In case you missed it, yesterday the Charlotte Business Journal reported that the city of Charlotte lost 730 jobs and $250 million worth of economic impact to Richmond, Virginia due to the extreme anti-LGBT legislation the state's Republican Governor signed earlier this year.
Governor Terry McAuliffe's veto pen is the only reason Virginia is not facing the economic disaster the Republicans have wrought on North Carolina.
Virginia's anti-LGBT Republican legislature passed a bill this year that would have legalized discrimination and put companies across the globe on notice that their LGBT employees are not welcome here. That bill would be law had Governor McAuliffe not vetoed it and protected Virginia's open business climate.
If Corey Stewart, Rob Wittman, Ed Gillespie, or Frank Wagner win the Governor's race in 2017, Virginians should expect that each of them would sign that very bill and plunge Virginia into the very economic mess North Carolina is facing.
BACKGROUND: Virginia editorial boards and press criticize HB2 and applaud Governor McAuliffe's veto of anti-LGBT measures:
McAuliffe wields veto pen with vigor, striking most bills in nearly two decades: "As other Southern states face national attention over legislation seen as hostile to LGBT people, McAuliffe supporters have said his vetoes show the importance of having a Democratic governor as a check on the Republican legislature."[Richmond Times-Dispatch, Graham Moomaw, 4/13/2016]
Editorial: The five stages of HB2: "McCrory and his GOP cohorts now face the consequences. [...] Depression should set in soon, as McCrory watches his work on the state economy come undone. His order will do little to change the perception in the national business community that North Carolina is unfriendly to industry and to employees." [Virginian-Pilot, Editorial Board,4/14/2016]
Editorial: N.C. shows consequences of extremism."Virginia lawmakers have yet to entirely learn that lesson, as the legislature’s passage of its “religious freedom” bill makes clear. But divided government served its purpose with McAuliffe’s veto. North Carolina has not been so lucky." [Virginian-Pilot, Editorial Board, 4/3/2016]
McAuliffe vetoes ‘religious freedom’ bill, to chagrin of conservatives: "The veto comes the same week that similar legislation drew attention to Georgia, where Gov. Nathan Deal (R) rejected a “religious freedom” bill, and North Carolina, where Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill that stops municipalities from passing laws to protect lesbian, gay and transgender people." [Washington Post, Jenna Portnoy, 3/30/2016]
McAuliffe vetoes bill designed to protect opponents of gay marriage: "He [McAuliffe] was asked on the radio whether the legislation would have put Virginia in a situation like the one in North Carolina, where Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law stopping protections for gays, lesbians and bisexuals and requiring transgender people to use bathrooms of the gender they were born with. 'If I were to sign this bill, you bet,' McAuliffe said." [Virginian-Pilot,Patrick Wilson,3/30/2016]
Gov. McAuliffe vetoes ‘religious exemption’ bill. "Republican-backed measures related to LGBT rights recently have attracted fierce national push back from large corporations in Georgia and North Carolina. Georgia GOP Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a bill similar to Virginia’s earlier this week." [Associated Press, Alan Suderman, 3/30/2016]