Overview
- Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a law ending state property tax exemptions for organizations tied to the Confederacy after Democrats advanced the bill in the General Assembly.
- The measure removes the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Confederate Memorial Literary Society from Virginia’s exemption list, cutting off a state-granted financial benefit.
- The UDC says losing the break could jeopardize its Richmond headquarters because a 1950 deed would return the site to the state if the group cannot maintain it.
- Spanberger also approved a separate measure that stops new specialty license plates honoring Robert E. Lee and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, drawing a free speech objection from the group’s Virginia spokesman.
- Bill sponsor Del. Alex Askew said the state should not subsidize groups that promoted the Lost Cause narrative, and a related VMI bill was returned with recommendations to move teaching away from that theme.