Sen. Todd Pillion
The General Assembly session is now at full steam. Over 700 bills have been introduced in the Senate and nearly 80 have passed, including two bills that I sponsored—SB613 and SB618.
So far about 70 bills have failed in the closely divided Senate, including several priority bills that have been supported by the Republican caucus.
As part of our effort to keep Virginians safer, my Republican colleagues in the Senate and I want to crack down on illegal sale of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs that often lead to deaths from overdoses. We supported legislation to crack down on those who play a role in deaths due to dangerous illegal drugs. Under the proposal, an individual illegally providing drugs that are responsible for a death could be charged with second degree murder. Most Democrats on the Courts of Justice committee refused to support this measure, and the bill died on a 8-7 vote.
A few years ago under then-Gov. Ralph Northam, Democrats passed a law requires that Virginia’s rules related to auto emissions and electric vehicle mandates mirror those set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). This means that unelected California bureaucrats are setting rules Virginians are forced to live by whether they are right for us or not. Because of this, Virginians are on course to phase out sales of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035–the same schedule California has set for itself.
My Republican colleagues and I want to change that and put forward a bill to return control over these rules to Virginia. The legislation was co-sponsored by every Republican in the Senate. Even with all that support, Democrats used their majority on the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee to kill the bill. That leaves Californians in charge of telling Virginia what our auto emission standards should be.
A few more issues that my Republican Colleagues and I have been fighting for is to keep Virginia the top place for business. The General Assembly needs to pass laws that lower costs for families, reduce red tape, and encourage entrepreneurs and economic growth.
In their first bill of session—SB 1—Democrats proposed a 25% increase in the minimum wage over just two years. If this becomes law, many struggling small businesses or companies will be forced to come up with money they do not have by raising prices for consumers.
While I want everyone to earn a good living, a business forced to close because they cannot pay everyone minimum wage is not right. Besides, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin noted, the market is taking care of this. Wages are rising on their own due to more competition for workers. The government does not need to pile on when the market is already doing the job.
