Four of our Virginia State Legislators spoke with the Sierra Club York River Group in a spirited virtual meeting on March 17, 2021. Each representative (who the Sierra Club had previously endorsed) described the status of a different bill or resolution that was worked on during the recent legislative session in Richmond. All of these issues are of great interest to the Sierra Club.
Senator Mamie Locke, representing Senate District 2, spoke about SJ 272, a constitutional amendment on the Right to Vote, which passed its first round. Here, SJ stands for a Senate Joint Resolution. SJ 272 establishes that the sole qualifications to vote in the Commonwealth are: being a United States citizen, at least 18 years of age, a resident of the Commonwealth, and registered to vote in accordance with the requirements set out in the Constitution of Virginia. The amendment further provides that any person who meets those qualifications has the right to vote and that such right cannot be abridged by law. In other words, it establishes that voting is a RIGHT in a healthy democracy, and not merely a privilege.
This amendment is an important step to reversing over a century of Jim Crow laws, which were designed to suppress the right to vote for many people, particularly minorities, in Virginia and other states. This amendment must be passed unchanged in next year’s legislative session; then it can be put on the ballot in November 2022.
Delegate Martha Mugler, representing House District 91, described HB 2042, on replacement and conservation of trees during development. (HB stands for House Bill.) This bill gives a locality the ability to exceed general requirements in its tree replacement and conservation ordinances in specific circumstances.
Essentially, this bill is important because it encourages the replacement of trees that are destroyed during development. The bill made headway this year, but it must be reintroduced and voted on in 2022. In the meantime, the state is creating a stakeholder work group to study the best way forward. Who doesn’t want more trees, you may ask? A lot of pushback on this bill comes from housing development groups. See a local story on this effort here.
Delegate Marcia “Cia” Price, representing House District 95, spoke about HB 1890, which prohibits discrimination in voting and election administration. This bill helps protect all voters in all localities in Virginia. It passed, and is awaiting some minor technical adjustments, after which it heads to the Governor’s desk to be signed! This bill is an important victory for proponents of voter’s rights. The Sierra Club cares about voter’s rights because there is a strong correlation between a healthy democracy and good environmental laws. Where voting is suppressed, the will of the people (who overwhelmingly favor a clean environment and laws that protect it) is also suppressed, typically in favor of big money interest groups.
Delegate Shelly Simonds, representing House District 94, explained HB 2074, which would establish an Interagency Environmental Justice (EJ) Working Group as an advisory council in the executive branch of state government to further EJ in the Commonwealth. An important consequence of this bill is that, when localities create a comprehensive plan, they would have to take EJ into account.
What is EJ? According to the Department of Energy: “Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no population bears a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or from the execution of federal, state, and local laws; regulations; and policies. Meaningful involvement requires effective access to decision makers for all, and the ability in all communities to make informed decisions and take positive actions to produce environmental justice for themselves.”
Unfortunately, HB 2074 got altered so much during the back-and-forth process between the House and Senate, that it almost completely lost its impact, so it was dropped. However, Ms. Simonds would like to bring it forward again in the future. She says that it will be important to try to get some support from the business community, who currently are strongly against it. Industry appears to be afraid of the implications of EJ on their bottom line (money). They do not see the potential benefits that improving EJ can have in many communities, which ultimately would benefit everyone.