Virginia Legislative Black Caucus Urges Governor Northam to Retain and Sign Legislation Protecting Workers and Our Communities Without Further Delay

I agree 100% with the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus (VLBC) on this:

“The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus sent the [following] letter to Governor Ralph Northam ahead of the Governor’s Action Deadline. While the Governor and his team review legislation, the VLBC calls on the Governor to refrain from delaying effective dates on legislation that will support our essential workers (like raising the minimum wage without further delay), promote environmental justice, and retain equity-focused measures in the Commonwealth’s budget.”

As the letter concludes, “Governor, you have the chance to keep us on the right course to protecting our essential workers, to supporting Black Virginians and Virginians of Color, to protecting all Virginians, and to saving our environment from climate change. As such, the VLBC urges you to sign into law these aforementioned pieces of legislation.” Exactly. And, needless to say, Gov. Northam should absolutely *not* listen to voices from the (far) right calling for a rollback of many of the progressive and environmental gains we fought for and finally achieved in the 2020 Virginia General Assembly session. Sure, exercise fiscal “prudence” right now, given the COVID-19 crisis, but do *not* use this as an excuse to gut much-needed progressive and environmental legislation!