My Fellow Young Democrats,

Happy Black History Month to everyone! Last year, we stood up and declared Black Lives Matter together during the summer of unrest in 2020. This year in 2021, we have a record number of Black folks and people of color attesting to the progress we are making here in Virginia. Of course, our work is never done, and we are always learning, but I know that we are all striving to better our community, our Commonwealth, and our country, and that is something to be proud of.

If you have not done so already, please patron one of Arlington’s many local, Black-owned businesses. We have several amazing local restaurants and shops in our county that we can help promote this month and every month!

Another session is coming to a close here in Virginia. In just 30 days, the House of Delegates and State Senate have already done some great work, and will continue to wrap up work on legislation and the state budget with an order from the Governor to convene for another 15 days in a special session. I just want to highlight some of the great accomplishments we have made, thanks to our elected officials’ hard work so far.

• Virginia will become the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty.
• Virginia will go ahead with full legalization of cannabis for small possession with automatic expungement for all those currently serving time for those charges, putting an end to the mass incarceration of Black and Brown folks for nonviolent possession charges.
• Virginia will be the first state in the South to enact a Voting Rights act to undo barriers to voting.

But, we know that there is still more work to be done! If we continue to work together, like we have been over the past few years, we will pass a Green New Deal for Virginia. We will repeal the “Right to Work for Less” laws in Virginia. We will codify Roe v. Wade. We will help fully fund our education system. We will help give all Virginians access to the affordable, quality healthcare they need. We will continue to make Virginia a more just place to live. We will make sure that Virginia is a Commonwealth for all people, no matter who they are, what they look like, what generation they are from, who they love, what faith they serve, what they can do, what income bracket they are in, where they’re from or how they got here.

Now, there is probably still a question on your mind, right?

Why is the General Assembly session so short in Virginia?

That is an EXCELLENT question. So, at the beginning of the Commonwealth of Virginia, legislators had no desire to meet all the time as they did not think it was necessary. They decided to meet between January and February because those were the months when no farming could be done in the middle of winter. So between harvest and planting season, legislators would meet to discuss and pass laws before returning home to their farms.

Today, this means that many legislators have to have second jobs. The Virginia House of Delegates only gets paid $17,640 per year. The Virginia State Senate makes $18,000 per year. Neither of these are enough to live on, so second jobs are mandatory. Now, we all know that our Senators and Delegates work as legislators outside of the 45-day session in January and February. They are meeting with constituents, going to meetings, talking to the public, and representing their seats every day. So what this translates to is people who have more flexible jobs and can set their own hours like lawyers, doctors, business owners, and consultants are usually the people who are able to run for these offices. There are obviously way more barriers than just that alone, like lax campaign finance laws allowing corporate influence and money to be poured into races, gerrymandering that has allowed for elected officials to choose their voters, and disenfranchisement of marginalized communities through various laws, but part-time legislatures only exacerbate the problem.

Obviously, this was a system designed to ensure that white, male landowners would be in power and stay in power. And as time has gone on, even though we have made great strides in getting diverse representation in office, part-time legislators have continued to bar working-class people from being able to run. Not only that, but part-time legislatures also create an environment where our legislators cannot be effective as they should be. They are given 30-45 days in odd years and 60 days in even years to state their case and pass laws, which often result in sub-par legislation or not having the bandwidth to discuss all the issues that they should be.

How do you get an effective legislature that actually reflects the population that it is working for?

Professionalize. The. Legislature.

Creating a full-time legislature in Virginia will be an astronomically powerful way to create a more effective form of governing that will actually be able to address the problems we face every day. Remember all those policy points that I addressed at the beginning of this? Guaranteed, they would have already been discussed years ago if we had a full-time legislature. Wondering why our elected officials are not as diverse as the populations that they serve? Working folks don’t have the time or resources to take 45-60 days out of the year to move down to Richmond, take time off of the jobs that give them health insurance, and keep their families fed and healthy at the end of the day.

I encourage everyone to look at what it would be like to professionalize the legislature. Who knows? If we had one, more Young Democrats would probably be in office right now fighting for the issues we care about most. Just a thought.

Lastly, please remember to join us at our Celebration of Black Excellence on February 16th and our discussion at our Black Legacy event on February 23rd.

Until Next Time,
Matt Royer
President
Arlington Young Democrats

1235 S. Clark St. Suite 207
Arlington, VA 22202
United States

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The Arlington Young Democrats are a group of progressive and liberal individuals who provide an inclusive, growing, and empowering forum for all community members. We believe in: living our Democratic values, electing leaders who embody these values, elevating the voices of young people within the party at the local, state, and federal level, responding to the needs of the people, and furthering outreach and education while developing our future generation of leaders.

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