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By SARAH RANKIN AND DENISE LAVOIE,
Associated Press
Democrats who control the Virginia General Assembly reached an 11th-hour compromise with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to extend the timeline for negotiations over the state budget, a move that lawmakers said Wednesday would offer a reset for what has so far been a bitter and unproductive process.
Lawmakers were meeting in Richmond for a one-day session to consider Youngkin’s vetoes and proposed amendments to legislation, including the budget. As recently as Tuesday afternoon, legislative leaders had indicated they were prepared to reject the substance of Youngkin’s proposed changes to the new two-year spending plan, a move that would have set up a likely budget veto, leaving lawmakers facing the looming prospect of a government shutdown if they failed to strike a deal by the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By GAVIN STONE,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project reached another milestone Wednesday as Mary, the affectionate name for the massive tunnel boring machine doing much of the heavy lifting, broke through onto the North Island, marking roughly the halfway point of her journey.
Mary will now have to be turned around to dig back toward Norfolk to create the second tunnel of what will be two new eastbound lanes on I-64, a process expected to take about five months. Once that’s complete, the Virginia Department of Transportation aims to make the return trip in about 11 months, slightly faster than the 51 weeks on the first tunnel. VDOT hopes to use the lessons from the first tunnel to expedite the second, according to Ryan Banas, VDOT project director.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By ROBYN SIDERSKY,
Virginia Business
Mary, the tunnel boring machine that has been paving the way for the expanded Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, hit a milestone Wednesday when she finished the first of twin tunnels that are part of the bridge-tunnel’s expansion.
Launched from the HRBT’s South Island a year ago, the $70 million custom-built tunnel boring machine has been busy
VaNews April 18, 2024
By KATIE KING,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
After months of heated budget negotiations, the legislature’s Democratic majority and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin have agreed it’s best to scrap the current proposals and start from scratch.
“We’ve got work to do,” said Youngkin, speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Capitol. “We will be calling a special session — we believe this is a good path forward for the commonwealth.”
The governor said legislators will return May 13 to review the newly crafted two-year budget plan and vote May 15. The state’s fiscal year starts July 1.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By JANET ROACH,
WVEC-TV
Vernell Woods is one of the latest Portsmouth city officials to be let go. He worked as deputy city manager for seven months and was fired by interim city manager, Dr. Lydia Pettis-Patton.
“I really thought I was coming to Portsmouth to improve it, “ Woods said.
With more than 30 years of city government experience, he reluctantly left a city job in Newport News after being encouraged by then-Portsmouth interim city manager Mimi Terry to take the leap.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By ERIC KOLENICH,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The city of Richmond will partner with nonprofit marketing firm Venture Richmond to plant trees, install bathrooms and beautify Brown’s Island, Mayor Levar Stoney announced Tuesday. The plan, which will cost up to $30 million, is designed to make one of downtown Richmond’s biggest attractions better for locals and visitors.
The announcement comes as real estate analytics company CoStar continues building a nearby office tower and construction continues on an outdoor amphitheater, both of which will bring more people to the banks of the James River. “The riverfront is going to be a different place in a few years,” said Lisa Sims, CEO of Venture Richmond.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By BEN PETERS,
Inside NOVA
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors appears likely to raise taxes on data centers in hopes of making good on the promise that data center revenue will help to offset the county’s residential tax burden.
In a related move, the board unanimously agreed to cut next year’s real estate tax rate to 92 cents per $100 in assessed value. At that rate, the average tax bill will be about $26 more than the current year, according to county officials.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
After years of trying — on both sides of the aisle — lawmakers will have to try again to give localities the option to levy local sales taxes to fund school construction.
An effort to overturn Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto of the proposal failed during the reconvened session on Wednesday.
But lawmakers backed a Youngkin amendment that will enable Petersburg residents to vote this year on whether to build a casino resort.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By SUSAN CAMERON,
Cardinal News
Changes made by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to bills that would allow two electric utilities to seek approval to charge customers for early development costs for small modular nuclear reactors were approved Wednesday by the House of Delegates and Senate.
The governor’s amendments to HB 1491, which apply only to Appalachian Power, were approved by the House in a 64-34 vote with one abstention, while the vote in the Senate was 26-14.
VaNews April 18, 2024
By MARKUS SCHMIDT,
Cardinal News
Just hours before lawmakers returned to Richmond for the General Assembly’s reconvened session Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and key Democrats put their irreconcilable differences over the state’s biennial budget aside and agreed to start over with a clean slate.
Using a procedural maneuver, the House of Delegates by a unanimous vote essentially killed the $64 billion spending plan for fiscal years 2024-26, which the Democratic-controlled legislature sent to the governor’s desk last month.
VaNews April 18, 2024
