Virginia Coalition To Hold 'Jan. 9 March on the State Capitol for Jobs, Peace & Justice'

Virginia coalition announces Jan. 9 march on State Capitol to oppose budget cuts & layoffs | Press Release

On Saturday, Jan. 9, the Virginia People's Assembly, a statewide coalition of labor, community and peace organizations, will sponsor a march on the State Capitol to oppose more budget cuts and layoffs of state workers.

The demands of the march include: “Jobs, Peace, Justice! Don't balance the budget on the backs of Virginia's workers! Make the big corporations pay their fair share of Virginia's tax burden!”

The announcement of the march comes just hours after outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine unveiled his proposal for the 2010-2012 state budget, which includes $2.3 billion in new cuts, including the loss of 2,543 state jobs, 664 through direct layoffs, as well as slashing aid to cities and counties. The new cuts would be in addition to the more than $7 billion the Kaine administration has already cut from the present two-year budget in response to declining revenue caused by the ongoing national recession.

“Gov. Tim Kaine and incoming Gov. Bob McDonnell are both talking about more layoffs of state workers, more cuts in social programs, higher university tuition and less aid to the cities and counties,” said Lillie Branch-Kennedy, a prisoner rights advocate and founding member of the VPA. “But nobody is talking about the fact that Virginia has the country's second-lowest income tax rate for corporations. We say raise the tax rate for the biggest corporations and you won't have to balance the budget on the backs of working people and the poor.”

On Jan. 9, the VPA and its allies and supporters will rally at 3 p.m. at Kanawha Plaza, at 8th and Canal streets next to the Federal Reserve Building in downtown Richmond. At 4 p.m., participants will march through the city's financial district, past the offices of the banks and corporations that the VPA charges are not paying their fair share of the state's tax burden. The march will end at sundown outside Capitol Square.

The march and rally will be preceded by a meeting for VPA affiliates and allies, to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Stephen's Baptist Church, 505 N. 33rd St. in the city's East End.

The Virgina People's Assembly was formed in the fall of 2008 to sponsor a march and rally on the opening day of the 2009 General Assembly session. Organizers of the march and rally scheduled for Jan. 9, 2010, include the Richmond organizations Richmond Jobs with Justice; Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged; Prisoners & Families for Equal Rights & Justice; and United Parents Against Lead National, Inc.; Coalition for Justice (Blacksburg) the People United (Charlottesville); Plowshare Peace Center (Roanoke); Mexicanos Sin Fronteras / Mexicans Without Borders (Prince William County); OffBase GI Coffeehouse (Norfolk) and many individual activists.

For more information, call (804) 644-5834 or e-mail vapeoplesassembly@gmail.com. Also, visit the VPA Web site at www.vapeoplesassembly.org.

PO Box 38441, Henrico, VA 23231 l E-mail: vapeoplesassembly@gmail.com l Web site: www.vapeoplesassembly.org

For Immediate Release: Dec. 18, 2010

Media Contact: Phil Wilayto – 804.247.3731; philwilayto@earthlink.net