Amid the bleak results of this year’s session of the
Virginia General Assembly, there have been a few bright spots. On Friday, one
of those bright spots shown through.
The House Courts of Justice Committee unanimously passed
Sen. Adam Ebbin’s[1]
bill, SB969[2],which
repeals the commonwealth’s 136-year-old archaic law that prohibits unmarried
Virginia couples from living together.
Last month, Ebbin’s[3]
cohabitation bill passed the full Senate on a 40-0 vote. Now, the full House
must vote to pass Ebbin’s bill.
According to Ebbin, census data shows that close to 140,000
Virginians are living together, unmarried. Ebbin also noted that Virginia is 1
of 4 states in the country that still makes cohabitation a crime. Go figure!
Regardless of how frequently the law has been enforced, a
repeal of Virginia’s cohabitation law would be a symbolic step in the direction
of progress, a sign that Virginia is finally ready to shed those elements of
its past that no longer make sense in the present.
Progress, however, isn’t a word readily associated with the
Virginia House of Delegates, so SB969’s movement through the House is by no
means guaranteed. Perhaps, for example, unmarried couples living together is a
sign of ‘godlessness’ or moral degeneration that should not be condoned[4].
SB969 will be a litmus test for just how in-tune Virginia’s
House Republicans are with the opinions of most Virginians. That is, if SB969
fails to pass the full House of Delegates, it will be another demonstration of
just how out-of-touch House Republicans are with the rest of Virginia (even if
we already know they are extremely out-of-touch!).
[1] http://www.nbc12.com/story/21220119/va-house-panel-backs-repeal-of-cohabitation-law
[2] http://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2013/sb969/
[3] http://www.richmondsunlight.com/legislator/apebbin/
[4] http://www.newsplex.com/news/politics/headlines/Va-Governor-Supports-Ending-Cohabitation-Ban-188853831.html
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