Virginia and the Democratic agenda

The Democrats may have turned Virginia blue, but the local media have reported little concerning the legislative agenda they will put forth in January 2020.   Victoria Cobb, president of the Virginia Family Foundation, is hot on the case.  Her November 18 email newsletter listed their first five bills: 

  • H.J. 1 — Passage of the so-called "Equal Rights Amendment"
  • H.B. 1 — Absentee voting for any reason in any election
  • H.B. 2 — Restrictions on firearm purchases by law-abiding citizens
  • H.B. 3 — Enshrining "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as specially protected classes in housing laws
  • H.B. 4 — Legalizing full-scale casino gaming across Virginia

(Note that a state version of the Green New Deal was unnecessary because Gov. Ralph Northam already implemented one by Executive Order 43 this Sep. 16.)

None of these new bills is harmless, but the most fundamentally transforming bill is HJ 1.  Last year, the radical Left made a forceful effort to make Virginia the 38th state to approve the ERA despite the deadline for its ratification having expired nearly 40 years ago.  It came close to passing, but, largely due to Victoria Cobb's grassroots effort to expose the ERA's hidden agenda, the Republican-controlled Virginia House of Delegates decided to kill it in February 2019. 

Tony Perkins's November 14, 2019 FRC Washington Update article also recognizes the ERA's true agenda:

Liberals will say it's about equality, but what it's really about is a one-way ticket to everything on their social agenda wish list. Gender-neutral bathrooms? Check. Taxpayer-funded abortion? Check. Infanticide? Check. LGBT indoctrination at school? Check. Radical sex ed? Check. Transgender "rights?" Check. The elimination of women's sports? Check. It's no wonder the Democrats want to dust off the ERA. As far as they're concerned, the old push for women's rights is the perfect Trojan horse for everything else on their agenda.

Apparently, for the Left, the agenda justifies total war.  According to the same FRC article, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, said, "You guys [Republicans] get so caught up in process.  Process doesn't matter[.] ... We're here to advance an agenda.  We don't care what the rules say.  We don't care what the Constitution says[.] ... That stuff's immaterial."

Furthermore, the Dems have a backup plan.  The U.S. House had already passed H.R. 5 (the Equality Act).  It is similar to the ERA but unlikely to get past the Senate or a Trump veto.

Keep an eye on blue Virginia.  What happens there may predict the future should the Dems ever regain control of all three branches at the federal level.

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