The Virginia Family Foundation announced its Vision for Virginia slate of policy priorities on Monday. That’s part of the organization’s push to influence legislators ahead of Virginia’s 2022 General Assembly session. The list highlights standard conservative policies including traditional families, small government, and free markets.
“For the past several years Virginia’s government has walked away from time-honored principles, like religious freedom, individual liberty, and limited government, which can all be traced back to Virginia’s historic past,” President Victoria Cobb said in an email announcing the platform. “In Virginia, not only did we need new political leadership, we desperately needed a renewed vision for the people of Virginia to rally around.”
Conservative organizations in Virginia are hoping to add their policy priorities to Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s promises, which left out some traditional Republican policies including pro-life policy.
The Vision for Virginia list affirms that life begins at birth alongside a statement of parents’ rights to make decisions about children’s health and education — an apparent nod to Youngkin’s message about health-related mandates and his messaging about parental involvement in schools.
Youngkin didn’t focus as much on gun rights, and didn’t receive a NRA endorsement, although his running mates did. During recent sessions, Democrats passed some gun-limiting legislation, including red flag laws and allowing localities to pass local gun bans. Since Youngkin’s win, the NRA has said they are asking Youngkin to remove Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Senior Director of Advocacy Lori Haas from the Virginia State Crime Commission, according to The Richmond-Times Dispatch.
The Virginia Constitutional Conservatives (VCC) are pushing for a repeal of Virginia’s red flag gun laws, working with Delegate-elect Marie March. In a VCC email update, March said, “The rights of all Virginians are guaranteed through the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. However, to further their radical agenda, the previous House of Delegates decided to essentially repeal the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th amendments by passing red flag gun confiscation.”
On Monday, the VCC said Delegate Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper) and Delegate-elect Phillip Scott are supporting that effort. Still, Virginia Gun Rights Task Force Director Paul Moog wants to see more GOP support for the repeal.
“The bad news is that many so called ‘Republicans’ have not agreed to support to the Bill of Rights Restoration Act….yet,” Moog wrote in the VCC email. “With the new leadership coming into Richmond, we must work quickly to put pressure on the State Assembly to make repealing this gun grab their first priority.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Victoria Cobb” by The Family Foundation. Background Photo “Virginia State Capitol” by Martin Kraft CC BY-SA 3.0.
