Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has vetoed two bills that would have stripped the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other Confederate heritage and lobbying groups of their tax-exempt status.
Youngkin claimed signing the bills would set "an inappropriate precedent."
State Sen. Angelia Williams Graves called the groups "hate organizations."
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the United Daughters of the Confederacy as promoting "a reactionary conservative ideology that has made inroads into the Republican Party from the political right, and overlaps with the views of white nationalists and other more radical extremist groups."
As recently as 2018, the organization's official website asserted that most enslaved people were "usually ready and willing to serve their masters."
If signed into law, the Virginia legislation would have removed the tax-exempt status of real estate and personal property owned by the United Daughters and similar organizations. Among the properties owned by the group are its Great Hall and two libraries.
"The Commonwealth should pass necessary reforms regarding exemptions from local property and recordation taxes," Youngkin wrote in a statement. "Narrowly targeting specific organizations to gain or lose such tax exemptions sets an inappropriate precedent."
The neo-confederate organization was established in 1894, nearly three decades after the South was defeated in the Civil War. Membership is restricted to "blood descendants" of Confederate soldiers and sailors, as well as those who "gave material aid to the Cause," according to the organization's website.
Many of the statues of treasonous slaveholders scattered across the country were originally funded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Democratic Delegate Alex Askew characterized Youngkin's decision to veto the bill as "perplexing" in a statement.
"The people of Virginia deserve to know why the governor is providing tax relief to historically pro-slavery institutions," he said, according to the New York Times. "Let's work towards a fairer, more inclusive tax policy that truly reflects our commitment to equality and progress."
