Dear Colleagues, As you know, the General Assembly session has begun and Libertarians around the state are watching many bills that either enhance or threaten our remaining liberties. There are some promising bills on four fronts already:
************************************* 1. MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION ************************************* Roy Scherer, who has been the point man for Virginia Libertarians at the General Assembly for over three decades, will be following legislation in general, but he notes one in particular. Here's Roy: "WE HAVE A DECRIMINALIZATION BILL FOR MARIJUANA sponsored by Delegate Harvey Morgan (a pharmacologist, as I recall, first elected in the seventies). HOUSE BILL NO. 1134 < http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+ful+HB1134>, would decriminalize marijuana possession and greatly reduce penalties for related offenses. This is the best bill that I've seen in the Assembly since the reform act of 1979. I'm going to be quite busy, and logistics will be a major issue. Please let my fellow LP members know I'll be active during the session, and that I issue an email report as often as possible. Anyone who would like to be added to my 'General Assembly Freedom Update' can simply drop me a note: "Roy B. Scherer" <rsche...@lairhaven.com> or <mailto:rsche...@lairhaven.com?subject=gaupdate_request> Confidentiality guaranteed." ************************************* 2. GUN LAWS ************************************* The Libertarian Party is the only choice at the ballot box when it comes to 100% support of the right of people to own & bear arms as a matter of basic human rights. Many Libertarians work with the Virginia Citizens Defense League, the state's pre-eminent voice for gun rights, to persuade lobbyists, the media, and citizens in general that guns save lives. Please take a few minutes and sign up for VCDL's email alerts, which during session, come at a rapid clip (it's not VCDL's fault!): http://www.vcdl.org/static/va-alert.html ************************************* 3. ABOLISHING TAXES ************************************* One thing is floating around the General Assembly this time that took me by surprise: There seems to be some sentiment afoot to abolish Virginia's Corporate Income Tax. While I'd much prefer to see the Virginia individual income tax abolished, I'll take any tax abolition I can get. Besides, as we Mundanes know, corporations pay no taxes. Only consumers do -- soa repeal of the corporate income tax direcly benefits consumers. Bob Marcellus, a Richmond hedge-fund manager who served on the transition team's economic development work group, originally pushed the idea. Del. Bob Purkey, R-Virginia Beach, introduced the bill to eliminate the tax. The bill will have a tough row to hoe. Even if the proposal passes the Republican-controlled House, Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, has said publicly that he and his fellow Democrats in the Senate favor continuing the annual state theft of private money. Further reading: http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/libertarian-%E2%80%9Cprosperity-plan%E2%80%9D-repeals-income-tax-ends-corporate-welfare ************************************* 4. LIFESTYLE ISSUES ************************************* In 2008, The Libertarian Party of Virginia worked with Equality Virginia as part of the Commonwealth Coalition in an effort to defeat the Marshall/Newman Amendment. In 2009, Equality Virginia is back on the front lines again, and once again there are Libertarians working with them to convince legislators to make sure all Virginians are treated equally under the law. EqualityVirginia will be sponsoring its Lobby Day on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Join more than 200 members and activists from across the state to lobby legislators on bills important to the GLBT community. This year EV has added a Virtual Lobby Day option for those of you who would like to participate but can't make it to Richmond for the day. http://www.equalityvirginia.org/ ************************************* In the coming days, as we discover areas where we have common cause with other single-interest groups, we will review them as well. But in the meantime, sign up for Roy's alerts, and try to write to your representatives a couple of times a week and ask them to support the libertarian position on the bills reviewed by Roy. Sign up for VCDL's alerts, also, and use their wonderful "write your reps" service to help lobby for the restoration of full gun rights in Virginia. Sign up for EV's alerts as well. And don't forget to write your legislators to ask them to support repeal of the corporate income tax. ############################################################# Have an announcement you'd like to post? SCC members & many committee heads are all authorized to post; or you may send your announcements to the List Master: <mailto:modera...@lpva.com?subject=announcement>. ################################################## Unsubscribe: Send an email to sts...@lpva.com with no subject and "Unsubscribe Announce" as the text. ############################################################# Libertarian Party of Virginia http://www.LPVA.com Phone: 703-715-6230
