HB 5002 Small Business & Women-owned & Minority-owned Business Procurement Enhancement Programs; Why is the bill only limited to all new capital outlay construction solicitations that are issued. How many Black women own construction companies? Why is it capped at 200K. I have an independent pharmacy in Norfolk Virginia and I have been waiting for this bill to come to committee. The bill has no bite. The state wasted money doing a diversity study , only to come up with this as a resolution. I have been consistently discriminated against in the state procurement process and I do not see where this bill is going to change anything. Dr. Anna Peoples

Principle Advantage representing the Virginia Spirits Association submits the following comments on their behalf. Virginia Sprits Association understands that shelf space is a valued commodity in stores – especially during a time when ABC revenue is growing while other state revenue streams are on the decline. As the patron stated during the Senate Finance hearing, removing low-alcohol beverages (LABs) from the shelves of ABC stores would free up more space for the sale of spirits which are taxed at a much higher rate than LABs which are taxed at the much lower wine rate. If the intent of the SB1428 is to clear up a marketplace issue between the ABC authority and the wholesalers and retailers it regulates, then the bill MUST be amended. The current language of the bill only removes some LABs creating an inequitable carve out for others. As written, the bill removes 91% of the LABs sold in 2020 and its associated revenue to the Commonwealth and leaves behind a carve-out market for a small, select group of licensed distillers. We respectfully request that you OPPOSE SB1428 as written, and instead amend the language of the bill to remove and low alcohol beverage coolers produced by licensed distillers on lines 16-17, 112-113, and 208-209. Removing ALL LABs from ABC store shelves would establish a fair and consistent policy for all in the LAB marketplace. VSA thanks you for your consideration, and appreciates your past support of “cocktails-to-go”.

Hello, We are asking you to please vote YES for SB1443 to Repeal ALL Mandatory Minimums. HB2331 is not broad enough and excludes many nonviolent offenses. We are asking that you include ALL Mandatory Minimums in the final bill, but if a compromise is necessary, look to the Earned Sentence Credits Bill for a source of compromise. Thank you for making HB2331 retroactive. Please amend SB1443 to also include those currently serving excessively long mandatory minimum sentences. Mandatory Minimums can no longer be a part of Virginia's criminal justice system in the future and it is intolerable to allow them to continue to unjustly affect those serving them now. Thank you. Gary and Debra Turner

My name is Santia Nance from Sistas in Prison Reform and BrillianceBehindBars and I urge you to pass SB1443, ending all mandatory minimums, instead of considering HB2331 which only covers drug charges. My loved one Quadaire Patterson is currently behind bars due to a stacked mandatory minimum sentence due to use of a firearm charges in a wrongful conviction. While we know the standard arguments about how mandatory minimums don’t work for recidivism, public safety, or fair trials, we still have vastly different bills on the table and we must push for SB1443. If you’re on the fence about this bill, ask yourself: Is it the excluded crimes you want to be harder on, or is it the people who are convicted for them? We both agree that non-violent crimes - those where no one was hurt - should NOT carry mandatory minimums. I urge you all to rethink the fact that charges used to dictate sentences, do not represent the full situation or indicate a violent crime nor a violent person. Let the judges and juries do their jobs hearing specifics cases and using the sentencing guidelines, instead of mandatory minimums, to determine the time that fits the crime. Let the system work the way it’s supposed to.Let’s do the right thing and bring fairness back to Virginia. Thank you.

It is tiring writing statements and speaking up for laws that are blatantly wrong because senators are going to come with their made up stats and lies to prevent what's right. mandatory minimums give judges you all appoint their jobs back. They also eliminate racist sentencing towards black and brown people. But that's not enough for you all. That last part should be the biggest issue and it isn't which makes Virginia the worst. It is time you all get on the RIGHT side of justice and retroactively. REPEAL ALL MANDATORY MINIMUMS

I oppose SB1443 : "Eliminates all mandatory minimum sentences of confinement from the Code of Virginia...." (CHAOTIC, SWEEPING, AND IRRESPONSIBLE) "The bill directs the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to establish a work group (WHO WOULD COMPRISE THIS WORK GROUP?) to evaluate (WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION?) the feasibility of resentencing persons previously convicted of a felony offense (WHY FELONIES?) that was punishable by a mandatory minimum term of confinement...." The work group would report on its findings by November 1, 2021. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission. Sentencing for crimes, particularly felonies, is too serious of an issue to approach it so broadly. It seems political, arbitrary, and irresponsible.

Please vote NO to SB1443. This bill leaves too many citizens vulnerable and is NOT supported by victims - myself included. Within the past 2 years I was the victim in 3 jury trials due to crimes taking place in different jurisdictions. Over the course of these trials, I worked with SIX Commonwealth Attorneys. They genuinely and actively sought my input on sentence outcome - from start to finish, while considering the MM’s on the table. Removing ALL minimums is a knee-jerk, pacifying move that ignores the Crime Commission’s own findings - not all MM crimes are racially disproportionate. Example: Sexual assault statutes included in SB1443 show white men as the largest offender. In the larger scope of criminal justice reform, are we considering how each piece of new legislation fits together? If not, who is left unprotected? Sen Edwards says the sentencing guidelines will be there, but the current guidelines are impacted by the presence of a MM. Do we know what these ranges will look like once MM’s are removed? Have we considered the inevitable sentencing inconsistencies due to the wide ranges the guidelines suggest? If we take the time to thoughtfully adjust MM’s, criminal justice reform can happen in parallel. Prosecutors have the option to reduce/drop charges and progressive Prosecutors have openly moved toward this practice in the name of reform. Our laws took time and evidence-based data to create. Change should follow this same model.

Hello, We are asking you to please vote YES for SB1443 to Repeal ALL Mandatory Minimums. HB2331 is not broad enough and excludes many nonviolent offenses. We are asking that you include ALL Mandatory Minimums in the final bill, but if a compromise is necessary, look to the Earned Sentence Credits Bill. Thank you for making HB2331 retroactive. Please amend SB1443 to also include those currently serving excessively long mandatory minimum sentences. Mandatory Minimums can no longer be a part of Virginia's criminal justice system in the future and it is intolerable to allow them to continue to unjustly affect those serving them now. Thank you. Gary and Debra Turner

MADD opposes SB 1443 unless if the proposal is amended to ensure that all impaired driving offenses are subject minimum sentencing guidelines. Thank you, Frank Harris MADD Director of State Government Affairs

Please remove mandatory minimums they do nothing but harm people. No case should ever be cut and dry and the punishment should be decided by judges who can take all evidence into account before condemning to jail maybe we should focus on helping people with addiction get and stay clean,assist in getting jobs so they don't fall back into same patterns. Would you want everyone who has a medical condition to be seen ,and treated the same, without looking at the individual person and all medical history where we set a individual plan of care related to their circumstances to help them heal? Every person has individual needs even if they have the same medical diagnosis. The same should work with the law. There are many extenuating circumstances in many cases and having a set punishment for all cases is wrong . Judges are on the bench because they have shown they are held in high esteem for there decision making skills and that they are sworn to uphold the law and to render judgements and sentencing in a fair just manor. So is it not time for judges to be able to see the case and evidence and then pass sentences without being told the punishment and limiting their ability to see each case as individual with its own circumstances. Judges like doctors should have the ability to follow basic sentences for a crime as a doctor would for each disease process but should be able to also adjust punishment according to each individual case as a doctor creates a plan of care for each individual patient.