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All Members,
We have had a very busy week at the VSPA with the General Assembly reconvene session, events with elected leaders, and all while managing a complete renovation of our property investment at 6944 Forest Hill Avenue.
Let me begin with the General Assemblies reconvene session. As you know we had a very important bill that would allow our off-duty and federally licensed concealed permit to carry permit holders to carry concealed on state property. SB 1492 was passed during the General Assembly session and sent to the Governor to sign or amend. The Governor amended the bill to add the Capitol Police to those same exemptions, we were not opposed as long as our authority remained in the language of the bill. We also worked very hard with both the Democrats and Republicans to get an agreement to allow the bill to move forward to the Governor. The bill was amended and due to the vast number of legislators that were unaware that it was amended, Senator DeSteph decided not to take the amendment up which now leaves the State Police the only agency with the authority to carry concealed on State Property while off duty and retired who qualifies each year for the federal conceal carry permit. The budget conferees have been meeting to hash out the differences between the House and Senate amendments, yet no agreement has been resolved at this time. Some indications are that it could be late June or July before the differences are resolved. We will continue to monitor the progress and report when we receive more information.
Several events have taken place over the past week that I have attended beginning with the retiree’s breakfast in Powhatan where I met with some familiar faces from my time as a trooper in 1st Division. I also was able to convince an old friend to come as a guest that everyone was familiar with, Delegate Lee Ware. Delegate Ware was very complimentary of the turnout and the welcome he received. David Ostwinkle and I also attended a fundraiser for Senator Bill DeSteph in downtown Richmond prior to the reconvening of the session where I had the opportunity to visit with my Senator Todd Pillion and Senator Ryan McDougle. Last was an event with the Attorney General on Thursday in Bristol Virginia. We had a very productive evening with Delegate O'Quinn and Senator Todd Pilion after the Attorney Generals' tour of the future site of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Bristol. It was stated the Virginia State Police would hold the first conference at that location with Attorney General Miyares asking me if he could be the first on the list to speak at the 2025 conference.
Last you will find a photo of the progress going on at our Association office with the new renovation and a glimpse of the upstairs board room. We hope to have the renovations done by June 1 and I hope you have an opportunity to see the changes by stopping by and visiting. We are seeking a part-time merchandise coordinator for our academy store 3 days per week, if you know of anyone that may be interested please contact me or Sandra Winfree for details. I hope everyone enjoyed your Easter weekend and spent quality time with the family celebrating the real hope for the future.
Stay safe and may God Bless you and may He protect each one of you in this journey we call life,
Bill
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