HB 2209 and SB 1309: The Short Version

Yes, Virginia House Bill 2209, which was extremely unpopular with Tea Parties, has been enacted into law...

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+CHAP0593

But before you blast Delegates Albo, Anderson, BaCote, Bell, Richard P., Bell, Robert B., Brink, Bulova, Carr, Cole, Comstock, Cosgrove, Cox, J.A., Cox, M.K., Crockett-Stark, Dance, Dudenhefer, Edmunds, Fariss, Farrell, Filler-Corn, Garrett, Gilbert, Greason, Habeeb, Head, Helsel, Herring, Hester, Hodges, Hope, Howell, A.T., Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, James, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Keam, Kilgore, Knight, Kory, Krupicka, Landes, LeMunyon, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Lopez, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., Massie, May, McClellan, McQuinn, Merricks, Minchew, Morefield, Morris, Morrissey, O'Bannon, Orrock, Plum, Pogge, Poindexter, Purkey, Putney, Ramadan, Ransone, Robinson, Rush, Rust, Scott, E.T., Scott, J.M., Sherwood, Sickles, Spruill, Stolle, Surovell, Torian, Toscano, Tyler, Villanueva, Ward, Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Watson, Watts, Webert, Wilt, Wright, Yancey, Yost, or Senators Alexander, Barker, Black, Blevins, Carrico, Colgan, Deeds, Ebbin, Edwards, Favola, Garrett, Hanger, Herring, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Marsh, Martin, McDougle, McEachin, McWaters, Miller, Newman, Norment, Northam, Obenshain, Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Reeves, Ruff, Saslaw, Smith, Stanley, Stosch, Stuart, Vogel, Wagner, and Watkins (all of whom voted for the amended version of HB 2209), note how much bad stuff was pruned out of the version that became law. Here's the original version:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+HB2209

For one thing, if you paste each version into Word for comparison, the original bill runs to 17 pages, the version that became law to 4 pages. The version that became law also emphasizes that the "soil and water management plans" are voluntary and that what's being funded is a certification program for people who choose to instruct other people on writing these plans. Don't be deceived--this is still Agenda 21, giving the land grabbers a toehold from which to make everything mandatory later, and there are still a lot of nasty references to other documents that aren't even linked--but do be aware that our elected officials tried to minimize the damage they were doing to our heritage and our way of life.

Readers also expressed interest in Senate Bill #1309. As enacted into law, these bills were amended to the point where they merged.