I’m concerned about the Virginia General Assembly. They have not passed a budget yet. School systems in Virginia are holding their breath to see what state funds will be transfered to their local budgets. Plans are being made to deal with the possibility the state will not pass a budget in time for the next school year. Major school programs are in jeopardy of being cut to make up the difference. Summer school is first on the chopping block. Then comes extracurricular programs. And finally they might start school one week later with a furlough for teachers. This also means teachers will not see a cost of living increase in next year’s contract with the possibility of no step increases. What in the world are they thinking? The fucking republican controlled house and senate of Virginia are so fucked up. They don’t want to raise taxes to make up for their former boss screwing up the state budget by doing away with the car tax. Everyone would like to see the car tax die but let’s be realistic. For the state to provide the benefits we’ve become accustomed to, we must create revenue from some source. The car tax is the logical answer. Other taxes are proposed but none of them will make up the funds needed to run the state. I know I don’t know all the ins and outs of the state government but I do know the part that effects me. I am also a citizen and know that we must pay taxes to provide certain services. It just makes me sick and embarrassed to be a citizen of this state with such a screwed up state government.

The state government hasn’t passed a budget but they did create time to write discrimination into our state constitution. Yesterday they ratified “Marriage Affirmation Act.” This act denies many legal rights to same-sex couples. Equality Virginia has a very informative article on their web site. (Thanks to Dan for the link.)

HB 751 not only prohibits the state from recognizing civil unions (which it already didn’t do), but strips private contractual rights between same-sex couples by outlawing any “partnership contract or other arrangements that purport to provide the benefits of marriage.”

Once this bill is enacted, it will likely deprive gay and lesbian Virginians of some of the few choices that they currently have to protect their families including:
• Advanced Medical Directives (also known as Power of Attorney)
• Custody decisions and arrangements
• Health Insurance coverage through those companies in Virginia currently able to offer benefits to unmarried partners.
• Estate planning and wills.

Because each of these “arrangements” grants rights contractually that are otherwise available only through marriage, they can be set aside or voided by the action of the General Assembly.

Just recently I gave my friend Shawn a hard time about living in a state that law denies birth certificates to same-sex couples who have adopted children in Oklahoma. Now I’m ashamed to say I live in a state that has written such legislation. Are all these laws the backlash we should have expected from all the gay friendly acceptance we enjoyed in the late ’90s and early 2000’s? Why is this country so fucked up on basic civil rights? What do they loose by letting gays and lesbians enjoy the same rights they enjoy? I just don’t understand how so many people in this country can be so inept.