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Dear Friend,
Tomorrow at noon, the Virginia General Assembly reconvenes to act on amendments by the Governor. As with most of the bills passed by the Democrat-dominated legislature, the Governor’s actions reflect an extreme agenda which defies common sense. In many cases he proposes to make horrible bills even worse.
While Northam issued no vetoes, he did send down a number of amendments, including a massive substitute to the marijuana legalization bill which proposes to make use of marijuana legal on July 1, 2021, instead of July 1, 2024.
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Reopening Schools… or Not?
It’s telling that the Governor was willing to treat the legalization of marijuana like an emergency, but not opening our schools.
In contrast to his hurry-up effort to legalize marijuana, Governor Northam made no effort to ensure
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schools would open by July 1, 2021, or for that matter to ever open. I am disappointed that the Governor didn’t add an emergency clause to SB 1303, the “Open the Schools” bill, meaning it won't take effect until July 1.
I hear from concerned parents that children are falling behind. They’re falling into depression and despair. The recent CDC guidance made it clear that we can keep kids 3’ apart and still safely educate them.
Governor Northam noted the other day that roughly 80 percent of teachers have been vaccinated. In places where schools have been open, Hanover County, for example, COVID cases have fallen off markedly -- and so have the number of ‘quarantine’ notices for students.
There’s an epidemic of failing grades. Our school systems are reacting to this by moving the goalposts. Changing the grading scale might make the Fs go away, but it won’t fix the learning loss our children have experienced.
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Cannabis Legalization
Governor Northam’s substitute marijuana bill is massive -- nearly 300 pages. The bill builds out a regulatory framework for retail marijuana sales that looks a great deal like the state’s ABC regulations, including who can own a retail store, who can grow cannabis, etc...
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Democrats Making Neighborhoods Less Safe-- Parole Board Coverup is a Team Effort
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For two years the Democrat-dominated legislature has, in the name of “equity” and “criminal justice reform”, discriminated against most people in Virginia and passed laws to undo our outstanding criminal-justice system by moving
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violent convicted criminals out of jails and back in our neighborhoods while vilifying and under-funding law enforcement.
They, the Democrats, are ending capital punishment while promoting taxpayer funding of late-term abortion. Based on those priorities, if you are on death row, you’re safe; but if you are and innocent child in your mother’s womb, it’s open season.
Rather than doing a full-scale investigation of the gross misconduct of the Virginia Parole Board’s illegal activity as they released many convicted criminals without following Virginia law, the Governor had hinted at a budget amendment to provide for an investigation into the alleged wrongdoing at the Parole Board.
However, the Governor’s proposal is so weak as to be laughable. It calls for investigation into ONLY the Office of State Inspector General on one specific case, setting aside $250,000 for that purpose.
The Governor’s whitewash attempt does not touch the Parole Board, where killers were being set free in apparent violation of state law. What the Governor’s amendment does is set the stage for a partisan press release falsely claiming they have dealt with the entire affair.
As per the Northam Whitewash Initiative, Democrats and only Democrats will select the investigators. All of their work product will be kept from the public, and legislative leaders will get a summary report.
It’s clear that the Governor’s team has decided to find fault with the Inspector General’s office and hope that satisfies enough people to make the political pressure go away.
The proper venue for any investigation is the General Assembly. But Democrats won’t do their duty because they know what they’ll find -- malfeasance going back far enough that it reflects badly on Terry McAuliffe, their likely nominee for Governor.
Any real investigation would also highlight their complicity in blocking common-sense transparency and reforms. Remember -- the first action taken by OSIG was to bring down the full weight of the State Police on the whistleblower, not to respond to problems found.
Budget Sends Big Money to Local Virginia Freedom Center--No Strings Attached
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Del. David Reid (D-Loudoun), a member of the Appropriations Committee, promised to show me details of his proposal to earmark $255,000 to be sent to local Democrat activist and state commission office-holder Reverend Michelle Thomas in exchange for intangible services and curriculum from the Loudoun Freedom Center. My requests to Del. Reid and Chairman Bulova for detailed information went unanswered.
My curiosity regarding this money turned to serious concern when I
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turned to the Virginia Department of Historical Resources, where I learned that, behind closed doors, a budget Amendment was being arranged to exempt this and related budget items from all provisions in Virginia law which typically would regulate how this type of appropriation, (which technically is prohibited by the Virginia Constitution), is managed.
I confronted this sloppy management of taxpayer dollars on the House floor, VIDEO HERE, and to my amazement my inquiry was met by false assurances that the “guard rails were still in place”, meaning the Virginia law would oversee disbursement of the money. My follow up with the Director of the Virginia Department of Historical Resources, the agency which will be the conduit for the money, corrected the misinformation provided to the House by David Bulova (D-Fairfax), Chairman of the Appropriations - Commerce, Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee.
Among the disbursement provisions negated was the establishment of shared legal ownership of whatever is purchased with over one quarter million taxpayer dollars.
Ongoing Efforts to Preserve Election Integrity
After persistent inquiry and numerous follow-ups, Chris Piper, the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, has admitted in writing to me that he failed to clean up the Virginia voter rolls prior to the 2020 presidential election, as required by Virginia law. In my opinion, he gave no bona fide reason. This adds to a list of what constitutes serious mishandling of Virginia’s 2020 elections. READ HIS LETTER HERE.
Thanks to Local Delegate Wendy Gooditis-- Parents Should Beware
The Governor has signed the “Nanny State” bills - including HB 2032 from Del. Gooditis' (D-Clarke County). These bills define a “domestic worker” as any permanent or part-time companions, cooks, waiters, butlers, maids, valets, and chauffeurs. Anyone who hires just one person, even if it’s part-time (a few hours a week), to babysit their child or provide in-home tutoring, would be treated as an employer and open them up to civil lawsuits under the Human Rights Act from the Attorney General and/or disgruntled applicants. Read more here: Lawsuits For Choosing A Female Babysitter are on the horizon.
Another Baffling Vote NO by Delegate Gooditis - Against Keeping
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Farmer’s Markets open!
Why would she want the Governor's orders to negatively impact our local farmers and artisans, and those who enjoy healthy food from local farmers markets, while giving the big grocery and supermarket chains an unfair advantage? See the vote:
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Over the last few weeks (and months), Northern Virginia schools have been in the national news....and not for our historically excellent education process. Parents are rising up and voicing their outrage on how our School Boards have swung so far left and are radicalizing our children.
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From eliminating the merit based system at Thomas Jefferson HSST, to School Board Members attacking parents on Facebook and social media, to failing to open our schools due to teacher union demands (while private schools have been open since last August), our elected School Boards and Administrators have frustrated NoVA's parents.
Please support: Taking Action! A new bipartisan group has been formed, Loudoun Parents for Education, with a campaign to recall the six Loudoun School Board members that participated on the hostile Facebook page. In Fairfax, there is the Coalition for TJ, advocating for diversity and excellence at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Wrapping up Session and Looking to the November Election
Tomorrow at noon, the House of Delegates and Senate will act on the Governor's amendments to 37 bills, concluding the work of the 2021 Session.
Due to the Biden administration withholding the 2020 Census data, I will be running this November for a 1-year term, possibly for a 1-year term, in the current 33rd House of Delegates District. All 100 Delegate Districts, as well as the 40 Senate Districts and 11 Congressional Districts, will be reapportioned later this year or early in 2021. I look forward to seeing many of the constituents from Winchester to Leesburg as I campaign one final time in the current district.
As always, thank you for the tremendous honor and privilege of serving you in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions!
Sincerely,
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Get in touch and stay connected:
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DelDLaRock@house.virginia.gov
District Office: P.O. Box 6, Hamilton, Virginia 20159 (540) 751-8364
Paid for and authorized by Dave LaRock for Delegate
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