HB 10, the VA Healthcare Freedom Act, passed the full House Commerce & Labor Committee Thursday by 15-4. Three committee members later registered their votes to make the final tally 17-5. Significant in this vote is that three Democrats, Dels. Johnson, Joannou, and Lewis, joined the 14 Republicans on the committee, making this a bi-partisan bill.
Additional action was taken during the committee meeting. HBs 576 and 722, identical to SB 417, were “rolled into,” or merged into, HB 10.
Senate bills to be merged?
On the Senate side, now that three identical bills have passed the Senate, SBs 283, 311, and 417, it remains to be seen how these bills will be merged and under which number. I spoke today with Sen. Quayle, patron of SB 283, Sen. Martin, patron of SB 311, and the legislative aide of Sen. Vogel, patron of SB 417. No clear answer was given, except that tradition often allows the bill to go the senator with the most seniority. So, while we TEA Party Patriots have championed SB 417, it looks likely that it will be rolled into one of the other two bills.
Then we will have the issue of whether HB 10 and the surviving Senate bill will be merged. While they are similar in some respects, they are uniquely different. The Senate bills focus on the individual not being required to purchase health insurance. HB 10 focuses on no law restricting an individual’s right to choose his own health plan or medical services. They each have also been written for different subsections of the Code of Virginia. More later.
Here’s a great video montage from the Lobby Day rally on January 18th at the Capitol. Virginia is clawing her way back to the Constitution, one bill at a time. Keep fighting!
Big thanks to Norvell Rose of Hampton Roads Tea Party for the video!
The Lobby Day rally was mentioned by the Washington Post again, this time in the Express Night Out newsletter. There’s not much content, but the article was a fair description of the events (except for the low attendance number, but we’re all accustomed to that). We tried to locate the article online for posting/linking, but were unable to locate the article for direct viewing, so below is a link to a scanned .pdf copy.
From a story dated 1/19/2010.
There is big news regarding the two 10th Amendment bills being considered in the General Assembly, specifically HB10 (Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act) and HB69 (Virginia Firearms Freedom Act)! We learned today that:
- Delegate Joseph Johnson (D) from the 4th district has co-patroned both bills, and
- Senator Charles Colgan (D) from the 29th district has co-patroned HB10.
We applaud Senator Colgan and Delegate Johnson for crossing the aisle to support these bills that buttress the 10th Amendment and Virginia’s states rights. Please contact them to let them know you appreciate and value their support!
To learn more about these two bills, please see the legislation link at the VA 10th Amendment Revolution site.
Richmond Tea Party met with the Virginia Speaker of the House, Bill Howell, last week regarding our two federalism bills. The Speaker expressed support for both bills and assured us they would make it out of Committee in the House of Delegates. He was also encouraging that these would pass the House.
The first bill, the Health Care Reform Act, chief co-patroned by Delegate O’Bannon and Marshall, would:
“…nullify any federal law, rule or regulation that: 1) requires individuals or employers to participate in any particular health care system or 2) mandates the purchase of health insurance. It would prohibit any fine or penalty on anyone or any company for deciding to purchase health care directly.”
The second bill, the Firearm Freedom Action, patroned by Delegate Carrico, would:
“Declares that any firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the authority of the U.S. Congress under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the states.”
What do we need from you? This is CRITICALLY important. We need you to call and email your delegate and ask them to co-sponsor these two bills. You can find out who your delegate is by going to “Who’s My Legislator?”
You need to call and email before January 14th!!!!
We will need to work on the Senate side as well. Info forthcoming…
Two follow these two bills closely, please bookmark http://www.va10thamendment.org
Follow me on Twitter 
Recent Comments