Faith-based lobbying groups ready to take on General Assembly
January 5, 2009
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January 4, 2009
When the General Assembly convenes next week, two religious groups will be pushing legislators not to solve Virginia's budget problems by cutting programs for the poor.
"We know we have to protect the social safety net," said the Rev. Douglas Smith of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.
The Virginia Catholic Conference will likewise lobby against cutting Medicaid, housing assistance, aid for the disabled or "anything that would serve people on the margins," said Jeff Caruso, the organization's executive director.
Meanwhile, The Family Foundation will back legislation letting state trooper chaplains pray according to their faith beliefs. A new policy in 2008 instructed the chaplains not to invoke specific deities in public prayers offered at government events.
"Expunging our Judeo-Christian heritage from the public square seems in vogue in the 21st century," lamented Victoria Cobb of the Foundation.
The three groups are among the most active faith-based lobbying groups at the General Assembly, which begins its 2009 session on Jan. 14. The groups have a range of legislative priorities that don't always overlap.
The VCC is the public policy advocacy arm of the state's two Catholic dioceses. The Foundation has strong evangelical support, while the VICPP has an interfaith constituency.
During this year's session, the Interfaith Center is advocating for a law that would regulate lenders who secure loans with a borrower's car title. Smith said such loans now carry extreme interest rates and should instead be capped at 36 percent.
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