See below for highlights, courtesy of WTVR CBS6 (for whatever reasons, they don’t allow their YouTube videos to be embedded elsewhere, so I wrote up some summaries/transcripts and a couple short clips), of Gov. Abigail Spanberger yesterday speaking to reporters about the budget impasse, the redistricting amendment, ICE, the recent WaPo poll, etc.
- First, on the budget impasse: “Certainly a lot of the conversations and and as a former legislator, I certainly respect that at this moment the House Appropriations and the Senate Finance Committee are working to put their budget on my desk. Now in that process I am engaged but ultimately at this moment we are working towards the budget that they’re going to hand over to me. So I speak regularly with of course the Appropriations Chair to Finance Chair Lucas. My team works directly with the House Appropriations and Senate Finance teams. There’s been at least one meeting of my team with one of the money committees teams this week. I’ve spoken with with both of them this week. So at this moment I am endeavoring to be very engaged, but I still need them to to come to a conclusion of the bill that they want to send to to my desk. They both know where I stand on a variety of issues and certainly what my priorities are. They have since the very beginning. And at this at this point in time, it’s a bumpy road certainly, but in speaking with the the chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee today, she assures me that we are on path towards getting that budget to me on the 23rd. So certainly a bumpy process, but one that I have been engaged in but not I would say not dictating.”
- Next, on her approval ratings and Glenn Youngkin’s “jabs” at her: “I would say if everybody hated me, why is everybody putting my face on their mailers for the referendum, would be question number one. You know, listen, at this moment when I was elected, really, frankly, that’s the only poll that mattered. My election, 17 points…And now I’m doing the work for Virginia. So, what matters to me in the end is what I am delivering for people. I knew when I was first elected that I would have a big target on me, right? Even just from a narrative standpoint. I flipped this seat, swung it by 17 points, right? A lot of talk about, you know, Democrats winning and Democrats kind of moving things and certainly with the midterms quickly approaching, I was never under any illusions that they wouldn’t be sort of training all efforts to try and knock down what it is that we’re we’re doing here. And so I’m working hard. I’m delivering for Virginians. And again, I would just note that, those critiques seem to run at odds with the fact that, you know, everybody thinks I’m a convincing character in whichever way they want that referendum vote to go. Which, for the record, the misinformation is strong. I voted yes and encouraged other Virginians to do the same.”
- On the redistricting referendum and Democrats supposedly not having a “face” to support this, like Gavin Newsom in California, she said: “I would argue that a second-term governor who is likely running for other office taking up an issue that’s important to him, that’s his choice. And it’s very different than a first-term governor literally at the end of her first session. I have made it very clear that I support a YES vote and have. There’s, you know, seven-figure ad buys out there with my face, me, direct-to-camera encouraging people to vote YES. And I think Virginans should vote YES. But my priority and my responsibility is on governance, right? The politics matters. This matters. This referendum matters. But if I were out across the state barntorming right now, I would not be focused on the thing that is most important, which is getting it right with the bills that I’m signing into law. So, I’ve been very clear that I support the referendum. I encourage other people to do it. That’s why there’s, you know, over a million dollars worth of TV ads with my face on it. And at the same time, my priority is doing the job that I told Virginians I want to do, which is governance. And I make you know no excuses for having that be my priority, but I’ve been clear my support of the referendum.
- On immigration, ICE, etc. Spanberger said: “Virginia is not a sanctuary state, full stop. There’s a lot of information misinformation out there. Certainly everything that that one might read on Twitter is not real. But it’s actually pretty outrageous some of the things that have been reported along the way. Because when I came into office, I said with my executive orders that Virginia state agencies would no longer – and principally state police as the largest of the state law enforcement agencies – would no longer put their police officers, their troopers under the supervision and direction of ICE agents. And I feel very strongly about that, because Virginia State Police is a top-notch law enforcement agency. And I don’t think it is responsible for us or me as governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia to put Virginia State Police under the supervision or direction of ICE. That is a change I made. I think it is the right one. I know it is the right one and I stand by it. Separately, I have seen it reported that localities can no longer cooperate under a 287(g) agreement. That is not correct. My predecessor said they had to. I simply said that I was not forcing them to. There are still localities where they have chosen to put their local law enforcement officers under the supervision and direction of ICE. And I use that language because that is what happens under a 287(g) agreement. That is their priority. That is their prerogative. Though notably, since I pulled back and said you no longer have to, I am not aware of – feel free to fact check me and if I welcome you to inform me – but I am not aware of any new agreements between ICE and a locality where they have entered into a 287(g) agreement. Certain things continue to be ongoing. Every month, Department of Corrections, a state agency, provides a list to DHS and ultimately ICE of every noncitizen in our state prison system. That has been going on for years. It continues to be the case. I even read in a reputable national paper that, right now, per my executive orders, the state can no longer coordinate with federal agencies, which is an absolute lie. For starters, it was only the 287(g) agreements that I said state agencies cannot enter into. That means state agencies, principally state police, department of corrections, cannot put their officers under the supervision and direction of ICE. Task forces, work together, all of that continues to be the case. JTF, joint terrorism task force, High-intensity drug trafficking area task force, other federal task force, absolutely that coordination continues. Coordination with ICE also continues. If ICE comes to a state agency, principally in this case it would be state police and says here’s a warrant, we need your support on something, yes, they’re going to support them on that arrest warrant or on that search warrant. Because that is what happens when there is state and federal partnership. The partnerships, the task forces, the coordination that continues. We are simply not putting state officers under the auspices of the supervision and direction of ICE.”
