Prominent voting rights advocates are applauding a new executive order returning Virginia to a multistate voter roll program and limiting when voters can be removed from the rolls before elections.
An executive order signed earlier this week by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) reverses Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R)’s 2023 decision to leave the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonpartisan organization that shares voter registration and identification data between 26 member states.
Increasing power demand from a growing number of data centers, many located in Northern Virginia, has made rising utility costs a key issue for Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) in her first days in office.
In her first address to the Virginia General Assembly yesterday (Monday), Spanberger outlined her Affordable Virginia Agenda, a set of proposals addressing energy, health care and housing costs. Spanberger also issued an executive order on her first day in office that directs her cabinet members and agencies to identify policy changes that would reduce costs for Virginians in energy and other areas.
Northern Virginia Democrats were in high spirits at the inauguration of Gov. Abigail Spanberger this weekend, looking toward new opportunities for a variety of bills held back by the previous administration.
Legislators and political observers expect fewer vetoes and more collaboration with Democratic policymakers — including those in Northern Virginia — under Spanberger, a centrist Democrat who emphasized bipartisan solutions to issues like housing and health care costs on the campaign trail and in her inauguration speech.
Local food security organizations are seeking donations and urging caution as uncertainty continues to hang over food assistance in Virginia during the government shutdown.
While federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is expected to come to a halt on Saturday unless lawmakers strike a deal, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced a plan yesterday for a stopgap measure to make sure people can still eat.
A federal food aid program that helps about one-eighth of Americans buy groceries stands to be paused Nov. 1 because of the government shutdown — but Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) says he has found a workaround.
The governor declared a state of emergency today (Thursday), which he said will let him spend emergency funds to provide hunger relief to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is set to pause payments at the end of next week.
Both Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Virginia’s Democrat-majority legislature are claiming credit for this year’s round of tax rebates, but they’re casting them in very different lights.
The rebates, worth up to $200 for individuals and $400 for couples who filed jointly in 2024, will go out to most households by Oct. 15. A message on the checks names both the 2025 General Assembly, which approved the budget, and Youngkin, who signed it into law.
Arlington’s unemployment rate ticked up once again in July, continuing a months-long trend that has paralleled federal downsizing across the region.
The county’s unemployment rate stood at 3.5% last month, slightly above 3.4% in June and a major increase from 2.5% in July 2024.
By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Thursday that Virginia’s economy is thriving after ending its fiscal year with high revenues, a characterization Democrats criticized as rose-colored in light of budgetary decisions in neighboring Washington, D.C.
Virginia is experiencing a boom in skilled trades interest, with the state on track to receive more than 14,000 new contractor and tradesman license applications this year.
The projected number represents a 10% increase from 2024 and nearly double the application volume from a decade ago, according to new data from the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.
Amid concerning local economic trends, there’s some good news.
Arlington-based Technomics is investing more than $5 million to add nearly 25,000 square feet of space and 250 employees to its Crystal City office.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has voiced disapproval over the Arlington County Board’s decision this week to limit police interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The County Board voted Tuesday to bar the Arlington County Police Department from initiating contact with ICE. In a post on X yesterday (Thursday), the governor criticized the change, calling it a “dereliction of duty.”
Arlington’s Roman Catholic bishop is sounding off about President Donald Trump’s social media post depicting himself as the next pope.
In a recent podcast, Bishop Michael Burbidge sharply criticized the president’s recent Truth Social post of himself in a white cassock and miter. He went on to praise Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto of the Virginia Right to Contraception Act — but criticized the Republican for approving legislation relating to in vitro fertilization.
