The United States is a nation of immigrants. Yet with every new wave of immigration, the settled population becomes fearful and denies human dignity to the new arrivals. In the tradition of the Know-Nothing Party and the 1920’s Red Scare, today’s authoritarian right again deflects the blame from the system of wealth to poor, hard-working […]

Did you think the legislature passing our year-long supply of birth control bill meant they were finally done attacking women’s health? Think again. Last week the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood (you know, the place where you get affordable birth control). Thankfully, the buck stops with the Governor and he […]

There’s a lot of chaos, discrimination, and fear swirling around Virginia and the country. But it’s not all bad. Here are some things that made our team at Progress Virginia happy this week. Women won Women had a victory this week. The Birth Control Access Act passed the Senate, previously approved in the House, and […]

Two weeks ago, Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court (a seat that’s only open because Senate Republicans stole the nomination from President Obama). The way Trump has since reacted to court rulings on his travel ban executive order speak volumes about how he views the judiciary […]

We aren’t halfway through the General Assembly session and Virginia’s legislature take aim at the wages and well-being of Virginia’s working people. Earlier in the session, the House General Laws Committee voted to report both Delegate Webert’s HB1596 and Delegate Davis’ HB1753. If the House decides to pass Webert’s bill, state agencies would not be […]

The Virginia General Assembly is not designed with transparency in mind.  This is arguably most evident in the House Courts of Justice Criminal Law Subcommittee, where long dockets are heard by a committee of eleven delegates, eight republicans (Albo-42, Bell-58, Cline-24, Gilbert-15, Miller-50, Morris-64, Adams-16, Collins-29) and three democrats (Herring-46, Mullin-93, Watts-39). The final Criminal […]

Conservatives are getting the message they are out of touch with Virginia voters. Democrats have won the past three presidential elections, two senate elections, and hold the Governor’s office. But conservatives will take power where they can get it, even if that means taking the power to vote away from the voters who elected them […]

The Legislative Fellows program supports Progress Virginia’s efforts to make a more transparent and fair Virginia. All views expressed in this post are the author’s views and do not reflect the views and opinions of Progress Virginia or Progress Virginia Education Fund. If you would like to watch live streaming of key committee meetings please […]

Betsy DeVos is “President” Trump’s nomination for Secretary of Education. She is not the right pick for American students. Let me tell you why. Guns in Schools DeVos refused to commit to making schools #GunFreeZones. I’m sorry, a Wyoming school DeVos plead to allow guns to protect children from grizzly bears doesn’t have a gun. […]

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