Information Alert: GA Session Wrap Up

Victoria Cobb, President
Monday, March 24, 2008

While disappointed over the General Assembly's decision that the state budget will not include important pro-life language, The Family Foundation saw several legislative victories in the 2008 General Assembly despite changes in the political climate that included a change in power in the state Senate.

I'm not sure too many political analysts would have given our agenda any chance at all at the beginning of session, particularly with the Democrat take over in the state Senate. It is a testament to the influence of pro-family Virginians that despite the odds, pro-family legislation passed this legislature. We are also grateful to those in the General Assembly who put partisanship aside and voted on the issues at hand.

One of The Family Foundation's highest priorities, introduced for the first time this year, was legislation that protects the religious liberty rights of students in public schools. HB 1135, patroned by Delegate William Fralin (R-17, Roanoke), passed both the House and the Senate overwhelmingly and is on the Governor's desk. Each year there are dozens of incidents, many of which go unreported, where students or teachers in Virginia's public schools suffer viewpoint discrimination because of hostility to religion or misunderstandings over the law.

Examples of this discrimination include a first grade student who was not allowed to read a story to her classmates because it contained the word "God" and a student who had an art project ripped up because it included the words "God Bless America." Each of these cases violates the Supreme Court's clear stance on viewpoint discrimination. HB 1135 places in the Code of Virginia language borrowed from Supreme Court precedent and federal guidelines on religious viewpoint in the classroom, and is based on a law passed last year in Texas.

The Family Foundation also made marriage related legislation a priority this year. One bill, HB 871, patroned by Delegate Joe Johnson (D-4, Abingdon) allows at least 1 percent of excess Temporary Assistance for Needy Family funds to be dispersed to marriage education programs. Called the "1 percent solution" and enacted already by at least seven states, the bill was a recommendation of The Family Foundation's marriage commission that met during 2007. While introduced as a requirement and changed to a policy endorsement, it is a step toward providing needed funds for marriage education programs that help strengthen marriages and reduce divorce.

Defeating legislation that threatens the family is also one of our highest priorities. To the surprise of many, the state Senate this year rejected a bill that would have changed Virginia's family life education policy from abstinence based to so-called "comprehensive" sex education. This bill, SB 155 patroned by Senator Don McEachin (D-9, Richmond) would have required FLE instruction to include all contraceptive methods accepted by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unfortunately, at least one of the methods the FDA approves has been criticized by both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDV) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as ineffective and potentially harmful to the health of users. In addition, the vast majority of parents in Virginia support the abstinence based curriculum. This threat to abstinence education was the highest priority of Planned Parenthood.

The bill was defeated in the Democrat controlled Senate 22-17. A similar House version was never heard in committee.

In addition, we successfully defeated every substantive legislative agenda item of the homosexual movement - including domestic partner benefits and the addition of sexual orientation to employment non-discrimination laws.

Of course, many people are still talking about the fact that budget amendments banning taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, embryonic stem cell research and abortions were eliminated from the budget. It is important to remember, however, that for the first time ever, the state Senate joined the House of Delegates and voted to amend the state budget to defund Planned Parenthood. That vote, a 20-20 tie broken in favor of Virginia's families by Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, took place after several hours of infighting among the Democrats when one of their own, Senator Chuck Colgan (D-29, Manassas) refused to back down and supported the amendment.

Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest private provider of abortion, had a national income of nearly $1 billion in its latest annual report, including a profit of $55 million. More than one-third of their money comes from taxpayers. Planned Parenthood clinics in two states made headlines recently when callers posing as donors offered donations for the use of "aborting black babies" and the clinics accepted the money without hesitation. This is an organization that you should not be forced to fund!

Though the amendment was not included in the final budget, winning on the Senate floor sent a clear message that we are gaining ground on this issue! We will not give up until no taxpayer in Virginia is forced to pay for this radical organization's agenda.

While we are pleased with the successes we had this year we understand that there are still many obstacles to making Virginia more family friendly. The partisanship that drives legislators to kill any and all pro-life legislation regardless of its reasonableness, the reckless determination of some legislators to burden families with even higher taxes, and the continued undermining of parents rights are issues that we continue to face. So while the 2008 General Assembly is for the most part over with, we are already working on our plans for 2009.

I would also like to thank each of you who took the time to contact your legislators during this past session. Our email alert system generated more than 20,000 emails to legislators this year alone! Your action does make a difference, and we at The Family Foundation are always encouraged by your response.