SALT UPDATES from the most recent session of the Virginia General Assembly (VGA): 

• Virginia General Assembly (VGA) passed the SALT-supported Senate Bill 581, directing the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to convene a workgroup for reviewing and making recommendations regarding the reduction or elimination of costs and fees charged to inmates in local or regional correctional facilities. Fees that will be assessed include: those related to the costs of an inmate's keep; work release, or participation in educational or rehabilitative programs; telephone services; commissaries; and electronic visitation systems. 

• Social Action Linking Together was invited in SB 581to participate in the workgroup and has provided the name of a well-qualified individual to serve as SALT’s representative on this workgroup. The work group will report its findings and recommendations by December 1st, 2022.

• SALT’s TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) increase passed, and it includes a five percent TANF increase, in compliance with the  previously passed mandate to keep increasing TANF every year until it exceeds 50% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).  Now, on to the Governor for his signature.

• VGA’s Budget includes making the Virginia Earned Income Tax (VEITC) refundable, a goal that has eluded SALT since 1993, when our proposal was downsized to a non-refundable VEITC.  And now, on to the Governor.

ADVOCACY DIGEST and NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

• The SALT-supported coalition’s (Virginia Coalition on Solitary Confinement) proposed legislation, SB 108, to end solitary confinement was downsized and passed as work-group study.  The Coalition will report its findings December 1, 2022.

• Delegate Don Scott is the new Democratic House Leader…read more. Additional bio information can be found here and here. 

• Saturday,  noon-2:00 p.m. – March for Our Lives 2022 to end gun violence, at the Washington Monument in DC. From the organizers: “We’re marching in our nation’s capital just like we did in 2108. Show up and demonstrate to our elected officials that we demand and deserve a nation free of gun violence.” Click here to register, or just show up. 

• Advocacy Opportunity: Tell  Congress to Ban Assault Rifles.  A message from President Joseph Biden: "My fellow Americans, enough. Enough. It’s time for each of us to do our part. It’s time to act. For the children we’ve lost. For the children we can save. For the nation we love. Let’s hear the call and the cry. Let’s meet the moment. Let us finally do something."

• Another week, another mass shotting…read more: 1)“Make no mistake, it’s the guns that make us different”. 2) “Responsible gun owners know it’s nuts to permit firearms that scare police”. 3) “The AR-15 is for mass killing—ban it”.

• Virginia Senator Joe Morrissey and other Virginia legislators push for gun reform ahead of the VGA 2023 session: “We have got to do something about gun reform,” Morrissey said. “We need legislators to stand up. Stop worrying about getting reelected and just do what is right.”

• A message and a call to action on gun violence from our friends at Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Click here to read and advocate.

• Join Delegate Patrick Hope on Saturday, June 11th for a special viewing of the award-wining documentary, “The Evers.” Those attending will be joined by award winning writer/director Loki Mulholland for discussion after the film. Location: Arlington Central Library -- Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30p.m.

• Join the Poor People's and Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls on June 18 -- click here.  

• After months of wrangling, Virginia has a budget deal. What’s in it?  Virginia lawmakers approve budget with tax cuts, spending increases.

• Friends of Guest House has a new Executive Director: Sonja Allen. She is the successor of Kari Galloway, the longest-serving Executive Director of Friends of Guest House, a stellar leader, and a good friend of SALT. Kari is retiring at the end of June, after a 17-year tenure.

SALT is happy to introduce our first “SALT Legislative Updates and  Advocacy Digest."  We hope you find it helpful in your advocacy efforts to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.

In the meantime, keep in touch with the SALT web site at https://www.s-a-l-t.org/  and keep advocating, please!