2023 Session Preview Part 2: Marriage and Parental Rights
When it comes to the family, our Vision for Virginia could not be clearer: “The nuclear family is the essential foundation of a healthy and prosperous society, in which a married mom and dad yields the best outcomes for children. This session we will be working hard to defend the nuclear family – from biblical marriage to parental rights.
Defending natural marriage
For the past two years, progressives have attempted to amend our state constitution, which recognizes marriage as a union between one man and one woman, to include language that would recognize any marital arrangement, including polygamy. The battle over the marriage amendment continues to rage on this year as Delegate Tim Anderson (R-Virginia Beach) and Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler (D-Virginia Beach) introduced identical bills (HJ 460 and HJ 476) to repeal the state constitutional language that recognizes marriage as bring between one man and one woman.
These continued efforts to remove natural marriage from the state constitution, and to effectively allow marriage to be defined however anyone likes, can only be disastrous for our society by rejecting God’s design for marriage and the family unit.
Guarding the principle of parental rights
Building on the passage of SB 656 (requiring prior parental review of sexually explicit materials) and SB 739 (eliminating the mask mandate in public schools) last year, we expect legislation that will deal with indoctrination within public school classrooms, ensuring kids don’t have access to obscene or sexually graphic books in school libraries, and addressing the growing problem of counselors speaking to students about sex, sexuality, and gender without a parent’s approval.
There will be major battles once again over parental rights and gender ideology, as indicated by Delegate Elizabeth Guzman’s (D-Woodbridge) threat to reintroduce a 2020 bill that would criminalize parents who do not affirm their children’s self-proclaimed gender identity.
In addition, we expect legislation requiring schools to inform parents if their child is experimenting with “gender transition” while at school; to notify parents about the kinds of school clubs their child is attending; and to obtain parents’ written consent for their minor child to leave school campus. We are also anticipating a few other legislative initiatives that would further strengthen parental rights in the Commonwealth.
Expanding education opportunities
The cries for more education options will be very loud this year with the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress report showing that Virginia’s academic losses were some of the worst in the nation.
There will be a variety of bills that seek to provide more education support and options to families, including an effort to create education savings accounts (ESAs). This week, in a joint press release, Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and Delegate Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach) announced that Del. Davis has officially filed HB 1508, which establishes the Virginia Education Success Accounts. ESAs allow parents to use the state funds appropriated for their child to pay for an education at a private elementary or secondary school that better meets their child’s needs.
In a joint press release, Davis stated that “all children should have access to the resources necessary to reach their full potential and it starts with a strong educational foundation. This bill allows parents to choose the educational experience best suited for their child.”
Lt. Governor Earle-Sears added “we will continue to invest in our public schools, and we currently fund them at the highest level in history, but we must provide options for students who need a lifeline now. We can do both. We need to empower parents to make choices on their child’s education regardless of zip code. Our children don’t get do-overs.”
As an executive committee member of the Virginia Education Opportunities Alliance (VEOA), a coalition created to advance parental rights and education opportunities in Virginia, we will be working to help shepherd this legislation through the legislative process to offer more opportunities for parents to provide the best education for their children.
In addition, we will be working to make improvements to the existing Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program (EISTC), which awards tax credits for private donations that are used to provide scholarship funds for qualifying, low-income families to send their children to a local private school.
Of course, we will also be working to defeat the radical left’s agenda, which will no doubt include efforts to impose state views about sexuality and gender ideology that undermine family values and damage the innocence of young children; establish compulsory birth to age five pre-K programs; and eliminate education options, forcing children into the public school systems.
The radical left is fighting for access to your child so they can indoctrinate them with dangerous ideologies and steal their innocence. Please continue to pray for our policy team as they prepare to defend your family’s values and work hard for legislative victories that strengthen parental rights.
