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What does late spring in an odd year mean? Of course! The Family Foundation General Assembly Report Card soon will be released, grading all 140 members of the General Assembly over the last two years on matters of family values and limited government (click on the link for ordering information). It also means our Annual General Assembly Report soon will be available online. It’s a summary of events and an overview of the recent session, a look at what was accomplished and what was not, as well as a behind the scenes look at how some legislation was made (not pretty!). We’ll post the details and the link as soon as it becomes available.

We also have a pretty big announcement, hopefully, sometime this week. Keep checking back for it. We think you’ll like this surprise — and it’s not the Equality Virginia news conference tomorrow, either, although we’ll be there to cover it just in case there is anything if import to come out of it. So, please continue to log on to our social media sites to keep up to date on several news items from The Family Foundation.

Can economic (i.e., limited government) conservatives and social conservatives get along, at least long enough, to coalesce around shared principles in a coalition to restore government to its proper scope and role? What are those shared principles and how do they complement each other? Should there by a truce on social issues in the 2012 presidential campaign? Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb and host Scott Lee discuss these issues on the Score Radio Network. The interview was aired on radio stations around Virginia and streamed on various Internet services on April 16. Now it is archived at SRN’s Web site. The interview lasts a little more than 11 minutes and we think you will enjoy it.

Click here to listen to TFF President Victoria Cobb’s interview on the Score Radio Network.

A couple of hours ago, the Virginia Senate passed by a 35-5 vote, a proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would protect private property rights and curb the government’s power of eminent domain. Don’t be deceived by the vote. Often, at the General Assembly, legislation with the largest vote margins were the most difficult to pass, with twists and turns, near-deaths, deaths and resurrections. All could be said of this resolution. Interestingly, the first vote was 30-10 and, seemingly, some senators not wishing to miss the election year train, asked for reconsideration, and jumped on board for the final tally. There were at least a few who almost sank this issue with their committee votes on several versions of this legislation who all of a sudden found their soul. We will identify them in due time. So, the vote appeared anti-climatic.

While it does not have the iron clad language on just compensation as it did coming out of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, ironically, it still goes beyond the House version and does guarantee just compensation for “lost profits” and “lost access” — but it leaves it to the General Assembly to legislate those definitions (which means more work to be done next session!). The negotiations that delayed this vote this week after it stunningly made it out of committee, apparently, at the last minute, made it palpable enough for several on both sides of the aisle, who could not summon the political strength to vote for the committee version.

Now the resolution goes back to the House of Delegates since it was changed from its version. Acceptance of the Senate’s amendments is almost a certainty, with House members openly eager and excited about the opportunity to vote on something given little chance in the hostile Senate when session started, and stronger than when it left the House! (No need to risk going to a conference committee, especially after the Senate has killed attempts for years, including earlier this year.) Just goes to show . . . anything can happen at the General Assembly and nothing should surprise anyone.

Opponents will say they got what they wanted out of it but the truth is they wanted none of this. They lost. Liberty and limited government won today! Never underestimate the influence of an election year. This played out similarly to the eminent domain reform statute the last time the Senate was up for election, in 2007.

Next steps: The resolution must be passed again by the new General Assembly next session — with no changes. That done, it will go to Virginians to ratify at the polls in November 2012.

More to come later. However, we cannot go any further without a bit of thanks — a bit, only, because it is impossible to adequately thank him — to the resolution’s patron, Delegate Johnny Joannou (D-79, Portsmouth). Without his determination, legislative skills and persuasive public oratory (we will have video later), we would very likely have to wait another three years (for a total of nine) without the possibility of property rights protection since the infamous and deplorable Supreme Court Kelo decision.

After two weeks of delays, one of the most important committee votes of the 2011 General Assembly will take place Friday morning in the House Privileges and Elections Committee. Members will consider a constitutional amendment to safeguard your property rights from the power of eminent domain by state and local government and utilities. It is the last chance the committee has to approve the resolution if it is to meet the “crossover” deadline and pass it to the Senate. If there is no constitutional amendment passed this session, the earliest chance Virginians will have to vote on one will be November 2014.

It is urgent that you contact committee members to support this vitally important issue. Better still if one is your delegate. Click here for links to their contact information.

There are two identical resolutions before the committee: HJ 647, patroned by Delegate Rob Bell (R-58, Charlottesville) and/or HJ 693, patroned by Delegate Johnny Joannou (D-79, Portsmouth). This has been a long and difficult process, with a lot of work behind the scenes, but little to show for it so far, fighting off the big utilities as well as local governments who use your tax dollars to lobby against your rights. Friday, however, is our chance to move the ball forward for constitutional protections, limited government and economic and personal liberty.

Eminent domain is one of the most powerful and intimidating tools government has to increase its size, expand its reach into our lives and limit our freedoms. Without constitutional protections, you only borrow your property until the government takes it for whatever reason it determines. Without property rights, we don’t have secure homes for our families, the liberty to practice our faith, or the opportunity for economic advancement.

The fact is, ever since the deplorable Kelo decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, local and state governments have had eyes bigger than their stomachs for homes, farms and small businesses to feed their economic development schemes and pork barrel projects. Worse, sometimes they take private property and turn it over to another private entity. In one heinous case in Hampton, the city took private property for a pittance, and then sold it to a developer for millions while the original owner saw none of the extra money.

The Kelo decision was in 2005. The General Assembly has kept us waiting long enough to secure our constitutional rights to private property. Now, tell them the waiting is over!

This morning, the Senate Privileges and Elections Sub-Committee on Constitutional Amendments voted 4-3, on a party line vote, against SJ 280, the Repeal Amendment. The proposed resolution would, if enacted through a constitutional convention called for by state legislatures, allow a super majority of states to repeal federal laws and regulations. Those voting against the resolution by Senator Ryan McDougle (R-4, Hanover) were Senators Creigh Deeds (D-25, Bath), Mary Margaret Whipple (D-31, Arlington), Donald McEachin (D-9, Henrico) and Ralph Northam (D-6, Norfolk). Voting in favor were Senators Steve Martin (R-11, Chesterfield), Ralph Smith (R-22, Botetourt) and Jeff McWaters (R-8, Virginia Beach).  

Oddly, much of the debate by witnesses was between conservative groups. While many limited government advocates want to re-balance the federal structure between the states and the central government in Washington, D.C., others are concerned the constitutional convention the resolution calls for would open up a loophole to amend other areas of the constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights. However, there is a House version of the resolution, HJ 542, patroned by Delegate James LeMunyon (R-67, Chantilly) and backed by House Speaker Bill Howell (R-28, Fredericksburg), that should make it through the House, setting up a second round in the Senate.

Another important proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution, SJR 307, patroned by Senator Mark Obenshain, (R-26, Harrisonburg), which would protect citizens’ property from the dangers of eminent domain by state and local governments and public service companies, was carried over to next week. That gives property rights and limited government grassroots activists more time to contact members of this committee.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve sounded the call about the opportunity to serve on the hundreds of boards and commissions that set policy for the Commonwealth. The McDonnell administration is looking to fill hundreds of positions subject to gubernatorial appointment for everything from college boards of visitors to commissions that deal on crime, sanctity of life, women’s issues, education and government reform, housing, medicine, transportation and just about any aspect of policy and government that affect life in Virginia (see list here).

The deadline to apply for (or nominate someone) to a board or commission originally was yesterday. However, in a letter from Director of Appointments Jennifer Aulgur yesterday afternoon, the administration announced that it is extending the application deadline one more week:  

A few weeks ago, we notified you of the new online system for applying to serve in the McDonnell administration on a board or commission.

Thank you for your cooperation, patience and positive comments as we launched this new site and process.

Today was the original deadline to apply for boards or commissions with openings between now and June 30. However, to allow time to ensure that the everyone’s application is complete in the new system and to provide grace to any folks who waited until the deadline to apply, we have extended the deadline to Thursday, April 22nd.

If you have questions about OASYS, the board and commission application process or if you need technical assistance in filling out your application or nomination please contact the Appointments staff, and we will gladly assist you. Additionally, anyone who does not have access to a computer or the Internet or who needs assistance filling out the online application because of a disability can contact us as well.

We renew our encouragement for pro-family Virginians from across the Commonwealth, who have an interest in moving Virginia in a positive, pro-traditional values, conservative, limited government direction, to get involved and apply to serve the Commonwealth and influence its public policy in a way that reflects our values and improves lives of all Virginians. For more information, click hereor e-mail Ms. Aulgur at Jennifer.Aulgur@governor.virginia.gov or her deputy, Courtney Groves, at Courtney.Groves@governor.virginia.gov. You may also call their office at 804-786-2441.

Here’s an update on Health Care Freedom legislation: The three Senate bills — SB 283, SB 311 and SB 417 — passed in historic fashion by the Senate last week, all passed by 16-5 bi-partisan margins in the House Commerce and Labor Committee around 3:30 today. (These bills originally were listed on the committee agenda last week, but were carried over to today. The vote most likely will be 17-5 as one pro-10th Amendment delegate was not there, but delegates are allowed to vote after committee as long as it doesn’t afect the outcome.)

The Senate bills are patroned by Senators Fred Qualye (R-13, Suffolk), Steve Martin (R-11, Chesterfield) and Jill Vogel (R-27, Winchester), respectively. All three bills proceed to the House floor tomorrow and face a projected key vote Thursday. House passage is very much expected, but nothing should be left to chance. Contact your delegate (here) or, to learn who your delegate is, click here. If passed by the House, the bill goes to Governor Bob McDonnell for his signature.

In other words, establishing a 10th Amendment wall around Virginia against the encroachment of federal bureaucrats is within a very short grasp — much quicker and without the huge dust-up most anticipated — making Virginia the first state to do so! The Old Dominion, leading for liberty, again.

That founding principle, ingrained but ignored for so long, that the states and the people, are the sovereigns of this country and commonwealth, may soon have the weight of law in Virginia. Where the central government has no stated role, the people have natural rights to make decisions for themselves. That is the essence of constitutionally guaranteed limited government — government does not grant rights nor issues commands. It secures rights and guards freedom. There’s a rebirth of that now and, as during freedom’s birth at the Founding, it’s finding its bearings in Virginia.

As the year and decade draw to a close, we leave you with quotes from Virginia patriot and Revolutionary hero Patrick Henry. As with all great, legendary orators and thinkers, his words were/still are prescient. Among them are two lesser known rhetorical flourishes during his famous ”Give me liberty or give me death” speech at the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at Saint John’s Church in Richmond. In one, he asked:

Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

No, we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t lay down with the expectation that vague and demagogic cries of “hope” will lead us to prosperity and liberty, while those espousing the hope, in fact, deviously take us down a path of oppressive limits on our freedom, rather than the freedom afforded by limited government, for which Henry fought.

Nor should we lay down in expectation that this fad, too, will run its course. It can be fought and won, despite the current wisdom, because as Henry also foretold:

Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power . . . millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations. …

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.

From all of us at The Family Foundation of Virginia to all of you: Our best wishes for a happy, safe, healthy and prosperous New Year, one in which we all will need to be vigilant and redouble our efforts in the political battles ahead.

If only we could. … Bringing in the New Year with Patrick Henry would be a blast!

This is an interesting tidbit: Former Governor Jim Gilmore announced Monday that he had been elected the new president and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation, the influential conservative think tank founded by the legendary conservative leader, strategist and grassroots activist Paul Weyrich (see New York Times), who died last December. Weyrich was one of the architects of the conservative renaissance that eventually brought about the Reagan and Gingrich Revolutions.

When the announcement hit my inbox, I was eager to post it. This is big news — a Virginian taking the lead at a conservative hallmark, in the shoes of a true legend (Washington Times). But in his letter, the former governor included a link to a December 10 column by John Gizzi of Human Events in which he explains why he is taking the position and his goals, etc. That was more than two weeks prior to Monday’s e-mailed letter. Figuring it was old news, I ignored it. Yet, the announcement still exploded in the media, new and mainstream. There’s articles everywhere. Interesting how news can still trail real time, no matter how electronic and digital we become. It just goes to show that good reporting still beats all.

So, we join in the congratulations to former Governor Gilmore in his new position. He is a good, hard working, earnest man. He will have a national platform and a well schooled staff to put forth and advance conservative ideas and solutions to problems America faces in the economy, foreign policy and cultural and social issues, of which Weyrich was a determined traditionalist. In the age of Obama, there can be no shortage of limited government conservatives working in the vineyard.

This coming Monday, October 5, is the last day to register to be eligible to vote in the November election. If you are not registered, or if you have recently moved, be sure to go to your local voter registrar’s office and register to vote. You may also download the Virginia voter registration from the State Board of Elections’ Web site by clicking here.

All eyes are on Virginia and New Jersey this November, as the only two states with statewide elections. The outcomes will be crucial and it is vital that your voice is heard. Will Virginia continue down the path of secular progressivism, the seeds of which are being planted by the Obama Administration, or will we say, “enough is enough,” and return to the proven principles of freedom, respect for life, traditional marriage and smaller, limited government? We are blessed in this nation to be able to choose our governmental leaders. We must do all that we can to ensure that we elect men and women who understand that the greatness our nation is in its Judeo-Christian foundation and that we must uphold those principles if we are to remain a great nation.

If you already are registered to vote, make sure your friends and family members also are registered. Offer to take them to the registrar’s office or help them download the registration form (you can also register at places such as libraries and the DMV). If possible, hold a voter registration drive in your church this Sunday.

Four years ago, the Attorney General’s race was decided by just 360 votes. Every vote counts!

In addition, the military deadline is approaching as well! If you are a Virginia resident serving in the military outside of the commonwealth or have a son or daughter deployed who needs to register, military personnel may use the Federal Post Card Application to register to vote and apply for an absentee ballot both at the same time. The application must be received by the local registrar by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 5. There is a provision for these to be faxed or e-mai as well as through the U.S. Postal Service. For more information, click here for the Virginia State Board of Elections page on the military.