Accountability | Virginia
Amanda Chase’s Record Undermines Claims to Prioritize Education Funding
This month, Virginia State Sen. Amanda Chase uploaded flyers to her Facebook site touting the lawmaker as “Our Education Senator” in an obvious attempt to whitewash her lengthy anti-education record. Chase has a history of supporting funding cuts for public education and even once bragged about opposing pay raises for Virginia teachers.
In 2016, Chase was the only Virginia state senator to vote against a budget measure that funded a 2% increase in base pay for Virginia teachers. Chase later bragged about her vote, stating “we made all these promises to state workers and teachers to get a raise and...I voted no (laughs) against the budget. I was the one no vote in the Senate on this.”
Corruption & Secrecy | Virginia
Corruption Watch: Construction Magnate Funneled $10,000 to DeSteph after Lawmaker Attempted to Thwart Investigation Into It’s Malpractice
According to a review by American Ledger, previously unreported campaign finance filings show that Virginia State Sen. Bill DeSteph received $10,000 in campaign contributions from construction magnate, JES Construction, after allegedly leading the charge to remove the regulatory authority disciplining the organization for inadequate business practices.
In January 2019, Virginia Mercury News reported that DeSteph sent more than a dozen emails to administrators at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), demanding the organization drop their case against JES Construction for failing to obtain building permits and failing safety inspections. DeSteph even went as far as demanding that the DPOR direct all communications in regards to the investigation of JES Construction to his office.
Accountability | Virginia
GOP Virginia Delegate Glenn Davis Dismisses Limiting High-Capacity Magazines as a “False Solution”
In new audio from yesterday, GOP Virginia Delegate Glenn Davis stated on the John Fredericks radio show that he will not support legislation limiting the amount of ammunition in high-capacity gun magazines, calling it a “false solution.”
“The problem with -- looking at the magazines -- it's.. I guess a false solution,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of things that can make a difference. The number of rounds in a magazine is not one of them.”
Accountability | Virginia
Va. State Sen. Amanda Chase Insinuates She Can Defy Law Enforcement With Her Handgun
In breaking audio from last Thursday, Virginia State Sen. Amanda Chase asserted that she was now allowed to defy local police and park wherever she wants at the Virginia State Capitol building because she carries a handgun.
“I pretty much park where I need to now, so. They don’t ever give me issues now,” Chase said. “Um, I should have let them know I was carrying a lot earlier.”
Accountability | Virginia
Anti-LGBT Va. Lawmaker Bill DeSteph Attempts to Whitewash Anti-LGBT Record
In an attempt to rebrand himself a champion of equality, Virginia State Sen. Bill DeSteph touted a singular endorsement of an openly gay Virginia Councilman in a Facebook post last week, despite his lengthy record of voting against LGBT equality in Virginia, including his ongoing support of harmful conversion therapy practices.
According to a review by American Ledger, in January 2019, DeSteph voted in favor of SB 1778, a bill that would allow for psychological conversion therapy to be practiced upon minors in Virginia. The American Psychological Association is opposed to conversion therapy, stating it poses significant risk of harm to LGBT individuals, including elevating the risk for potential suicide.
Accountability | Virginia
Virginia Republican Bryce Reeves: Women Need Transvaginal Ultrasounds to Make Rational Decisions About Abortion
In a newly uncovered radio interview, Va. State Sen. Bryce Reeves stated he believed women needed a transvaginal ultrasound in order to make a “rational” decision when seeking an abortion.
“This bill, transvaginal ultrasound bill, of which I got to tell you, I think helps women make a logical, rational decision,” Reeves said on the John Fredericks radio show in December 2012.
Accountability | Virginia
In the Wake of Virginia Beach Shootings, GOP Va State Sen. Hopeful Geary Higgins Embraces NRA
In the days following the deadly mass shooting on May 31, 2019 that took the lives of 12 people in Virginia Beach, State Senate Candidate Geary Higgins doubled down on his embrace of the gun lobby. Instead of disavowing his support of the National Rifle Association in the wake of the tragedy, Higgins continued to run ads on Facebook trumpeting the group's endorsement.
Coincidentally, the NRA returned the favor just weeks later, spending nearly $6,000 to give Higgins the boost he needed to win the Republican primary to represent Virginia’s 13th District in the State Senate.