Republicans opt for rhetoric over reality
During today’s floor session, House Republicans attempted to trump up Sen. Donald McEachin’s alternative dispute resolution measure, SB161, as an assault on Virginia’s Right to Work law.
In response, Democratic Leader Ward Armstrong introduced a floor amendment explicitly clarifying that the bill would not “affect, diminish, or repeal” the Right to Work law, in order to assuage any real concerns:
Republican Leader Morgan Griffith countered with some rather counterintuitive logic, saying that putting something into the Code of Virginia doesn’t make it law. Go figure.
In any case, the bill was only before the House in the first place as a purely political move, since the Republican leadership used their new rules gimmick to bring it directly to the floor without a recommendation. In the video below (taken earlier this week), the House Rules committee defeats Del. Kris Amundson’s motion to report SB161 as usual, prompting Del. Armstrong to express his ongoing concern with bypassing committees of expertise:
Unfortunately, House Republicans again opted for rhetoric and political gamesmanship over real solutions. SB161 died on a party-line vote.
