Video: At “Crossover” Press Conference, VA Speaker Don Scott Declares, “Unfortunately for our friends at Fox News, none of what they printed actually came true”

See below for video and highlights from this morning’s post-“Crossover” press conference, in which VA Speaker Don Scott, House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, and House Caucus Chair Kathy Tran discussed legislation passed by House Democrats to build an Affordable Virginia.

Speaker Don Scott: “As you can see, there’s been a lot of noise since this session began. Just look at these headlines we have here. Unfortunately for our friends at Fox News, none of what they printed actually came true. So, we weren’t elected to chase noise. We *were* elected to show some restraint to stay focused and deliver an affordable Virginia. And that is what we have done. Here’s what we actually did, contrary to what some of our detractors may say…So, here’s the top line. At Crossover…the Virginia House of Delegates passed 849 bills. And this might shock some folks. Get this – news flash, 84% of those bills were bipartisan. But contrary to this whole hyperartisan rancor, 84% of the bills that we passed in the House of Delegates were bipartisan….So, in 225 of those bills, House Democrats sponsored and passed, 225 of those bills were based on our Affordable Virginia agenda. Bills that lower energy bills, bills that lower the cost of medicine and healthcare, bills that protect renters and expand affordable house housing, bills that make child care more affordable. Those are the things that we were elected to do and those are the things that we have delivered on. So while others were busy yelling in the microphones, holding folks accountable for ideas that were introduced, we were busy delivering for Virginians. That’s what this moment is about. That’s why we were elected and that is why the House is going to keep doing what we’re doing in partnership with the Senate and in partnership with our our governor.”

Del. Charniele Herring: “When House Democrats talk about building an affordable Virginia, we mean lowering the costs families bill every single month from energy bills and healthcare bills. On energy, the first bills we passed were HB2 and HB3, bipartisan legislation that expands access to energy efficiency and weatherization programs. These bills do one simple thing – they lower our monthly utility bills. But we did not stop there. We also took a critical step to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative after being illegally removed by the previous administration. That decision means lower energy costs, cleaner air, and continued investments in energy efficiency and flood resilience, especially in communities that need it the most. This was a priority for me and our entire caucus, and I’m proud to send that bill to the Senate and eventually to the governor’s desk. On healthcare, we took on rising costs. We passed legislation to cap out-of-pocket costs and lower the price of insulin, increase transparency from insurance companies, and crack down on unfair practices that drive up costs for patients. And we laid the groundwork for a Prescription Drug Affordability Board so Virginians will be protected from unreasonable and certain dry drug price hikes. Lower bills, common sense solutions. That’s been our promise since day one and today we are halfway there.”

Del. Kathy Tran: “Building an affordable Virginia means making sure that families can afford to live and thrive right here in the Commonwealth. We started by putting more money in Virginians’ pockets. House Democrats passed a $15 minimum wage, giving workers across Virginia a long overdue raise. That means families can better afford rent, keep the lights on, and take care of the people they love. On housing, we passed a suite of bills to preserve and build affordable housing and to protect renters by cutting unnecessary fees, capping excessive eviction costs, supporting military families and domestic violence survivors, and bringing fairness and transparency to renters. But affordability doesn’t stop at housing. Childcare has been a top priority for our caucus. I know this as a mom of five, because no parent should ever have to choose between caring for their family and keeping their job. That’s why we passed House Bill 18 and House Bill 211 to expand affordable, high-quality childcare across Virginia, helping parents stay in the workforce and giving children the strong start they deserve. And we pass paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave. Affordability is about dignity, security, and making Virginia the best place in the country to live and raise a family. This Crossover, we’re so proud of our discipline. We’re proud of our dedication. And we’re proud of building an affordable Virginia.”

Speaker Don Scott: “Well, first of all, our mandate, you know, Governor Youngkin won by two points in 2021 and he had the nerve to say he had a mandate. But when you swing an election by 17 points as Abigail Spanberger did, she’s focused on the promises that she made. And we focused on the promises that we made during the campaign. We said that we would pass paid family sick leave. You remember when Republicans said that raising the minimum wage in 2020 was going to destroy our economy? Where we’ve been the number one state to do business three times since we raised the minimum wage. And they’re doing it again. The same fear tactics is doing it again and we’re going to raise the minimum wage, because we know that an economy that works for everybody everybody. Everybody can participate. You can work a full-time job and take care of your family. That is our goal and so we’re focused on the things that the voters told us and that’s what we’re doing. We’re focused on making sure we take care of paid family sick leave. Make sure that we take care of affordable child care. Make sure that we protect our environment. Keep our schools safe. Protect our our communities. And that’s what we’ve done. We’ve been focused on that all the way through, making sure that we make up for the healthcare attacks that are coming out of DC…and that is what we are focused on. We’ve been focused on those things that the voters told us that they wanted us to accomplish and that is what we’re doing. Any package that we bring together that comes out of this General Assembly, we’re going to do it as a team with the Senate and the governor. And that’s what we’re doing. One of the things that I said the day after we won was the restraint was the word of the day. And what we’ve done is we’ve been sole focused on the grown-up adult issues that Virginia told us to focus on that we don’t have time to get into a lot of battles. That’s why I’m proud of the fact that 84% of the legislation that we pass was bipartisan. And so I think if we continue to do that, we’re going to continue to move Virginia in the right way and it’s going to help Virginia. It’s going to help Democrats in Virginia keep an enduring longlasting majority.”

Speaker Don Scott: “…you’re trying to get us in a fight with the Senate already. We know that there are some bills that are there are some different approaches around, say, the gambling commission for instance; they have a different bill. we have a different version and we’re going to come to conference on that. I’m sure those bills will be, what’s the word? Conformed. They’ll be conformed to each others and then we’ll go into conference. And so that that’s one approach. But I think at the end of the day, both the House and the Senate, they’re both focused on the campaign promises that we made, that we understand the success that the governor had came because she talked about, you know, Republicans have been mocking this whole idea around affordability…but you know, they don’t understand like that is our mantra. That is what we’ve been focused on, and that’s what the voters told us to care about. But we can walk and chew gum. There are other issues that we have to take care of. We’ve been doing that, too. And that’s why Virginia’s elected Democrats. They wanted us to protect reproductive health. They wanted us to restore voting rights. They wanted us to to end the ban on marriage. We wanted to enshrine marriage equality in our constitution. And believe it or not, they want us to fight back from the White House’s power grab in Congress. So, we’re doing all of the things that voters are telling us to do. And you’re going to see that when these elections come about, you’re going to see all of these issues pass in a big way.”

Speaker Don Scott: “We’re focused on giving Virginia voters the opportunity to have a say in what is happening in Washington DC and to make sure that we preserve our democracy. Virginia has to be in a position to level the playing field. We’re giving Virginia voters the option to do that. As far as any particular map from that’s coming from the Senate right now, we’ll take a look at that. But I think what’s more important, we cannot lose. You know, Republicans started this. Donald Trump picked up the phone and called Texas and said, ‘redo the maps to make it because his policies are so bad he can’t win without rigging the election.’ So, we have no other choice but to be able to step into the gap and try to level the playing field, not only for Virginia, but for the entire country.”

Speaker Don Scott: “Everything’s on the table when it comes to gambling, we’re going to take a look at it and see how we move forward. We want to be responsible. We know that there are a lot of issues with problem gaming and we want to make sure that whatever we do as we move forward, we do it in a responsible, safe way. Protect our kids, protect those folks who may become addicted. We want to make sure that they have the tools that they need. And so we’re going to move forward in a very responsible way which we’ve already done here in Virginia. If you look at some the returns that have come in from Petersburg just recently, they’ve been open for a couple of months and they’re already breaking records. So I think we’ve done this thing in a smart way. So, anything that we bring on new i-gaming, whatever else, we need to make sure that we do it in a very smart, thoughtful, sober-minded way that’s going to maximize revenue for Virginians, but also protect our most vulnerable..”

Speaker Don Scott: “That’s a nice way to frame it, but it’s not – this is about public safety. It’s not about control. It’s about making sure that we protect our communities from weapons of mass destruction being levied in our streets. We’re banning assault weapons. That was a promise that we made. That was a promise that Abigail Spamberger made and we’re going to keep that promise. I think the public expects us to do everything we can so parents don’t have to go and identify the remains of their children in school by DNA. We should not be having those kind of powerful weapons that are used in battlefields across the world on our streets here in America. And that’s what we did and we’ve kept that promise. We’re going to continue to do that to protect our kids.”

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