It was a busy weekend for legislators at the Virginia Capitol — and police as well. More than 30 protesters were handcuffed at the Capitol building in Richmond Saturday after hundreds convened on the building's steps to protest the controversial ultrasound bill. The organizers said they had a permit to protest at the Bell Tower, down the hill from the Capitol, but a number of them decided to remain at the Capitol steps. However, demonstrating on Capitol grounds is unlawful.
Demonstrators were in town to protest the much talked about ultrasound bill, passed by the General Assembly last week after over two weeks of discussion and hold off of the vote. Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he plans to sign the bill into law. However, McDonnell has shown a bit of leniency toward the issue, even making a public statement that skewed lawmakers into taking away the trans-vaginal requirement for the ultrasound and instead make the abdominal ultrasound mandatory.
Saturday's protest was a reminder of the peaceful protest held Monday, Feb. 20 where over 1,200 people gathered silently in front of the General Assembly building. No problems were reported during that demonstration.
Home-schooled students will not be able to play public school sports in the Commonwealth as a Senate Education and Health Committee killed legislation that would have allowed them to do so. The so-called "Tebow bill," named after Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who himself played on a high school team while homeschooled, was struck 8-7 by the committee last week. The swing vote went to Sen. Harry Blevins (R-Chesapeake), who voted with Democrats who opposed the McDonnell-favored piece of legislation.
Republicans, like McDonnell, argued that parents of home-schooled children pay taxes, and their children should be able to play on high school teams if they wish to do so. Those who opposed the bill said home-schooled students are not required to meet the academic standards public school athletes are burdened with.
In state budget news, the stalemate with the state's monies continues this week as lawmakers are still trying to approve a budget for the next fiscal year. Democrats are holding the $85 billion, two-year budget over a cliff until a powersharing deal can be reached with their Republican counterparts.
Previous years have seen a drawn-out process of legislators negotiating over what should and should not be cut from the spending plan. This year, the issue is simply about power and reorganization in the Senate after a plethora of conservative legislation has been passed thanks to the tie-breaking vote Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, president of the split Senate, has supplied.
The budgets that have been voted on thus far have showed considerable bipartisan collaboration, demanded after Democratic outrage came from a lack of funds to education and a concern in the budget's lack of Medicaid funding. If the General Assembly fails to pass a budget by June 1, the Commonwealth's governmental operations will be shut down.
