Please sign this petition!

Greetings!

Last year, as you may know, I introduced legislation to protect Virginia state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace. Although the bill passed the Senate, with every Democrat voting in support of it, it was defeated in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. As I told you then, I will not give up – ALL Virginians deserve equal opportunity, fairness and justice.

This year I am going to introduce my bill again to protect Virginians from discrimination based on sexual orientation, but I need your help:

I am writing you today to ask you to be a citizen sponsor of my non-discrimination legislation, Senate Bill 747.

I believe that when we show the legislators and the governor the overwhelming support for this bill, we have a chance to make them listen.

My goal is to take the voices of thousands of people with me to the General Assembly, thousands of people who say that Virginians deserve these protections.

Join me in this important battle and become a citizen-sponsor of this critical and necessary legislation.

Click Here to Sign the Petition!

Add your name to the many others who support Senate Bill 747.

Together, we can win this battle. Together, we can ensure that Virginians receive equal protection and fairness.

Please sign today! The General Assembly Session starts in a few short weeks and it is imperative that we get as many citizen-sponsors as possible.

Please forward this message to all your friends and acquaintances who care about fairness.

We want to get the message out so that, together, we can be heard.

Thank you in advance for your help with this very important project.

Please know that I will never give up this fight! I will be there until no Virginian fears discrimination in the workplace because of his or her sexual orientation. With your help, this can be the year that we change Virginia and make it a better and fairer place for all of us. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Donald McEachin

Contact Us
District Office:
Phone: (804) 226-4111
Visit: 4719 Nine Mile Rd., Richmond, VA
Email: sen.mceachin@gmail.com

Paid for and authorized by McEachin for Senate.

"McEachin Interfaith Legislator of the Year"

State Senator Donald McEachin has been named “Legislator of the Year” by the Virginia Interfaith Center:

Rev. Doug Smith, the President and CEO of the Virginia Interfaith Center, said, “Senator McEachin is a natural choice for Legislator of the Year because of his strong and relevant voice on issues of economic and environmental justice.”

McEachin, a lawyer and former delegate elected to the senate in 2008, might have had an “in” with the interfaith group from the man upstairs. He’s a preacher—a 2008 graduate of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology.

“I only hope I can continue to live up to their faith in me,” he said in a statement.

Congratulations Senator McEachin!

Become a Citizen Sponsor!

Greetings!

Last year, as you may know, I introduced legislation to protect Virginia state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace. Although the bill passed the Senate, with every Democrat voting in support of it, it was defeated in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. As I told you then, I will not give up – ALL Virginians deserve equal opportunity, fairness and justice.

This year I am going to introduce my bill again to protect Virginians from discrimination based on sexual orientation, but I need your help:

I am writing you today to ask you to be a citizen sponsor of my non-discrimination legislation, Senate Bill 747.

I believe that when we show the legislators and the governor the overwhelming support for this bill, we have a chance to make them listen.

My goal is to take the voices of thousands of people with me to the General Assembly, thousands of people who say that Virginians deserve these protections.

Join me in this important battle and become a citizen-sponsor of this critical and necessary legislation.

Click Here to Sign the Petition!

Add your name to the many others who support Senate Bill 747.

Together, we can win this battle. Together, we can ensure that Virginians receive equal protection and fairness.

Please sign today! The General Assembly Session starts in a few short weeks and it is imperative that we get as many citizen-sponsors as possible.

Please forward this message to all your friends and acquaintances who care about fairness.

We want to get the message out so that, together, we can be heard.

Thank you in advance for your help with this very important project.

Please know that I will never give up this fight! I will be there until no Virginian fears discrimination in the workplace because of his or her sexual orientation. With your help, this can be the year that we change Virginia and make it a better and fairer place for all of us. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Donald McEachin

Contact Us
District Office:
Phone: (804) 226-4111
Visit: 4719 Nine Mile Rd., Richmond, VA
Email: sen.mceachin@gmail.com

Paid for and authorized by McEachin for Senate.

Senator McEachin criticizes Glenn Beck's attack on Holocaust survivor

State Senator Donald McEachin had the following to say about a recent attack on a Holocaust survivor by Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck:

When will the people who watch this man see him for who he is? A fear monger. When will the sponsors who sponsor this garbage withdraw their support? Every time this man speaks hate we must respond with condemnation of his words and his actions. Eric Cantor says he will be a check on the President's administration in their dealings with Israel. I say to Eric: here is the guy you need to check.

Glenn Beck has been sharply criticized for his recent attack on Holocaust survivor George Soros. Beck has falsely accused Soros of helping the Nazis send Jews to death camps, of being a Nazi collaborator.

Senator McEachin's letter to Governor McDonnell regarding ABC privatization

State Senator Donald McEachin sent the following letter to Governor Bob McDOnnell today:

November 11, 2010

Dear Governor McDonnell,

I understand from an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch that you stated you hired The PFM Group, a private outside group, to study the ABC privatization issue to
"make sure people are going to vote solely on policy" instead of "fighting about the numbers."

While I continue to have serious and real trepidations about the fiscal propriety of the proposed plan and whether there will be any significant revenue benefits for the Commonwealth, I would suggest to you, as I stated previously, that there remain other significant considerations that need to be addressed. Based on your statements in the newspaper, I do not believe PFM will be considering these concerns, but I still believe strongly that they are very important and must be resolved before we can and should move forward. I would ask you respectfully to please ensure that these issues are considered and addressed in your final proposal to the General Assembly:

• The social and public safety impacts of significantly expanding the number of licensed liquor vendors in communities across the Commonwealth

• The likelihood than many of these additional vendors will be located near schools and community centers, and in low-income communities

• The increased opportunity for minors to purchase hard liquor from a larger number of vendors, and the additional regulation and enforcement that will be required in order to prevent that from happening

• The impacts of allowing private vendors to promote the sale of hard liquor products in Virginia communities

I was also dismayed that it appeared you doubted the motives of some of us who have questioned the privatization proposal by saying that Senate Democrats who harbor reservations are "flat partisans and a shrill and minority voice" who "just don't want a Republican governor to succeed." Let me assure you that my concerns are not related to partisanship or politics, but rather to a sincere and deep felt concern for my constituents and for all Virginia families. I would hope that, as we move forward, we can work together to find the best resolutions to ensure that we obtain the revenue we desperately need to address our transportation crisis in a way that protects and serves Virginians.

I look forward to continuing to work with you and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to seek out new and innovative solutions that save resources and serve the Commonwealth.

Thank you for your service. I remain

Sincerely yours,

Donald McEachin

Senator McEachin's address to the 2010 Annual Virginia Statewide Legal Aid Conference

Last night, State Senator Donald McEachin delivered the following keynote address to the 2010 Annual Virginia Statewide Legal Aid Conference:

Good evening. Thank you for the very kind introduction. I also want to congratulate the Shumate Award winners, for their advocacy. I know well Mr. Pittman’s impassioned testimony on behalf of his low-income clients and I have certainly heard many compliments and effusive comments about Mr. Allison’s exhibit. Congratulations, gentlemen, this award is well-deserved. I also want to note that I understand that members of Mr. Shumate’s family are in the audience. You can be very proud of Mr. Shumate. He has left quite a legacy. Finally, let me recognize Mr. Botts of Rappahannock Legal Aid who is retiring after 31 years. Thank you, sir, for your commitment, dedication and hard work. Enjoy your retirement..

But, let me take this very first opportunity to thank all of you here tonight. I want you to know how important the work is that you do. Every week, every day, all day, you strive to help those most vulnerable and those who live at the margins. For the vast majority of your clients, you are the last resort. They feel helpless and hopeless, stranded in a system they don’t comprehend and fearful that the only goal of that system is to harass and victimize them. For those people, who have limited or no options, the legal system is one more overwhelming challenge, a challenge that many see as insurmountable. Thanks to your tireless and devoted efforts, they get a guide and a roadmap through that complicated system and, perhaps, a chance to see the opportunity of our jurisprudence.

For an individual without education, for someone for whom English is not their first language, for a mother struggling to raise her children, for a young man caught in the throes of addiction, you are the guide that takes their hands and shows them that there is a way, that the weight of the system can be lifted and that light can exist at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel. Imagine being dropped in a foreign country with no knowledge of the language, culture or society and being expected to find your own way. For many of your clients, the legal system is just that – a foreign country of which they have no understanding, a language they cannot comprehend and a culture that seemingly makes no sense. Your day to day efforts change that and make all the difference and I salute you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

In my work in the legislature, I try to tackle many of the same problems that I know you see every day. I take it as my responsibility to do what I can to ensure that our laws lift the burden on those who are most vulnerable and, where possible, offer a figurative hand up to give them a chance to thrive on their own. In these perilous economic times, the challenges sometime seem infinite, but with the great assistance of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, we at the General Assembly are able to help sort through those challenges and attempt to make a difference.

This January, I want to start with the foreclosure crisis. Surely, all of us in America, no matter what political party, no matter what we think of Washington or even Richmond, agree that all Americans should be entitled to a roof over their heads. No one can be expected to function, let alone flourish, without knowing they can count on shelter. And, with that in mind, we all also recognize that the foreclosure crisis is growing, the process for addressing those problems is broken and the consequences for many, many Virginia families are dire. I want to let you know tonight that, with the help of the Poverty Law Center, I am going to introduce legislation to address this crisis and to try and fix the irreparably broken process. Together, we will do everything we can to ensure that all Virginia families have a roof over their heads and that no family can lose its home and find itself out on the street without real safeguards in place.

As many of you know, among the most serious crises facing those of lower income are payday and car title lending. These are issues we have struggled with in the legislature for several years now. Let me be very frank: these folks have strong, well-paid lobbies that energetically pursue legislators and actively and vociferously pursue their case for their clients. We have had many disappointments and setbacks, but I am here to tell you tonight that the payday lending situation, while certainly not eliminated, has improved significantly. My law office is on Nine Mile Road and, for a long time, I would step out my front door and there would be a payday lending operation right across the street, within my view, every time I left my office. I would watch the traffic in and out of that place every day, a visual reminder of the crisis facing us here in the Commonwealth. As I watched men and women of every age, families and seniors go into that building, I was constantly reminded of how payday lending is just another way to take advantage of those who already face almost insurmountable obstacles. Tonight, however, I am very pleased and excited to be able to tell you that the payday lending shop across the street from me is gone, closed its doors and shuttered its business in light of the incremental progress we have made in the Commonwealth. We have not yet eliminated this problem, we have not yet closed every shop but I can assure you the situation is greatly ameliorated and the payday lending crisis significantly abated. And we will keep working at this until no Virginian is victimized by this greedy industry.

Now, we just need to make sure we do the same thing with car title lending. We have just begun that fight and, of course, the other side learned fm our payday lending victories and they have dug in their heels even harder. But we have a group of legislators, from both sides of the aisle, and we, too, are up to this challenge. It may not be this year, or, unfortunately, even next, but you can be assured that the car title industry here in Virginia will go the same way as payday lending.

I am constantly intrigued by how many of the issues you all tackle every day are the same issues we undertake in the legislature. Whether it is domestic violence or affordable housing or even immigration status, as you strive to help your clients, we in the General Assembly debate the best policies for Virginia on those very issues. Please know that your views and experiences on these critical matters are very important to me. I want to be making your lives and those of your clients easier; I want to make their problems less ominous and overwhelming. Working with you, I want to ensure that all Virginians have opportunity, fairness and justice. Please, please feel free to contact me with suggestions for any of these issues or any other concerns you have. I want to be your partner in the legislature, as we share similar concerns and goals for Virginians. Only with your help can I make the kind of difference I want to make and bring the kind of changes we all believe are needed here in the Commonwealth. My door is always open and I very much look forward to hearing from you.

And please know I will never stop fighting for those issues. I believe that is my responsibility in the legislature, to fight for those who feel oppressed, for those for whom the system has failed, for those who have never had a chance, for those who live their lives on the margins. I am there to make a difference for them, to do what I can to ensure they have their piece of the American dream, their opportunity to succeed in this great country of ours, in this Commonwealth that we all love.

Let me conclude tonight by thanking you again for all you do. I truly believe that it is your efforts, day in and day out, that bring us closest to the kind of society we all envision and bring Virginians and Virginia families the kind of relief and opportunity they all deserve. Please accept my heartfelt thanks and gratitude.

Senator McEachin’s Statement on Tuesday's Election

State Senator Donald McEachin has released the following statement:

Senator McEachin’s Statement on Tuesday’s Election

Henrico - Senator A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) today released this statement on last night’s results. Senator McEachin said, “I would first like to take this opportunity to offer my thanks and admiration to three excellent public servants, Congressman Rick Boucher, Congressman Glen Nye and Congressman Tom Perriello. I know all three of these gentlemen personally and I can attest to their commitment and dedication, their love for Virginia and their principles and values in trying to do what they believed was best for their constituents. I wish them well and hope they will continue to be active in the months and years ahead.

“I would like to congratulate those Representatives who were re-elected and to our new Congressmen, two of whom I know from the General Assembly. I wish them well and look forward to working with them.

“Here in Virginia, as we prepare for the next General Assembly Session beginning in January, we remember that the Virginia Democratic Party is about results and improving Virginians’ lives and finding solutions. In the months ahead there is no bigger or more pressing problem than putting Virginians back to work. Virginians are hurting and they are worried about the future. It is our responsibility to address this problem and to ensure that we focus single-mindedly on ensuring the Virginians have the jobs they need and that their fears and concerns for the future are resolved. Virginia has been a leader in this country for four hundred years and we will continue to lead over the next century and into the future.”

“To my fellow Democrats, I know last night was very disappointing and difficult, both in Virginia and around the country. But, don’t despair. We need to continue to work hard, continue to put our values and beliefs in front of the American people and continue to have faith in our representative democracy. America always moves forward and in the next two years, we will have that opportunity for progress and we will take it. We must be hopeful and we must work towards the fulfillment of that hope. In America, one election can wrought great change and just as this election has, the next election can also. This is America and we are most fortunate to be Americans, today, and tomorrow as well as yesterday.”