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By SARAH RANKIN,
Associated Press
Gambling regulations, school construction and the state budget were on the agenda for Virginia lawmakers returning to Richmond on Wednesday to consider Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to legislation and his record number of vetoes.
Democrats who control the General Assembly don’t have the numbers to override Youngkin’s vetoes without GOP support, but their leaders have signaled that they plan to reject many of his proposed changes, including most of those he made to the two-year budget bill. Youngkin’s rewrite of the spending plan — he’s submitted more than 200 amendments — was so extensive, it exceeded the governor’s authority, legislative leaders say.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By EMMA COLEMAN,
Roanoke Times
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Roanoke’s Gun Violence Prevention Commission welcomed three new members and a new chairperson at its meeting Tuesday, day 54 since the last shooting with injuries was reported in the city. Since Jan. 1, Roanoke has recorded two homicides. At least one of those, which killed 27-year-old Uhura Willis Feb. 17, was gun-related. As of Tuesday, seven other people have been shot but not killed in aggravated assault incidents. In the same time frame in 2023, 20 people were shot but not killed.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By MARKUS SCHMIDT,
Cardinal News
Aaron Rouse was just about to sit down for a sushi dinner with his family in the late afternoon of Friday, April 5, when he received a call from Jeff Goettman, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s chief of staff.
Goettman wanted to know if Rouse, a Democratic state senator from Virginia Beach, was available for a phone call the next day to discuss his SB 212 that was sitting on the governor’s desk, awaiting his action. The measure, which would establish a regulatory framework and tax structure for so-called skill games in Virginia, had passed in the Senate by a 32-8 bipartisan vote.
“When I got the call I was very surprised,” Rouse said in a phone interview. “In my mind I’m thinking, tomorrow is Saturday. OK, sure, I’m here. I was expecting they might want to discuss a couple of amendments, but it turns out they wanted a complete rewrite of the bill — and that’s when I was like, wait a minute, this isn’t how we do things.”
VaNews April 17, 2024
By KONRAD PUTZIER,
Wall Street Journal
(Subscription Required)
Big technology companies are cutting back on office space across major coastal cities, leaving some exposed landlords with empty buildings and steep losses.
The pullback marks a sharp reversal after years when companies such as Amazon.com, Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Google parent Alphabet had been bolstering their office footprints by adding millions of square feet of space. Their expansion continued even after the pandemic erupted and many employees started working remotely. Tech companies have been the dominant tenant in West Coast cities like Seattle and San Francisco, and by 2021 these companies came to rival those in the finance industry as Manhattan’s biggest user of office space.
Now, big tech companies are letting leases expire or looking to unload some offices. Amazon is ditching or not renewing some office leases and last year paused construction on its second headquarters in northern Virginia.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By SCOTT GELMAN,
WTOP
Fairfax County Public Schools would lose over $6 million in funding for English language learners in each of the next two years, as a result of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed changes to the state’s budget.
That is one of several findings in the school district’s analysis of the proposed changes, which was obtained by WTOP.
The proposed amendments to the state’s budget would also reduce overall funding for the state’s largest school district by $16.7 million in fiscal year 2025 and $24 million in fiscal 2026, the school division’s review found.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By EMILY HEMPHILL,
Daily Progress
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When it rains, it pours, and the storm is not letting up for the Greene County Water & Sewer Department. Since withdrawing from the Rapidan Service Authority less than a year ago, the county-run service has incurred more than $20 million in debt — and it has proposed initiatives that could increase that figure eightfold. Greene County residents have complained of paying “an outrageous amount of money,” often hundreds of dollars more than they previously paid under the Rapidan Service Authority, for water bills that arrive months late with inaccurate meter readings.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By KATIE KING,
Virginian-Pilot
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Amid rising tension between the General Assembly’s Democratic majority and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the legislature will reconvene Wednesday to take up the governor’s unprecedented number of vetoes and budget amendments — and Democrats appear ready for a fight. “Buckle Up Glenn,” Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, wrote Friday on social media. “I am coming back to Richmond on Wednesday to deal with your nonsense.” Lucas, who chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, shared the message alongside a photoshopped picture of herself with the governor, with Lucas poised to knock him out while donning red boxing gloves.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By HUNTER SAVERY,
Fauquier Times
Last week, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized strict new standards for “forever chemicals” in public drinking water, Fauquier County unveiled alarming new test results.
The new tests reveal that more than 15,000 Fauquier County residents use drinking water that would not meet the new national standards. Under the new EPA rules, Fauquier Water and Sanitation Authority, like other public waterworks, will have five years to address that problem.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
The primary challenge to Rep. Bob Good appears to be serious.
I realize that state Sen. John McGuire’s campaign to wrest the Republican nomination from the 5th District congressman — who also just happens to be chair of the House Freedom Caucus — has seemed serious for some time now. McGuire has pulled in some big-name national endorsements — namely former New York Mayor Rudy Guliani, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the latter of whom will campaign for him this week in Farmville, Lynchburg and Goochland — although it’s always been unclear whether those names move any voters on the ground.
McGuire has also racked up some noteworthy local endorsements ...
VaNews April 17, 2024
By NATALIE ANDERSON,
Virginian-Pilot
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When she was 16, Sara Tasneem said she had been forced to marry her rapist while she was six months pregnant. “My abuser was 13 years older than me and he was able to marry me and continue abusing me for the following seven years under the protection of a marriage certificate,” Tasneem said. Tasneem said she faced legal barriers when trying to leave the marriage. ... She was one of several abuse victims who shared personal testimonies with Virginia lawmakers last month before the General Assembly ultimately voted to end the practice in the commonwealth. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill, filed by Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra (D-Fairfax County), into law this month.
VaNews April 17, 2024
