Virginia General Assembly Panel Considers Youngkin Model Transgender Policy

On December 19 a committee of the Virginia General Assembly voted 5-4 to oppose the Youngkin administration’s proposed Model Policy for dealing with transgender issues in Virginia public schools.  The vote was meaningless.  Here’s why.

The Youngkin administration’s Department of Education published a draft of a Model Policy in mid-September and established a 60-day period for public comment.  The proposal’s key features have been summarized in prior articles on this site.  See “Youngkin Administration Revamps Model Transgender Policies,” September 17, 2022.

During the public-comment period, thousands of comments, pro and con, were submitted.  Since then, the administration has been weighing the submissions and considering possible amendments.  The Model Policy has not been issued in final form.

The legislative body that voted 5-4 on December 19 is the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules.  It is a twelve-member committee consisting of five members of the Virginia Senate and seven members of the House of Delegates.  Its statutory purpose is to review existing agency rules and regulations and proposed rules and regulations “during the promulgation or final adoption process, ” and to makes “recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly.”  Va. Code sec. 30-73.1.  Democrats have a 7-5 majority over Republicans on this commission.

The Joint Commission arguably had no authority to weigh in on the Model Policy at this time, because the Youngkin administration hasn’t published the final version of its Model Policy.  Nevertheless, over the objection of the Republican members, it decided to hold the December 19 hearing.  The apparent purpose was to give the American Civil Liberties Union and a group called Equality Virginia a forum to air their objections.  These organizations argued that the proposal would not only be bad policy but would also be unlawful.  Fortunately, members of the public were also permitted to speak in two-minute presentations.  Some citizens of Fairfax County traveled to Richmond to support the Model Policy and others did so by a Zoom hook-up.  Several of these presentation were eloquent and compelling.

At the end of the testimony, the Joint Commission immediately voted, without any discussion among themselves.  It was a predetermined, party-line, 5-4 vote to oppose the yet-t0-be-promulgated Model Policy.  The vote has no effect on the Youngkin administration’s ongoing review and promulgation of a final version of the Model Policy.  At most, the hearing served to demonstrate that the Model Policy will get tied up in litigation when it does become final.  The Fairfax County School Board has already indicated that it will not abide by the Model Policy unless compelled to do so.