The Virginia Catholic Conference published its annual report April 3 summarizing how state lawmakers voted on important legislation.
The report from the VCC, the public policy arm of Virginia’s bishops, chronicled 10 senate votes and eight house votes recorded during this year’s session, which took place Jan. 11-Feb. 25 in Richmond. This year, the organization included four votes that occurred in the Senate Education and Health Committee “due to the high number of VCC-supported pro-life bills that the committee rejected and thereby blocked” from consideration by the broader legislature, the report noted.
The document also summarizes each legislative measure and organizes it into one of four categories: life; religious freedom; families and children; and social and economic concerns. Links are included to detailed summaries of each proposal and its legislative text.
A bill enacted into law to limit isolated confinement in prisons was “a step in the right direction with more work still to do,” said VCC Executive Director Jeff Caruso. Since the General Assembly adjourned without completing its work on state budget amendments, Caruso said that process is still ongoing and amendments could be proposed at a later date. The VCC supports a budget amendment introduced by Gov. Glenn Youngkin and passed by the house to stop state taxpayer funding of abortion, sometimes referred to as the Hyde amendment.
The Hyde amendment push is one of four active campaigns at the VCC Action Center online, through which Catholics can contact their elected representatives. The others support pro-life advocacy efforts led by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Find out more
Read the report to see how your legislators voted and contact your legislators at vacatholic.org.
