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By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
Winston Churchill once said: “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”
That quote comes to mind after Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly defied all expectations and came to an agreement Wednesday on the state budget.
To be sure, there isn’t a budget yet — but neither is there a dramatic confrontation looming between the two branches of government, with the state’s prized AAA bond rating hanging in the balance.
The Democratic legislature did not reject the governor’s 233 budget amendments and send the original spending plan back to him with a dare: Sign it or veto it.
Instead, Democrats and Republicans agreed to work together on a revised budget ...
VaNews April 18, 2024
By PAUL GOLDMAN,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Mayor Levar Stoney and City Council members — soon to leave office — are hellbent to use their waning power to put Richmond taxpayers on the hook for $280 million in unprecedented baseball stadium debt financing. Stoney unveiled his proposal on April 8. He and his Council majority say they will ram it through at a Council meeting on May 8. But having the right to do it doesn’t make it the right thing to do.
Paul Goldman is a lawyer, former chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party and author of “Remaking Virginia Politics.”
VaNews April 18, 2024
By DEAN MIRSHAHI,
WRIC-TV
A bill that would have allowed hundreds of people incarcerated in Virginia on cannabis-related felonies to reduce their sentences or be released was vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The bill from state Sen. Angelia Williams Graves (D-Norfolk) was among the seven pieces of legislation from Democrats that the Republican governor axed the day after his hopes of luring two professional sports teams to Alexandria collapsed. It would have given incarcerated people convicted of certain felonies tied to the possession, selling, manufacture, giving, transportation, distribution or delivery of cannabis before July 2021 – when recreational possession was legalized – an automatic hearing to modify their sentence.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By JAHD KHALIL,
VPM
The Virginia General Assembly aims to finish and pass a budget by mid-May, after Democratic leadership agreed with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to extend and restart the negotiating process.
The extension of budget negotiations avoids the prospect of a gubernatorial veto — at least for the moment, amid an increasingly tense political atmosphere — that could put a dent in Virginia’s financial reputation. It also provides time for policymakers to gain a clearer picture of a predicted revenue surplus.
The Virginia House of Delegates took a pair of votes Wednesday that put the Legislature on a path to restart the budget process.
House Speaker Don Scott told VPM News the motion looks “drastic,” but reflected an agreement on how to move forward.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The state Senate on Wednesday rejected Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s amendments that would toughen state oversight when Virginia legalizes skill games.
The 34 votes against Youngkin’s proposals versus six supporting them move the measure back to the governor, who has the power to veto the measure. If he does, there is no opportunity to override it.
With the bill now headed back to Youngkin’s desk, “we hope that he reconsiders the future of the tens of thousands of small businesses struggling to make ends meet here in his own commonwealth,” said Rich Kelly, president of the Virginia Merchants and Amusement Coalition, a group of stores that lobbied for legalization.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By BRENDA POGGENDORF AND JASON FERGUSON,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia’s college-bound high school seniors and families each spring decide which college or university to call home for the next four years. Typically, students choose between in-state or out-of-state and whether to attend a large public university or a small nonprofit private college. While this selection process is complex enough for a high school senior, in 2024 prospective students and families are also experiencing new concerns about affordability brought on by complications from the latest, so-called “better FAFSA,” which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The admissions process naturally combines excitement with anxiety and even some celebration or disappointment, but the federal government should not make it more difficult.
Poggendorf is vice president for enrollment management at Randolph-Macon College. Ferguson is dean of admissions at Longwood University.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By BILL ATKINSON,
Progress Index
(Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)
It will now be up to Petersburg’s voters to decide if their city will become Virginia’s fifth casino home.
On votes of 32-8 in the state Senate and 80-19 in the House of Delegates Wednesday, the General Assembly has agreed to move the question of a Petersburg casino to a November referendum. Senate Bill 628 cleared the legislature earlier this year with a House-generated amendment calling for a second legislative vote, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin sent the bill back to lawmakers with a suggestion to strike the re-enactment.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By KATE ANDREWS,
Virginia Business
Petersburg voters will likely get the opportunity to vote on a casino referendum this fall, as a Virginia General Assembly obstacle has been removed from its path.
SB 628, sponsored by Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, replaces Richmond with Petersburg among Virginia cities eligible to host a casino following approval by voters on a ballot. An earlier version of the bill had required a second General Assembly vote in 2025 before the law could take effect, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin removed that section of the measure this spring.
On Wednesday, both legislative bodies passed Youngkin’s version — meaning a vote could take place this fall in Petersburg, expediting the possible development of a casino resort in the city.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By PETER EAVIS,
New York Times
(Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)
New John Deere tractors made their way last week through the sprawling port of Brunswick, Ga., their distinctive green paint glinting in the sunshine. Stevedores drove the tractors up a ramp into the belly of the Leo Spirit, a ship that would take them to Asia.
As orderly as everything looked, the tractor convoy was an example of the enormous lengths to which East Coast ports, railways, truckers and shipping lines have gone to remake supply chains after a container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month. The bridge’s collapse closed most of the Port of Baltimore, which last year handled 1.3 million tons of farm and construction machinery and 850,000 cars and light trucks.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By MARYSA TUTTLE,
WRIC-TV
Virginia lawmakers are calling on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to address mail delivery issues ahead of the 2024 election.
According to the office of Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, who represents the fourth district of Virginia, McClellan and her colleagues are calling on the USPS to ensure the efficient and secure delivery of election mail. McClellan, as well as Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and Representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), wrote a letter to the USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the USPS Virginia District Manager Gerald Roane.
VaNews April 18, 2024
