🚨BREAKING: Governor Ron DeSantis says he will allow Florida voters to vote to ABOLISH PROPERTY TAXES. Do it EVERYWHERE! "If you own your home, to truly OWN it, you have to own it FREE and CLEAR of the government - you shouldn't have to pay rent to the government!" "We're gonna place a question on the BALLOT that is gonna allow Floridians to vote themselves relief from property tax." "Your personal home, we really believe, should not be subject to tax. It's an unrealized gain." "People say, 'that can't be done.' My question is, why can't it be done? [Broward] County, Florida. 1.9 million people. NO net population growth over the last 5 years, but the budget has increased 60%!" Democrats and Socialists are taxing us to death and destroying our country. Virginia will suffer just like Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington State, Colorado, and California.

The challenge for one legislator is to vote no on the gun bills..Leave the groupthink system of failure..Stop discriminating against the citizens who placed you in office...Northern Virginia has the highest taxes ..Yet the counties are still in debt..due to failed programs such as the ones you support..

My name is Lisa Hotelling and I am affiliated with the registered student organization YIMBY at Mason at George Mason University. This bill is a huge step forward in preventing the voices of the loud, affluent minority from killing off perfectly good projects that will draw in more people, more growth, and more affordable places to live. If we let these complaints fester, we would never have these proven benefits and be stuck in the same cities, towns, and outdated infrastructure until the end of time. Anything that any governing body does always has the chance of creating some sort of negative externalities, however small, and we need governments to be able to build the things the people need (but a tiny handful of people don't want). Support HB447!

My name is Evan Ramee, and I speak on behalf of the GMU Registered Student Organization YIMBY at Mason. Our current system of zoning law is effectively an autocracy. Landowners can use undue influence in the form of lawsuits to delay or kill anything that they dislike. Arlington's Expanding Housing Options development system is a high profile example of this. Democratically elected County Board members unanimously to enact the bill, only for a vocal and affluent minority to undermine it. These lawsuits represent an autocratic rule in a democratic system. Allowing this is unacceptable. All citizens, regardless of wealth or home ownership, deseve an equal influence in shaping their local land use law. End the unjust rule of the pocketbook, and enact HB 447.

Several times in the last few years, we have seen localities work to define their own zoning codes in a more expansive way to allow for more density and diversity of housing types in what used to be restrictive codes. As these have been put in place by elected and administrative officials through prescribed process and seeking to meet the needs of their constituents searching for more affordable and increasingly scarce housing, they have been sued by those who only tangentially have claimed some harm or slight administrative misstep. They often rely on a vague claim of traffic/infrastructure or financial harm, even when studies show these to be largely untrue. This bill provides needed relief to empower local governments to serve the many and not be unnecessarily burdened by the few. These lawsuits spend taxpayer dollars to defend, gum up administrative processes causing development to stall and face rising costs to implement, often resulting in canceled projects and missed opportunities for housing and economic development. This is sensible legislation that provides a clearer definition for judicial officials to work from and allows for localities to meet their growth needs and help us battle the dire housing shortage. I urge your support for this bill.

Legislators,Do you acknowledge that the proposed tax on billionaires in California is a failure? Many billionaires have fled due to democrat fiscal chaos..Virginia will be just like California..A debt ridden, crime infested society all due in part to a poorly run state government ..This does not have to be this way..If you do the right thing..

The politicians arrived at the general assembly..The corrupt power and groupthink was and is..We cant ban guns but make so many laws that it would be difficult to own one. Also there mad at Youngkin because of the vetoes last year. This critique is true .The challenge is for one or more of the gun banners to step up and leave the groupthink..And vote against the bills ..Vote with gun owners..Stop discriminating against the gun class..liberal,conservative..Lafave vs Fairfax is at the supreme Court level..it will nullify the bad gun laws..

I demand NO FASCIST GUN CONTROL TYRANNY be passed. NONE. Everything you're contemplating banning is UNCONSTITUTIONAL and will be thrown out in court. Stop having temper tantrums because you WON'T get your way. NO ANTI-GUN BILLS

I urge you as a 2nd Amendment advocate, your constituent and American voter, to vote 'NO' on all these bill, which attack our US Constitution and most of all our Liberty! I thank you Sir

This law will be abused by angry people who only want to harm someone they dont like. Make the penalty for abusing this order by mandatory jail time if found abusing it.

I am in opposition to any and all gun control bills on docket in Virginia. It is my belief that they are unconstitutional, and violate both the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Do not vote for these bills

This new found power by the left to limit anything and everything to do with firearms is insane! It's not protecting or helping a single person and the only people it is burdening are law abiding citizens. Why not focus on catching bad guys, enforcing the 100's of current gun laws on the books and leave law abiding citizens alone !!!!!!

Anything that prohibits or restricts our 2nd amendment rights is unconstitutional and should be challenged in court if your bills do so restrict. If your bills prohibited the lawful purchase or possession of any type of firearm or related accessories and or our ability to personally construct and use for lawful purposes a firearm or related accessory it is unconstitutional . If you violate the 5th amendment takings clause you are also sponsoring an unconstitutional bill. You know this and still you act in an unconstitutional manner please cease and desist

The recent passage of HB217 and related gun control measures in the Virginia House, including bans on so-called "assault firearms" and large-capacity magazines, represents a direct assault on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Virginians. These laws, which criminalize the sale, manufacture, and transfer of commonly owned firearms, ignore the Constitution's clear protections and the Founding Fathers' intent. The Second Amendment states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." James Madison, the amendment's primary drafter, emphasized in Federalist No. 46 that an armed citizenry serves as a bulwark against tyranny, arguing that the federal government would be restrained by "the advantage of being armed which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation." Similarly, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a 1787 letter to William Stephens Smith that "what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms." The Founders viewed the right to bear arms as essential for self-defense, hunting, and resisting oppression—not limited to outdated muskets, but evolving with technology. Supreme Court precedents affirm this. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense, and struck down D.C.'s handgun ban. Justice Scalia noted that it safeguards "arms in common use at the time," which today includes semi-automatic rifles like those targeted by HB217. McDonald v. Chicago (2010) extended this to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment. Most recently, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022) invalidated restrictive carry laws, requiring gun regulations to align with historical traditions—something Virginia's broad bans fail to do, as they prohibit weapons millions of Americans own without incident. These measures won't reduce crime—criminals ignore laws—but they disarm the innocent. Virginia's Founders, like Patrick Henry, warned against disarming the people: "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel." Lawmakers should repeal these unconstitutional infringements and uphold our heritage of freedom.

I strongly oppose these ANTI 2nd amendment bills being passed due to our right to keep and bear arms! If these laws were passed it would violate the 2nd amendment.

Speaking on my own behalf and not the Charlottesville Planning Commission, though I would note that I was an individually named defendant in White v Charlottesville et al which successfully overturned the Charlottesville zoning code for a time, creating a tremendous burden on the public and some small anxiety for me personally. I understand Delegate Simon is working on updated language to introduce reasonable standing guidance for locality wide rezonings like we are increasingly seeing. It is best practice to be comprehensive and accurate in regulating land use and the current litigation free for all is a powerful financial and procedural disincentive to properly maintain code to meet changing public needs. There is a necessary bias to avoid the most litigious areas. It is increasingly understood that every zoning action will likely face a lawsuit, which may explain all of the sheds and fence requests we have seen in Charlottesville in recent years. Please do what you can to support the ability of localities to maintain good code. If we cannot maintain good code, we should not have it. Thank you, Lyle Solla-Yates Charlottesville, Virginia

The City of Falls Church supports HB447 to clarify third-party standing in litigation. This is consistent with the City Council's Adopted Legislative Positions.