RICHMOND, Va. -- Bills that would allow Virginia localities control over Confederate monuments passed the Virginia Senate and House Tuesday.
SB 183 provides that a locality may “remove, relocate, or alter any monument or memorial for war veterans located in its public space, regardless of when erected.”
Current state law allows local governments to erect war monuments but prohibits the local governments from taking them down or modifying them. The law also prohibits local governments from moving the monuments or adding placards explaining why they were erected.
The House also approved measures that would give cities and counties the autonomy to "remove, relocate, contextualize, cover or alter” the monuments in their public spaces.
The law has been the sticking point for those who want to remove Confederate statues along Monument Avenue in Richmond.
RELATED: City Council passes resolution to ask General Assembly for authority over Confederate statues
Va. Senate passes bill allowing localities to remove war memorials. Vote was strictly party line 21-19. This law has been the sticking point for those who want to remove Confederate statues along Monument Ave. in #RVA. @CBS6 https://t.co/mTdo5kpRbE pic.twitter.com/nyEvTyiv8c
— Jake Burns (@JakeBurnsCBS6) February 11, 2020
Last month, Governor Ralph Northam proposed legislation to give localities control and the authority to remove existing Confederate War memorials.