stripe down the middle as ‘the road to nowhere’ sign. Sigh.

Before: This baseball backstop is dominated by signs for the GOP statewide candidates and Delegate Ben Cline. Notice that Democrat gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds only has signs on the second row and a few small signs (appropriately) on the left side.

 After: Everything but the top row Bob McDonnell signs and one Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli sign are covered with the small Deeds signs. Union muscle at work for Deeds.

Also FWIW one of the Bolling volunteers told my husband that Sunday night while they were putting up signs one SEIU type held a crowbar and shouted, ‘Who wants to get their ass kicked by a liberal?’ Lovely.

 Here, two large Bill Bolling signs, obviously there first, were covered up by lefty union workers for Deeds and delegate candidate Jeff Price.

We also have pictures of another instance of Deeds’ crew standing guard while others plant his signs in front of prepositioned McDonnell signs. We hope to get them up later.

Furthermore, thanks to Bearing Drift, we have this picture of a large McDonnell sign defaced with Deeds stickers. But what makes this distasteful is that the Deeds crew went on to a McDonnell supporter’s private property in the Hampton Roads area to do their mischief — and was caught! According to Bearing Drift, one of the red-handed begged that the police not be called, while another of the perps was recognized as a paid Deeds Hampton Roads staffer.

Doing dirty deeds but begging for mercy. What else do you expect from liberals?   

So, as the boys from South Park would say, “We’ve learned something today.” We’ve learned that despite what we’re taught, the early bird ethic and initiative have no place in liberalism. Be lazy, but use your muscle, and overcome others’ hard work. Then, expect a double standard, because it’s due you (for no discernible reason) and not be held to account for you illegal actions. I can’t think of anything better that exemplifies what we see in liberal policies than in Buena Vista-Style Politics.

Earlier today, during the General Assembly’s veto session, the House and Senate concurred unanimously to accept Governor Tim Kaine’s substitute version of HB 2285, a state spending transparency bill, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-25, Amherst). This substitute, at first look, and based on conversations with some legislators and staffers, appears to be even stronger than SB 936, patroned by Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax), and signed last month by Governor Kaine. The language of the bills was identical when they reached his desk. 

Although neither bill received one dissenting vote in several sub-committee, committee and floor votes in both chambers, and now today’s veto session — after each got unceremoniously dumped last year in committee (Senate) and sub-committee (House) — it wasn’t as easy as it sounds getting them passed and signed into law. Each had to deal with the dreaded fiscal impact statement, which many times attributes bogus costs to bills as an unassailable hurdle in the money committees, often to thwart reforms. In this case, each bill had duty in front on the money committees and HB 2285 even had to go to the Senate Rules Committee.

In essence, we started with two great bills last year and again this year, that changed form, but not function, though perhaps not as comprehensive as we might have liked after several amendments, and ultimately got something more than what we thought after the regular session ended. Not bad. What a difference an election year makes.

Now a huge window has opened up on state spending, with a massive spotlight to boot. Soon, citizens — be they media, grassroots activists, policy wonks or even (for Heaven’s sake) bloggers — will be able to closely examine exactly how Virginia government spends the hard-earned tax money we send it, and with which vendors it contracts for services, as well as other open government features. It simply is not enough to say a department spends this much money; we need to know down to the line how much, on what and with whom. That, in turn, will let us know if the purpose was worthy or wasteful, duplicative or duplicitous. You get the picture.

Despite what would seem broad interest in government spending transparency, many self-proclaimed “open government” groups were noticeably absent form the debate. The  Mainstream Media, for example, which touts its annual “Sunshine Week” each March, was nowhere to be found. No doubt, however, in years to come, it will, as we all should, tout this new found access to the otherwise indecipherable bureaucratic nuances of state government.

Lost in my curiousness over Governor Tim Kaine’s proposed substitute for HB 2285, Delegate Ben Cline’s (R-25, Amherst) spending transparency bill, which passed both chambers of the General Assembly unanimously, is that the same day he signed SB 936, patroned by Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax). Both bills are written exactly the same. (I blame the Legislative Information System, which sent notice only on HB 2285. A manual check of matters legislative today shows that the governor signed SB 936.)

So, there you go. Kind of anti-climatic. Spending transparency will be law as of July 1. 

But why did the governor sign one but amend the other? If he had done this today, we’d think it was a prank. Does he really want more thorough transparency and reform? Was SB 936 only a hedge, securing a baseline while trying to get more? If so, we gladly welcome him to the club. We’re not sure yet that his HB 2285 substitute does that, although it sure looks good. We’re in the process of trying to learn more. 

There are other theories out there. One we’re not counting on is that he was trying to make Senator Cuccinelli look good for his run for attorney general. On the other hand, the governor did sign his Choose Life license plate bill. Hmmm.

As we mentioned last night, Governor Tim Kaine has offered an amendment to HB 2285, the spending transparency bill patroned by Delegate Ben Cline. But it’s not just any amendment. It’s an amendment in the nature of a substitute, meaning it’s a whole new bill (see here). At first read, and we stress only a first, glancing read, it seems to provide for more thorough transparency. On the other hand, VITA is involved. Here’s HB 2285 as passed by the House and Senate (click here). We’ll study both side by side. Please do the same.

As we said from the beginning, getting spending transparency into law was never going to be easy — even for a bill that got not one dissenting vote in several committee and floor votes in both chambers. It has had more ups and downs and twists and turns than the Rebel Yell roller coaster at Kings Dominion, and we’re still not there yet. But we’ll keep working until we do.