Virginia lawmakers vote to remove statue of segregationist Harry F Byrd Sr dailypress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailypress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
February 23, 2021
RICHMOND, Va. – A stoke of the pen is all that is left for the abolition of executions in Virginia. A bill to do away the death penalty won final approval in the Virginia Senate Monday and now heads to Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he will sign it.
The measure would make Virginia the first Southern state to abandon capital punishment.
State lawmakers gave final approval to the bill Monday, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its long history than any other.
The legislation would make Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions.
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BILLS STILL ALIVE
Don’t let the long list fool you. While the majority of the bills we’ve been following have either passed both chambers or seem well on their way to doing so, some of the most impactful bills are now dead, and others have been amended into meekness.
The entire category of Utility Reform got emptied out into the dumpster in Senate Commerce and Labor, which also killed Jeff Bourne’s “right to shop” bill that would have opened up the renewable energy market. They are all now found under “Dead and Buried” at the end.
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The statue to former Virginia Governor and staunch segregationist Harry Byrd in Richmond s Capitol Square. (Photo: Craig Carper/VPM News)
A statue of former Virginia Governor Harry F. Byrd is expected to be removed from Richmond’s Capitol Square.
The Senate voted 36-3 to approve the removal Tuesday afternoon, but not before Democrats and Republicans gave dueling accounts of Byrd’s life on the Senate floor. Byrd was a leader in the South’s fight against racial integration in the 1950’s and 60’s, known as the massive resistance movement. He also led the creation of Virginia’s modern highway system and was rumoured to be a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1932.