In State Constitutional Convention Part 5 Your Help Is Needed

(By: Chuck Thompson)

We need your help to get this idea going.  Please contact your local Board of Supervisors and have them put this on their meeting agenda.  For those in towns and or cities, please contact your local town or city council and have them put this on their meeting agenda.  No different than what was done for the 2A sanctuary meetings.  But, we need them to commit to sending someone to the convention.  It needs to be decided if localities want only 1 representative or maybe 2.  If one, it should probably be the chair person of the Board or council.  If two, we recommend the chair person and the local sheriff for the area.  A central meeting place still has to be picked and arrangements need to start for that meeting.  The question is who pays for this?  It's going to have to come out of each localities pockets to do this.  How much?  No idea at this time.  It will depend on the location of the meeting place and the arrangements that need to be made to cover the amount of people who will be attending and an estimate of how long the meetings will go on. 

  This is not an easy concept to setup and run.  But we have to begin somewhere folks.  Remember, we are leading the nation in this fight.  What is done here will be done everywhere else.  So we want to be very successful in this mission.  Meeting in Richmond is probably not the smartest plan, but can still be done if that is what the masses want.  This will have to be paid from our tax dollars.  Private funding may have legal issues unforeseen.  What is an estimate of the costs?  It depends on how many localities actually participate.  We would need a quorum of at least 51% of the localities.  Then we would need two thirds of the votes to eliminate any code deemed a violation of the Constitution. 

  Once we start getting localities on board we can start calculating costs.  

Public Safety Officials Support Swift Passage of Governor McAuliffe’s Budget

Leaders in Virginia’s public safety community announced their support today for Governor McAuliffe’s proposal to invest $17 million in savings from closing the coverage gap to support the Line of Duty program. The Line of Duty Act provides state-funded disability and death benefits for state and local public safety officers or their beneficiaries due to disability or death resulting from the performance of duties.

Statement from the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters:

“The Virginia Professional Fire Fighters (VPFF) urge members of the General Assembly to pass Governor McAuliffe’s budget as quickly as possible. Governor McAuliffe’s budget is balanced, responsible, and provides critical funding for the Line of Duty Act, which supports firefighters, first responders, and others who put their lives on the line every day to protect Virginia’s communities.

“As primary emergency medical services (EMS) providers for many of our fellow citizens, VPFF members are all-too-familiar with the negative impacts of the coverage gap. By also including a 2 year pilot of accepting federal dollars to expand healthcare coverage to up to 400,000 Virginians, Governor McAuliffe’s budget will keep our citizens healthier, our neighborhoods safer, and our economy growing.

“It is imperative that members of the General Assembly come together to pass this budget, which our public safety officials depend on to ensure strong, safe, and healthy futures for all Virginians.”

Statement from Paula Miller, President, Virginia Public Safety Foundation:

“Governor McAuliffe has sought to engage Virginians in a necessary conversation that is central to our society: how will we care for our first responders and their families when they are injured or killed in service to our communities? His proposal to invest $17 million in the Line of Duty Act Fund and re-engage the Line of Duty Act work group to update state policies and funding mechanisms to provide for our public safety officers and their families is welcome news. I applaud Governor McAuliffe for his leadership on this important issue. I look forward to working with him to ensure that this conversation results in reforms that reflect our commitment to providing for those who face danger every day to keep us safe and contribute so much to making this the best state in which to live, raise a family, and do business."