RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Republicans in Virginia have proposed a bill that would eliminate tax breaks for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a Richmond-based women’s group that helped erect many of the nation’s Confederate monuments. It will be presented to Governor Glenn Youngkin. He has not said whether he supports it.
The Democratic-led House of Delegates on Monday gave final passage to a bill that would eliminate both recording and property tax exemptions for the group. Another companion measure that reached final passage last week would also eliminate those exemptions.
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These bills pass Congress with largely partisan support and relatively little debate. A small number of people who spoke out against the bill say it is discriminatory, but supporters argue that the tax break is a direct aid to state subsidies for Confederate monuments. He argued that it was equivalent to 21st century values and deviated from 21st century values.
The Senate bill’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. Angelia Williams Graves of Norfolk, said during a legislative hearing that “Virginia no longer supports its Confederate heritage, and the bill needs to reflect that.” “There is,” he said.
A tattered American flag lies on the grounds of the United Daughters of the Confederacy headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, on May 31, 2020. The Democratic-led Virginia House of Representatives passed the following final vote on Monday, February 26, 2024: The bill, which would eliminate both records and property tax exemptions for the Daughters of the Confederacy, is currently before Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who has approved the bill. He has not made it clear whether he supports it or not.
For more than a century, the group has been “spreading lies” of the Lost Cause (an ideology that downplays the role of slavery in the Civil War) and “marginalised by erecting Confederate monuments across the United States.” “It instilled fear in the population,” Williams-Graves said. .
The nonprofit that owns the marble memorial, valued at more than $4.4 million, located on a prominent Richmond thoroughfare, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
But last week, the state told television station WRIC that the state created a property tax exemption in 1950 and also extended the “Richmond Land Offer” for the memorial.
The property tax exemption helps the group, whose members gathered in the House gallery Monday, provide aid to other groups, including the Wounded Warrior Project and homeless veterans organizations, the group said.
“We hope that Governor Yonkin understands the complex history of this organization,” the statement said. The group added that it wants the governor to consider the bill “an unfair and unjust tax reform bill that targets and punishes the Daughters of the Confederacy for its mere existence.”
Both bills would also eliminate property tax exemptions for two other Confederate-linked organizations: the Stonewall Jackson Memorial and the Confederate Memorial and Literary Society.
Founded in 1894, the United Daughters of the Federation has membership in women who are descendants of individuals who served in the Confederate Army or who “gave material support to the cause,” according to the group’s website. We are recruiting. The group denounces white supremacy and says it “regrets” that some hate groups have adopted the use of the Confederate flag, saying Confederate monuments are “an important part of our shared American history. “It is a part of the world and should remain as it is,” the group’s website says.
Articles and research have found that the group helped build hundreds of monuments and tributes to the Confederacy across the country. The group has also been involved in lawsuits in recent years aimed at blocking the removal of monuments from public spaces.
Many of Virginia’s Confederate monuments have been removed since the passage of a 2020 law giving local governments the power to decide their fate.
Youngkin has not called for the restoration of removed monuments, nor did he strongly oppose the removal of a giant statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from federal land during the 2021 campaign. But he said he believes the removed monuments should be placed in museums or battlefields.
Asked if the governor would support the bill, Spokesman Christian Martinez said Youngkin “will consider all bills that are submitted.”
The Virginian-Pilot reports that in 2022, teenagers started a campaign to eliminate the group’s exemption and took the issue to Democratic Rep. Don Scott, who currently chairs the House of Delegates.
Mr. Scott’s effort to repeal the benefits remained in committee without a recorded vote last year when the House was under Republican control.
The Speaker of the House presides over the chamber and typically does not sponsor many bills. This year, the House version was supported by Rep. Alex Askew, a Democrat who represents parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
“This bill does not seek to challenge the UDC’s right to exist. This is not about free speech or the removal of monuments or which version of history is accurate. It is about equity and federal funding. “It’s about public priorities,” Askew said at the hearing. , added that currently forgiven tax revenue could help pay for schools, workforce development, or mental health programs.
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Several female speakers who testified against his bill at subcommittee hearings argued that the bill unfairly targets the group.
The Richmond Assessor’s Office told VPM News that if the bill passes, the group’s headquarters would be subject to the city’s regular property taxes. In other words, you will have to pay more than 500,000 yen in taxes per year.
