Author: RVDW

Following the invitation by Roanoke Valley Democratic Women, all six of the announced 2023 Democratic candidates in our area for the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate have accepted and will be at RVDW’s April monthly membership meeting.

On Friday, April 28, 2023, at Jersey Lily’s Roadhouse (1650 Braeburn Drive) in the Ridgewood Farms shopping center, RVDW members will hear the candidates, or representative, address their legislative priorities and credentials and share materials. The program begins at 12:00 noon followed by our business meeting. Please arrive at 11:30 if you are ordering lunch.

A great moment in 2023 Women’s History Month in Virginia. As reported by WRIC, the portrait of former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, the first woman and Jewish speaker in the House of Delegates’ 404-year history, was unveiled at the state Capitol on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Read the entire WRIC coverage here.)

This week, Filler-Corn sent her supporters this reflection on the historical moment.

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned “Sine Die” Saturday, February 25th after considering approximately 3,000 bills!  Our legislators also filled judicial vacancies, approved/rejected the Governor’s nominations, and passed a “skinny budget” which addresses Virginia’s most pressing financial needs.  You may find the version of the budget as passed on the LIS website.

Dialogue on the budget between the House and Senate will continue for weeks, the goal being to settle the differences in the budget proposals between “Governor Youngkin’s Republicans” and “our” Democrats. 

Dear friends,

The House and Senate committees working on the budget have released their proposed changes to the budget for fiscal year 2023-24. The information gathered by the Commonwealth Institute and the charts available at their website provide a summary-level assessment of key general fund changes proposed by the money committees and Gov. Youngkin compared to the current budget.  The institute (and President Joe Biden) remind us that, “budget proposals are the clearest expressions of our priorities and values.” 

Dearest members,

Yesterday, the Roanoke Times dramatically headlined the front page of the paper: “Bills Fall to Wayside”. . . referencing the work being done in Richmond at the General Assembly.

Effective today, Wednesday, February 8, aside from working on the budget… each house may only consider the legislation and amendments of the other house. (We will report more about the budget next week.) Though almost 2,000 bills were introduced this session, most “died in committee.”

Continue reading “Legislative Committee General Session Update – 2/8/2023”

Greetings!

Observing the 2023 Virginia General Assembly with this divided government provides us with a real-life example of why our votes are so important! The Republican majority in the House passed three bills that would have drastically restricted or even eliminated abortions in Virginia, a legislative priority of our governor. The Senate’s Democratic majority is our “brick wall” against extreme measures, and the Education and Health Committee there effectively nixed all three of those bills.

Unfortunately, the Democrats’ push for stricter gun laws, including efforts to ban assault weapons, is being axed by the House Republicans due to their holding the majority. Republicans continue to try to roll back the progress made when Democrats held a majority in the House, Senate, and statewide offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General.