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A few weeks ago there was a bombing at the Boston Marathon. It seems we know who the two individuals directly involved are. That is to say, those who planted the bomb. And it has prompted many to feign outrage over how this could happen. Just how could “they” have allowed these two terrorists to…
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As someone who has spent the better part of my life fighting for fair pay for women, I believe it’s always a good time to talk about the pay gap. But the topic is especially important now—and the timing has little to do with Equal Pay Day on April 9.
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U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine today announced additional members of his Virginia and Washington, D.C.,-based Senate staff.
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During legislative sessions in Virginia there is far too much partisan bickering, currying to special interests and in recent years doing the things that appear on late-night comedy shows. These events tend to overshadow the amount of time that legislators work amicably together, regardless of political party and without personal gain, to solve complex problems to make the Commonwealth a better place to live. The negative forces at work in the legislature help to contrast the significant moments when statesmanship prevails.
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The only thing predictable about a “short” session is that the days will be full and pass by quickly. We are more than a third of the way through the 46 day session and had real fireworks this past week. On Monday, the nation celebrated Martin Luther King Day and the second inauguration of President Barack Obama. Nevertheless, since the Virginia Constitution calls for the General Assembly to be in session, we were hard at work considering bills and resolutions. All legislation has importance to someone, but overshadowing those bills was a tactic involving redistricting that was sprung on the Senate at the close of business on Monday afternoon.
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U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have reintroduced their legislation to make substantial improvements in the states’ administration of their elections and to make voting faster and more accessible to all voters.
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Service and learning took center stage for Eastern Mennonite University’s expanded observance of Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 21. Some 200 students, faculty and staff participated in service opportunities and cultural learning tours.
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Threats of lawsuits are in the air as Virginia lawmakers make sense of the unannounced amendment to the 2011 legislative redistricting rammed through the State Senate on a party-line vote on Monday.
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It took a minute for me to realize it. The State Senate voted 20-19 in a party-line vote on Monday made possible by the one-day absence of State Sen. Henry Marsh to attend the presidential inauguration to redraw Senate district lines. Ostensibly the move was done to increase the number of majority African-American districts, but go figure, the plan adopted by the Senate GOP also created more Republican-friendly Senate districts. This is what it took me a minute to realize: my own state senator, Emmett Hanger, had to have voted for the plan for it to have passed.
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The ACLU of Virginia and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli added their voices to the chorus expressing disappointment House subcommittee failed to advance legislation that would reform Virginia’s law barring for life felons right to vote.
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