In a pivotal step towards justice today, Virginia community members are relieved today after members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of SB475 , Senator Jennifer McClellan’s bill requiring defendants to have access to a lawyer the very first time they appear before a judge.
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Members of House Finance Committee Pass Bill To Cut $1B In Yearly State Funds, Hurting Our Ability to Fund Our Schools
Today, the House Finance Committee voted to pass HB472, sponsored by Delegate McNamara. The bill would double the amount of the standard deduction for state taxes, resulting in a loss of nearly $1 billion in funding for our kids’ schools, the roads we drive on, and the services we rely on.
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Hardworking Families Disappointed As Members of House Finance Subcommittee Reject Fully Refundable Earned Income Tax Credit
Hardworking families across the Commonwealth are disappointed as Republican members of the House Finance Subcommittee #1 rejected Delegate Marcia Price’s HB1312, a bill to make the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) fully refundable.
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Democratic Members of Senate Judiciary Protect Our Progress On Gun Violence Prevention
Richmond, Virginia—Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee worked to protect our progress once again, this time on gun rights. They rejected several bills that would make our community less safe.
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6 Things I Hate About Delegate Nick Freitas
Going through the bills that were filed this session, I noticed a disturbing pattern: many of the worst bills were all sponsored by the same guy. Who, you might ask? None other than Delegate Nick Freitas.
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Virginia Educators, Students, and Families Applaud Move to Increase Teacher Pay
In a significant, necessary move to improve education throughout the Commonwealth, members of the Senate Education and Health Public Education Subcommittee voted to move forward SB157, Senator Ghazala Hashmi’s bill requiring teacher salaries to be at or above the national average.
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Republicans on House Commerce and Energy Subcommittee Pass Cap On Minimum Wage, Hurt Working Families
Richmond, Virginia—Republican members of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy, Subcommittee #2 voted to pass HB320 and HB296, two bill that would cap the minimum wage at $11 an hour, and prevent it from eventually reaching $15 an hour as working families have been demanding for years. With this vote, Republicans have shown, once […]
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Virginians Will Continue to Demand Pretrial Justice and Quality Representation for Everyone
In a pivotal step away from justice today, Virginia community members are concerned today after members of House Courts of Justice Committee Subcommittee #1 voted down HB369, Delegate Angelia Williams Graves’ bill requiring defendants to have access to a lawyer the very first time they appear before a judge.
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PRESS RELEASE: Voters Rest Easy Knowing Senate Democrats Stood Up Once Again to Protect Our Progress, Reject Voter Suppression Bills
Continuing their streak, Senate Democrats on the Privileges and Elections Committee stood up today to protect our progress on voting rights, voting to shut down a slew of voter suppression bills sponsored by Republican Senators.
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In First Test, Senate Democrats Protect Our Progress, Reject Bill to Cap Minimum Wage
In the first major test of this legislative session, Democratic members of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee voted to protect our progress and rejected SB173, a bill sponsored by Senator Mark Peake that would cap the minimum wage at $11 an hour and prevent it from rising to the $15 an hour promised by previously passed legislation.