Virginia’s new laws go into effect today – Legislative Black Caucus prepares for new era of segregation
By JR Hoeft | Thursday, July 1st, 2010 | PolicySeveral new laws go into effect today and there are some good articles already written about what they are (Richmond Times Dispatch, Virginian-Pilot, Washington Post)
Senator Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover) highlighted the following laws –
The speed limit in certain rural areas will increase. The statute change increases the general highway speed limit on highways from 65 mph to 70 mph where indicated by lawfully placed signs. Traffic engineering studies and analysis of available and appropriate accident law-enforcement data will determine which highways in mainly rural areas will have the increased speed limit.
Drivers on four-lane highways are required to “move-over” and yield the right-of-way when approaching vehicles displaying flashing blue, red, or amber lights by moving to a lane not adjacent to the vehicle displaying these lights if possible. The offense is punished as a traffic infraction, formerly a Class 1 misdemeanor. A second or subsequent offense is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The Code now also includes tow trucks or any roadside rescue vehicle with the lights described above. The provisions do not apply in highway work zones.
A resident of the Commonwealth will not be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual health care insurance coverage. The measure also states that no provision of Title 38.2 of the Code of Virginia renders a resident liable for any penalty, assessment, fee or fine as a result of the failure to procure or obtain health insurance coverage.
General registrars are required, once printed ballots are available, to send an absentee ballot within three business days of receiving a properly completed application. Failure to do so through willful neglect of duty and with malicious intent is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Another new law requires that absentee ballots be available 45 days before most elections. Military and other voters outside the country entitled to vote absentee can use a write-in absentee ballot for all elections, not just federal elections. The ballot may also serve as a voter registration application for state and local elections. Absentee ballots cast by such voters received after the polls close but at least two business days before the State Board of Elections ascertains the results of the elections may now be counted.
A valid concealed weapons permit holder can carry a concealed handgun on into a restaurant or club but prohibits that person from consuming alcoholic beverages. A person who does consume alcohol in violation of the provisions of the law is guilty of a misdemeanor.
However, two laws that also make commonsense received a lot of heat from House Legislative Black Caucus Democrats: the process of creating charter schools in Virginia and health care freedom.
President Barack Obama has long been proponent of creating charter schools, in fact, his administration makes it a key plank of the education platform:
“The President believes that investment in education must be accompanied by reform and innovation. The President supports the expansion of high-quality charter schools. He has challenged States to lift limits that stifle growth among successful charter schools and has encouraged rigorous accountability for all charter schools.”
While Virginia, right now, can’t compete for Federal money (“Race to the Top”) because of its “common core standard” (Virginia has its own Standards of Learning which exceeds the federal benchmarks), it’s clear that charter schools are a fundamental aspect of the administration’s approach to education and should be part of our overall education system too.
That’s why Dels. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William) and Rosalyn Dance (D-Petersburg) charter school reform bill makes a great deal of sense.
The bill, also backed by the Virginia Education Association and Virginia School Board Association requires…
“the public charter school applicant to submit its proposed charter application to the Board of Education for review, comment and a recommendation for approval or disapproval prior to the submission of the application to the local school board. This will help expedite meritorious applications and provide uniform statewide input to get good applications approved. The bill also allows for a public charter school applicant whose application was denied, or a grantee whose charter was revoked or failed to renew, to receive written reasons for such denial and thereafter petition the local school board for reconsideration. The process for reconsideration will include an opportunity for public comment and technical assistance from the state Department of Education. The final decision still rests with the local school board. (Source: McDonnell Administration)”
But if you were to listen to Democrat Henry Marsh III (Richmond), we’re about to experience a new era of racism. Marsh said:
“It’s like Massive Resistance again. We’re just celebrating the 50th year of the end of Massive Resistance and they are trying to do the same thing” (source)
The same is true regarding health care freedom.
According to the McDonnell administration, the health care freedom measures which go into effect today:
- Provides that a resident of the Commonwealth shall not be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage except as required by a court or the Department of Social Services where the individual is named a party in a judicial or administrative proceeding
- This applies regardless of whether the person has or is eligible for health insurance coverage under any policy or program provided by or through his employer or a plan sponsored by the Commonwealth or the federal government
However, Democrat Jen McCLellan (Richmond) doesn’t see this as preserving individual liberty, but a step backwards to segregation. She said:
“If you ask them, a lot of people today are embarrassed by the fact that 50 years ago we engaged in Massive Resistance and regret that we did that, and realize that was a huge waste of time that had a detrimental impact on a whole generation of children who were prevented from going to school,” she said.
“If we are not careful, we could have the same detrimental effect on a whole generation of children who are denied health-care coverage right now,” she said. (source)
This kind of rhetoric from key leaders of the black community is not helpful to improving race relations, and certainly has no place in legitimate policy debate.
Lingamfelter called this kind of attack by Democrats “breathtakingly wrong.”
He said that Del. Dance was “courageous” in how she stood against significant pressure from members of her party.
“This has got to be the low point in any debate I’ve participated in 8 years in the General Assembly,” he said. “When the opposition cannot argue on the facts, they flee to ad hominem attacks.”
But it also is irrelevant.
If the Black Caucus truly wants to improve the quality of the black community, they should be supporting those things which will help it.
By opposing health care freedom, they are opposing small businesses ability to provide jobs or a higher quality of health care for its employees.
By opposing charter schools, they are opposing the opportunity for kids in at-risk schools the chance to get a higher quality education and improve their quality of life.
But perhaps the rhetoric should not surprise me. To maintain their grip on power, it seems black Democrats have to look backwards at the bogeyman of racism instead of looking forward to the promise of a new era of freedom, prosperity, and equal opportunity.
And who gets hurt by this rhetoric? The black community – the very people these leaders supposedly represent.
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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11 Responses to "Virginia’s new laws go into effect today – Legislative Black Caucus prepares for new era of segregation"
Liberals have pushed using public school systems to help minorities in many communities to improve their lives for many years now, spending more and more money. There has been no real improvement. Their solution? More money. Charter schools are okay, but the real solution is vouchers that are provided at a lower per student cost when compared to the public schools. For those left behind in the public schools, more money will be available per student. So if more money will improve the school system, it will be there. Additonally, a state Constitution change is needed to allow vouchers to be used for religious schools.
Good writeup, JR.
And no, the rhetoric shouldn’t surprise you. Throwing around words like “racism” and invoking Massive Resistance is how black “leaders” keep control. I got accused of going to a charter school (my high school was public, though selective) while speaking for McDonnell to a group in Richmond, in an attempt to make it look like I was “out of touch.”
The flipside to that, though, is that we on the right run from those words…which is what they want us to do.
Remember where the Black Caucus originates. They are tied to the much larger Progressive/Marxist ideologues who will stop at nothing to promote their agenda. Black Caucus my a#$. They should call themselves the Virginia Economic Enslavement Coalition. Heck, these guys probably take their lesson from Soros or another community organization based in Richmond.
CAN YOU SAY: COMMUNIST CLOWNS
I am certain there is outrage among thinking conservative black people but our 99% lily white Republican party will not buck the unforgiving insensitive stereotypes and double standards cast by the naive black left until our ranks appeal to represent more minorities AFTER they are elected.
The irony is that, typically, Republicans are there to stand up for black people when racist Democrats disrespect and disparage them. So few black people know political party history and fail to understand why the republican party got its name and was formed. This will not change until republican do a better job of communicating and reaching out to conservative black leadership.
Just my 0.02 dinars, T
The GOP (Grand Old Party) started as an anti- slavery movement before the Civil War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_%28United_States%29
Kathy, that’s true…but we also welcomed the Dixiecrats after ’64 with open arms.
If we’re going to talk about our history, we’ve got to talk about all of it…good AND bad.
Ditto Coby. It is long overdue. Town Hall anybody?
Until we reach out and become friends with the black community, we are just wind. That means love and care and be there. It is what it is. I have, will you? No more talk, just walk. The former GOP gave up their lives for freedom for all, black or white, for the unity of our country. No division. No division now. Let’s fight for our country as a whole, here and now.
There is no hint of racism in Virginia’s Health Care Freedom Act, the legislative attempt to reassert Virginia’s sovereignty. The House Democrats suggestion that there is is inexcusable. This legislation is an attempt to restrain Congress. It is motivated by a widespread desire among Virginians to restore the concept of federalism that the Founders left us. In their charge the Democrats fail to consider similar efforts such as the Kentucky Resolution, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, or the Virginia Resolutions, drafted by James Madison, both of which challenged the Alien and Sedition Laws enacted by Congress in 1798. They also ignore the actions of New England states in 1812 interposing their sovereignty in opposition to President Madison’s prosecution of the war with Great Britain. These and other interposition actions were plainly not motivated by racism and had nothing to do with slavery or segregation.
Allegations of racism are having an increasingly diminished effect in the era of our first post racial president. The Democrats would be more credible were they to focus on the actual merits of the legislation.
“In emotional and personal testimony, an ex-Justice official who quit over the handling of a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther
Party accused his former employer of instructing attorneys in the civil rights division to ignore cases that involve black defendants and white victims.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/06/ex-official-accuses-justice-department-racial-bias-black-panther-case/
As you may know, Virginia is the only state that bans the use and sale of detectors. There is no evidence that the detector ban increases highway safety. Our nation’s fatality rates have fallen consistently for almost two decades. Virginia’s fatality rate has also fallen, but not any more dramatically than it has nationwide. Research has even shown that radar detector owners have a lower accident rate than motorists who do not own a detector.
Maintaining the ban is not in the best interest of Virginians or visitors to the state. I know and know of people that will not drive in Virginia due to this ban. Unjust enforcement practices are not unheard of, and radar detectors can keep safe motorists from being exploited by abusive speed traps. Likewise, the ban has a negative impact on Virginia’s business community. Electronic distributors lose business to neighboring states and Virginia misses out on valuable sales tax revenue.
Radar detector bans do not work. Research and experience show that radar detector bans do not result in lower accident rates, improved speed-limit compliance or reduce auto insurance expenditures.
• The Virginia radar detector ban is difficult and expensive to enforce. The Virginia ban diverts precious law enforcement resources from more important duties.
• Radar detectors are legal in the rest of the nation, in all 49 other states. In fact, the first state to test a radar detector ban, Connecticut, repealed the law – it ruled the law was ineffective and unfair. It is time for our Virginia to join the rest of the nation.
• It has never been shown that radar detectors cause accidents or even encourage motorists to drive faster than they would otherwise. The Yankelovich – Clancy – Shulman Radar Detector Study conducted in 1987, showed that radar detector users drove an average of 34% further between accidents (233,933 miles versus 174,554 miles) than non radar detector users. The study also showed that they have much higher seat belt use compliance. If drivers with radar detectors have fewer accidents, it follows that they have reduced insurance costs – it is counterproductive to ban radar detectors.
• In a similar study performed in Great Britain by MORI in 2001 the summary reports that “Users (of radar detectors) appear to travel 50% further between accidents than non-users. In this survey the users interviewed traveling on average 217,353 miles between accidents compared to 143,401 miles between accidents of those non-users randomly drawn from the general public.” The MORI study also reported “Three quarters agree, perhaps unsurprisingly, that since purchasing a radar detector they have become more conscious about keeping to the speed limit…” and “Three in five detector users claim to have become a safer driver since purchasing a detector.”
• Modern radar detectors play a significant role in preventing accidents and laying the technology foundation for the Safety Warning System® (SWS). Radar detectors with SWS alert motorists to oncoming emergency vehicles, potential road hazards, and unusual traffic conditions. There are more than 10 million radar detectors with SWS in use nationwide. The federal government has earmarked $2.1 million for further study of the SWS over a three-year period of time. The U.S. Department of Transportation is administering grants to state and local governments to purchase the SWS system and study its effectiveness (for example, in the form of SWS transmitters for school buses and emergency vehicles). The drivers of Virginia deserve the right to the important safety benefits that SWS delivers.
*** A small surcharge($5-$10) or tax(2%-3%) could be added to the price of the device to make-up for any possible loss of revenue from reduced number of speeding tickets and the loss of tickets written for radar detectors.***
Please sign this petition and help repeal this ban and give drivers in Virginia the freedom to know if they are under surveillance and to use their property legally:
http://www.stoptheban.org
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/repeal-the-virginia-radar-detector-ban
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