Victory Alert: NPV Knocked Down a Few Pegs and Done For the Year
In case you missed it, we wanted to let you know that the integrity of the Electoral College, at least here in Virginia, was preserved this year!
First, the Senate Privileges and Elections (P&E) Committee voted to strike the National Popular Vote Compact on January 26. Then, a week ago, House P&E went one better and killed that chamber's version of the bill by refusing to even schedule it for consideration! Apparently, the patron of HB 1933, Delegate Mark Levine (D-45, Alexandria), saw the writing on the wall in the Senate, where several Democrats opposed it, as well as additional defections in the more liberal House.
Last year, Delegate Levine barely squeezed the bill out of the House. It died on a vote in committee but after a week of cajoling and arm twisting it was brought back and reported to the floor on reconsideration where it narrowly passed. Senate P&E then killed it softly by carrying it over to a special out-of-session meeting, which it never scheduled.
The word from Democrat staffers close to the situation was that the patrons did not want the embarrassment of a national left wing base agenda item dying on a recorded vote in a Democrat controlled legislature. In other words, even Democrats don't want to face their constituents after voting for such an outrageous bill.
But it died all the same. In fact, the bill -- which would go into effect when states totaling 270 electoral votes joined the compact, would unconstitutionally circumvent the Electoral College by awarding the member states' combined electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote regardless of who wins those individual states, as well as unconstitutionally avoid the amending process to the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions -- took a devastating steps backwards.
The Senate bill died even quicker than it did last year and the House version not only didn't get to a Senate committee, it didn't get to the House floor -- and it didn't even get discussed in committee, much less receive a positive vote! The reason? The people of Virginia made their voices heard! This issue generated as much, if not more, e-mails and other communications to legislators than any other. For example, the House P&E web site had at least 400 posted comments urging the bill's defeat!
Killing it quietly or with a solid vote, we'll let them decide, but it's another big loss for the Left. We'll take it either way. Then next year, we and our allies will be fully prepared to knock the NPV down still more pegs!
