Much has happened in the Virginia General Assembly since Catholics throughout the state flocked to Richmond for Catholic Advocacy Day on Jan. 31. Recent developments on key pieces of legislation being monitored by the Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) are described below.

Respect for Unborn Life: A bill introduced by Sen. Russell Potts would have enabled the state, for the first time in its history, to use taxpayer money to subsidize embryonic stem-cell research. The legislation received approval from the Senate Education and Health Committee (chaired by Sen. Potts), but Sen. Ken Cuccinelli proposed a floor amendment to limit funding to research from stem cells that are not derived from the destruction of human embryos.

Twenty-three of the 40 members of the Senate voted in favor of the amendment, and the modified bill then passed the Senate by a unanimous vote. A House Committee has also approved the bill.

"The Senate has affirmed an important distinction between ethical research using adult stem cells and research that exploits human life at its earliest stage," said VCC Executive Director Jeff Caruso. "The conference applauds the Senate's decision and strongly supports funding for promising, life-affirming research."

VCC-opposed legislation seeking to redefine "contraception" to include drugs and devices that prevent a newly conceived embryo from implanting in the uterus passed the Senate Education and Health Committee. On the Senate floor, Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis opposed the bill and led the debate that succeeded in thwarting the measure.

Bills requiring abortion clinics to be licensed by the state and to add "fetal pain" in informed consent information given prior to an abortion cleared the House but were rejected by a majority of members of the Senate Education and Health Committee.

Death Penalty: Bills supported by the VCC to prohibit the execution of juveniles under the age of 18 and to impose a moratorium on executions failed to win approval in either chamber of the General Assembly. However, another VCC-endorsed measure to assure that no inmate is executed while she is pregnant passed the House unanimously and is expected to pass the Senate as well.

Freedom of Conscience: Proposals in both the House (sponsored by Del. Mitchell Van Yahres) and the Senate (sponsored by Sen. Janet Howell) sought to force employers who offer prescription coverage to pay for contraceptives.

Both bills were defeated in committee. In testimony presented to the two committees that considered the legislation, Caruso noted that the proposals "raised fundamental religious freedom concerns." He emphasized that employers who believe that contraception is not morally appropriate should not be compelled to pay for it.

Poverty Reduction: The General Assembly overwhelmingly approved legislation to reduce the state tax rate on the sale of grocery items from 3 percent to 1.5 percent. The reduction will help low-income families, who spend a higher portion of their incomes on food items. Another VCC-supported bill would ensure that those who have served their time for drug-related possession felonies can receive food stamps. Currently, federal law bars food stamps to persons convicted of drug felonies but permits states to opt out of that restrictive provision. The General Assembly responded this year by approving a measure providing that a person otherwise eligible for food stamps shall not be denied them due to a prior felony-possession offense.

Education: A bill backed by VA Edge (an advocacy group of parents whose children attend nonpublic schools) and the VCC to permit local school districts to provide bus transportation to nonpublic-school students reached uncharted territory. Unlike similar measures in previous years, the legislation was approved by overwhelming margins by the House Education Committee (17-5) and the full House of Delegates (73-25). Although the Senate Education and Health Committee blocked the bill's enactment by a 9-6 vote, its movement was unprecedented and signals a promising shift in the General Assembly's view of policies that would recognize the contributions and just claims of parents who send their children to nonpublic schools.

Justice for Immigrants: The House advanced several VCC-opposed bills designed to limit undocumented immigrants' access to basic services — including a measure to deny those in high school access to state colleges and universities, one to make them ineligible for worker's compensation, and one to establish new legal presence requirements for Medicaid and certain state and local benefits.

One Senate committee defeated the college-related legislation, but another

Senate committee approved the worker's compensation item; the measure relating to Medicaid and other benefits has passed the full Senate. One other proposal, which would have impacted many immigrant workers by denying driver's licenses to those who cannot communicate in English, was rejected by a House committee.

Marriage: The House and Senate have approved slightly different versions of legislation seeking to add a provision to the Virginia Constitution to explicitly provide that marriage may only exist between a man and a woman. Conferees are expected to resolve those differences. To effect a constitutional amendment, the legislation would have to be approved by the General Assembly again in 2006. The matter would then be placed before voters later that year.