Archive Resolutions

A list of resolutions passed from previous years.

2018

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

Resolution in Support of Ratification by Virginia of the Equal Rights Amendment To the United States Constitution

WHEREAS, equality under the law is a fundamental value of Americans and the people of the City of Fredericksburg; and

WHEREAS, legislation and court decisions have increased women’s access to education, employment, and public service; and

WHEREAS, that same legislation can be repealed and the Supreme Court may strike legislation or retreat from its own precedent, thereby eliminating or abridging legal rights currently enjoyed by women, girls, and their families; and

WHEREAS, Americans value the continued participation of women in education, the military, public service, and other spheres of our society; and

WHEREAS, inclusion of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution would require courts to apply the same strict level of scrutiny it applies to test the constitutionality of government action based on race, religion, or national origin; and

WHEREAS, an overwhelming majority of Americans reported in a 2015 poll that they support an amendment to the United States Constitution to guarantee equal rights for both men and women; and

WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment was passed in 1972 by Congress, which imposed a seven-year ratification deadline on states, later extended to ten years; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution does not expressly authorize Congress to impose ratification deadlines on the states, and, moreover, if Congress does have such power, then it also has the power to extend or eliminate its deadlines; and

WHEREAS, the American Bar Association reaffirmed its support for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in 2016; and

WHEREAS, well after the 1982 deadline set by Congress, Nevada in 2017 and Illinois in 2018 ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, bringing the total number of states that have ratified the amendment to 37, just one shy of the 38 needed to satisfy the Constitutional requirement that an amendment be ratified by three-fourths of the states to become valid; and

WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment states:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee, support the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee urge the City Council of the City of Fredericksburg to adopt this resolution and for the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as proposed by Congress on March 22, 1972, during the 2019 legislative session.

Approved November 14, 2018

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Affordable Housing Programs in The Commonwealth of Virginia

Whereas,

The fundamental values of American democracy since the Founding of our Nation, include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. These values demand that the rights of individuals must not be abridged during the development and economic growth and improvement of our society, and that safe and dignified housing should be within the reach of all.

Whereas,

An estimated 12 million renters and homeowners now pay more than 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing. A family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States.

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/affordablehousing/

Whereas,

In Virginia, there are 859,679 ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households earning more than the Federal Poverty Level, while another 342,112 households live below the poverty level. In total, 39% of Virginia households earn below the ALICE Threshold. In Fredericksburg, the number is 55%, while Arlington, VA has only 23%.

https://www.unitedwayalice.org/home

Whereas,

Financial assistance is available in many forms:

The HUD Home Investment Partnerships Program, a Federal block grant program for State and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households. HUD’s National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) supports the acquisition, new construction, or reconstruction of rental units for extremely low-income families or families with incomes below the poverty line. https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/affordablehousing/

Under a new program, Freddie-Mac will offer low-cost loans to real-estate owners willing to keep their buildings affordable to middle class families. Laura Kusisto, Washington Post, 5/3/18 https://www.wsj.com/articles/freddie-mac-offers-cheap-loans-to-affordable-housing-landlords-1525348800

Whereas,

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the city of Fredericksburg ranks equally with the most expensive housing cost cities in Virginia, with an estimated $34.48 per hour salary required to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/

Therefore,

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Strongly supports all efforts by the city of Fredericksburg to address the issue of Affordable Housing, including:

Initiate development of Master Planning documents that include treatment of the issue of Affordable Housing.
Hold public hearings to review zoning regulations with a view to addressing Affordable Housing.
Establish a working group to investigate all State and Federal assistance programs currently available to treat the issue of Affordable Housing in Fredericksburg.
Require that all development proposals within the City show plans for or request for waiver from Affordable Housing participation.

Approved August 8, 2018. Amended September 12, 2018

COMMON SENSE GUN LEGISLATION

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Adoption of Sensible Gun Laws in The Commonwealth of Virginia

Whereas,

Gun violence in Virginia is typical of that in much of the nation. Virginia ranked 28th of the 50 states for the overall rate of gun deaths from 2004 to 2013. Virginia has been the scene of some of the most horrific, high-profile acts of gun violence in recent memory: the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007 and the on-air execution of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward in August 2015.

Virginia Under the Gun by Chelsea Parsons at Center for American Progress 10/27/15

www.americanprogress.org/issues/guns-crime/reports/2015/10/27/124132/virginia-under-the-gun/

Tragedy at Virginia Tech by Evan Thomas at Newsweek 4/29/17

www.newsweek.com/tragedy-virginia-tech-98053

Revenge race murder by Chris Pleasance at Daily Mail 8/26/15

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3211529/WDBJ7-reporter-Alison-Parker-Adam-Ward-shot-live-TV-Moneta-gunman.html

Whereas,

In the year 2018 as of April 26, in the United States, there have been 17,978 incidents of gun violence resulting in 4,519 deaths, including 190 children and 792 teens killed or injured according to Gun Violence Archive.

GunViolenceArchive.org, 4/26/18

Whereas,

It has been estimated that nearly 40% of all guns sold in America are sold by private, unlicensed sellers either online or through gun shows. These sellers are not required by federal or state law to perform any background checks before transferring a firearm.

Executive Order Number 50, 2015 Executive Action to Prevent Gun Violence by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe

https://governor.virginia.gov/media/4685/eo-50-on-gun-violence-final.pdf

Whereas,

Projected federal-level implementation of universal background checks for firearm purchase could reduce national firearm mortality from 10.35 to 4.46 deaths per 100,000 people, background checks for ammunition purchase could reduce it to 1.99 per 100,000, and firearm identification to 1.81 per 100,000.

Firearm Laws and Firearm Homicides: A Systematic Review by Lois K. Lee at JAMA Internal Medicine 1/1/17

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2582989

Whereas,

A supermajority of voters in both parties are in favor of preventing those prone to violence or suicide due to mental illness and those on the no-fly watch list from owning firearms. Voters also overwhelmingly support background checks for private sales and at gun shows.

Here are the gun control policies that majorities in both parties support by Ryan Struyk at CNN 11/6/17

www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/politics/bipartisan-gun-control-policies-majorities

Therefore, be it resolved, the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee:

Shall support enactment of legislation and regulations leading to reasonable and sensible restrictions on gun sales, transfers, and ownership in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including but not limited to universal background checks.

Approved June 13, 2018.

REDISTRICTING

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Fair Redistricting Reform for The Commonwealth of Virginia

Whereas,

The fundamental values of American democracy since the Founding of our Nation, include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. These values demand that the rights of individuals must not be abridged during the development and improvement of our society. The single most important expression of the will of the people of the United States to guarantee liberty is the right to vote. This right is universal, but not universally exercised. A history of partisan management of voting district assignments has engendered a widespread distrust of election systems, and denial of veracity.

Whereas,

In Virginia, state legislators redraw district lines for the U.S. Congress, the Virginia House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia after every 10-year census. Under the current system, the party in power in the House and the party in power in the Senate can draw the lines to serve their own interests, not those of our communities.

Whereas,

Virginia is ranked as one of the most gerrymandered states in the country both on the congressional and state levels based on lack of compactness and contiguity of its districts. [1] Virginia is ranked the 5th worst in the country.[2] Throughout the Commonwealth, counties and cities are being broken in half or into multiple pieces to create heavily partisan districts.

GERRYMANDERING is the deliberate manipulation of legislative district boundaries to advantage or benefit a particular party or group, or to cause disadvantage or harm to an opposing party or group. It distorts the electoral process, undermines democracy, and renders legislative elections a meaningless exercise. It’s a conflict of interest for the legislature to draw its own district lines.

[1] Governing: By the Numbers, October 2012

[2] Redrawing the Map on Redistricting, An Azavea White Paper, 2012

Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention:

Shall support enactment of legislation and regulations leading to redistricting reform in Virginia for state legislative and congressional districts; and begins the multi-year process required to amend the Virginia Constitution to provide for a reformed redistricting process by the year 2021

Approved March 12, 2018.

SOLAR ENERGY

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Policies to Protect the Natural Environment of The Commonwealth of Virginia

Whereas,

The Commonwealth of Virginia, being blessed by abundant natural beauty and tranquility, has long been the sought-after location for living in concert with nature. Careful stewardship of natural resources has mostly succeeded in balancing individual rights with economic imperatives. Maturation of scientific means of monitoring and understanding changes in environments and their potential and real effects on life as expected in Virginia (and the earth at large) make it

clear that this balance cannot continue without rapid and aggressive actions to reduce production of hydrocarbon contamination of the atmosphere.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate Science Special Report, (6/28/17) known as the National Climate Assessment Report (NCAP4) confirms and extends the warnings of NCAP3. NCAP4 was prepared by 13 Federal Agencies, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and written by 32 distinguished scientists as lead authors, 19 as contributing authors. The essential conclusion of these scientists and agencies is that “it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20^th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.” (science2017.globalchange.gov)

Solar energy is a proven and rapidly improving technology which is becoming a successful alternative to fossil fueled generation of electricity. Customer-owned, both residential and commercial, solar energy systems are a leading means for adoption of this important green energy technology.

Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention:

That the Commonwealth enact laws and support regulations to incentivize and otherwise promote installation of residential and commercial solar energy systems.

Approved February 12, 2018.

WATERSHED PROTECTION

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Policies to Protect the Natural Environment of The Commonwealth of Virginia

Whereas,

Coal mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, agricultural side-effects, are damaging ecosystems and polluting water supplies, constituting serious threats to the health and well-being of citizens. The Rappahannock River is now listed as endangered by American Rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay is only now showing significant recovery from near-catastrophic pollution. Recent and proposed new Federal regulation changes threaten the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Therefore, be it resolved, the Convention:

That the Commonwealth enact laws and support regulations to control and ultimately eliminate contamination due to coal ash management and runoff, due to chemical incursion into streams, rivers and subsurface aquifers, due to agricultural fertilizer runoff, and further to prohibit dangerous techniques such as hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas bearing shale deposits.

Approved February 12, 2018.

WIND ENERGY

The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee Endorses Policies to Increase Clean Energy Utilization in The Commonwealth of Virginia

Whereas,

The U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate Science Special Report, 06/28/2017 known as the National Climate Assessment Report (NCAP4) confirms and extends the warnings of NCAP3. NCAP$ was prepared by 13 Federal Agencies, led by NOAA and NASA, 32 distinguished scientists as Lead Authors, 19 as contributing authors. The essential conclusion of these scientists and agencies is that “it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20^th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.” <science2017.globalchange.gov>

Atlantic City – Governor Phil Murphy today signed an Executive Order directing the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to fully implement the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act (OWEDA) and begin the process of moving the state toward a goal of 3,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy generation by the year 2030. Press Release, Governor’s Office January 31, 2018, 1:09 pm

New York State on Monday is to release an exhaustive master plan for offshore wind energy that foresees up to 5,000 people employed in and around a $6 billion by 2028, with annual health benefits from reduced emissions valued at up to $400 million. industry The Cuomo administration plan also makes clear that while offshore wind representing 2,400 megawatts and hundreds of turbines will be in the waters south of Long Island, none is expected to be visible from shore. The state expects more than 1.2 million homes could be powered by offshore wind.

Newsday. Updated January 28, 2018 7:55 PM mark.harrington@newsday.com

Therefore, be it resolved, the convention:

That the Commonwealth enact laws and support regulations to promote installation of utility level Off Shore Wind Energy systems and to promote and incentivize the use of residential wind energy.

Approved February 12, 2018.