Virginia General Assembly Update–Week 7

House of Delegates

The 2023 session is scheduled to end tomorrow, but House and Senate budget negotiators have not reached an agreement on amendments to the state budget. Work on the budget will continue, and final action on it will not occur by the scheduled adjournment date. 

Here are major happenings this week.

Final Action on “Right to Abortion” Amendment: As reported in last Friday’s update, a Senate proposal to enshrine abortion on demand in Virginia’s constitution was rejected by a House subcommittee. This week, however, supporters of the “right to abortion” amendment tried to change the rules of the House of Delegates in order to force the full House to vote on the already defeated amendment. Thankfully, on Feb. 23 the House voted 50-45 against this attempt to change the rules, thereby completely eliminating the threat of the extreme and dangerous abortion amendment this session. The VCC thanks all those who advocated against the abortion amendment at the Virginia Pro-Life Day in Richmond on Feb. 1, as well as all those who came to the House gallery yesterday to support the successful final outcome. 

Budget: With budget negotiations ongoing, please take action on our three budget alerts if you have not already done so, and share these alerts with family and friends. Act now on our Hyde Amendment alert, our EISTC alert, and our Auxiliary Grant alert!

Pregnant and need help? Click here to find pregnancy resources offered by our two dioceses.

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In prayer and in public, your voices are urgently needed to bring Gospel values to bear on vital decisions being made by those who represent you.

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The Virginia Catholic Conference is the public policy agency representing Virginia’s Catholic bishops and their two dioceses.