The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis: “Virginia Budget Leaders Maintain Many Key Investments, Miss Opportunity To Secure Ongoing Funding”
From the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis:
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From the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis:
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Huge – and somewhat surprising – news (see press release, below) in the VA10 Democratic primary, where the conventional wisdom had been that Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10) either wouldn’t endorse anyone or would endorse either State Sen. Jennifer Boysko or former Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn. Anyway, the bottom line is that an endorsement from the HIGHLY popular incumbent in this large field is a very big deal, making State Sen. Suhas Subramanyam the odds-on frontrunner for this nomination on June 18th.
Incumbent Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton Endorses Senator Suhas Subramanyam for Congress
Wexton Calls Subramanyam “Hardworking, Principled, and Effective”
Endorsement Catapults Subramanyam as Frontrunner in June 18 Democratic Primary
Ashburn, VA – Today, Senator Suhas Subramanyam, Obama White House Alumnus and Candidate for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District (VA-10), announced the endorsement of incumbent Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton.
Representative Wexton said the following about her endorsement of Senator Subramanyam for her Congressional seat:
“When I first ran for Congress, I did so with our community in mind. I’m proud to have worked with Democrats and Republicans to deliver for Virginia’s kids and families. Although I was not planning to retire so soon, life had other ideas. When I think about who will best continue my legacy of getting things done for Northern Virginians, I can think of no one who will do so better than State Senator Suhas Subramanyam. I believe Suhas is the leader for the future of the 10th District. He is a hardworking, principled, and effective legislator who has a long commitment to service, and is rooted right here in the heart of the district. From fighting for abortion rights and gun violence prevention to protecting our democracy, he has always taken on the tough battles in Richmond and won. I enthusiastically endorse Suhas for Congress, and I hope that he will earn your vote as well on or before June 18.”
Senator Subramanyam said the following about his endorsement by Representative Wexton:
“I am honored and excited to be endorsed by my long time mentor, friend, and Congresswoman, Jennifer Wexton. I was proud to support her when she first ran for Congress and when I was just an interested community member who wanted to fight for change. Over the years, we have learned and collaborated together – and I’m proud to say that I’ve earned Jennifer’s support every single time I’ve stepped up to run for office. Like Jennifer, I’m a parent who is in public service to ensure we’re leaving a better Virginia for our kids. That’s why I’ve fought hard to deliver for our community and why I’ll continue to put their safety and rights first in Congress.”
Senator Subramanyam represents SD-31 in the Virginia Senate, making every one of his constituents also a constituent of Representative Wexton in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.
Representative Wexton was first elected in 2018 after winning a competitive Democratic primary election and then defeating longtime Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock. Representative Wexton chose not to run for re-election in 2024 after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).
Representative Wexton is the latest in several key endorsements for Senator Subramanyam, including Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (SD-34), Senator Russet Perry (SD-31), Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Senator L. Louise Lucas (SD-18), Loudoun County Supervisor Laura Tekrony, and Loudoun County School Board Chair Melinda Mansfield. Senator Subramanyam is also supported by Asian American Action Fund and Indian American Impact Fund.
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Senator Suhas Subramanyam has dedicated his life to public service as a State Senator, Obama White House advisor, Capitol Hill staffer, and as a Loudoun volunteer firefighter/EMT. In Richmond, he has worked across the aisle to pass gun violence prevention bills, protect democracy, and defend abortion rights. Senator Subramanyam is best positioned to keep VA-10 in Democratic hands because he represents more VA-10 constituents than any of the 16 primary election candidates, and he has consistently outperformed the Democratic ticket and delivered for his constituents. Suhas resides in Ashburn, Virginia (in VA-10) with his wife, Miranda, and their two daughters.
by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, May 13.
From President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign:
VIDEO: This Mother’s Day, Do the Moms in Your Life a Favor. Stop Trump Daughters Have Fewer Rights than their Mothers or Grandmothers Did Because of Donald Trump |
Happy Mother’s Day. At the Biden campaign, we are asking Americans to do the moms in their lives a favor. Stop Trump. |
And we would point Americans to President Biden’s 2008 DNC convention speech, speaking about the lessons he learned from his mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden: “I am so grateful that my mom, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, is here. You know, she taught her children — all the children who flocked to our house — that you are defined by your sense of honor, and you are redeemed by your loyalty. She believes bravery lives in every heart, and her expectation is that it will be summoned.” “My mother’s creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone’s equal, and everyone is equal to you.” Through his life in public service and as President, Joe Biden has carried the lessons of his mother with him every day. Donald Trump does not understand these values. His life choices and policies reflect that. On Mother’s Day, a reminder: Donald Trump stands only for himself – and not mothers across America and their families:
Biden-Harris 2024 Senior Spokesperson Lauren Hitt released the following statement: “The stakes of this election are high for all Americans, but especially moms across our country who will suffer under a second Trump term. “Under Trump, the government will be allowed to monitor their pregnancies, and rip their families apart. Meanwhile President Biden is fighting to bring back his historic expanded Child Tax Credit to give families a little extra breathing room, and ensure paid leave for all Americans. “Families depend on moms – and moms deserve a President they can depend on to protect their rights, work to lower their costs, and fight for them. Donald Trump wasn’t and isn’t that President, but Joe Biden is.” |
### Paid for by Biden for President |
by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, May 12.
This morning, the House of Delegates and State Senate budget bills were posted online, so you can now look at the details of what was negotiated the past few weeks between Virginia legislators and the Youngkin administration. On yesterday’s The Politics Hour on WAMU, Virginia Del. Mark Sickles – Vice Chair of the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee, thus heavily involved in budget negotations – discussed the new budget and other matters. Here are a few highlights.
by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, May 11.
From the DCCC:
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From Virginia environmental leaders:
RICHMOND — According to news reports, members of the budget conference committee failed to include language in the new budget insisting that the Commonwealth remain a part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI is a multi-state carbon cap-and-invest program that in just three years brought nearly $830 million to Virginia to fund flood resiliency projects and energy efficiency programs for low-income Virginians, while also cutting power plant pollution by almost 25 percent. Lawmakers will return to Richmond next week to take up the full, revised budget.
In response to this action, leaders from Virginia’s environmental community issued the following joint statement:
“The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative has been one of our best tools in Virginia to combat climate change while returning investment to the communities across the Commonwealth that need it most. At a time when we’re seeing extreme weather events happen more regularly, and as we head into what forecasters are saying will be another summer of scorching temperatures, it is incredibly disappointing that lawmakers aren’t doing everything they can to stand up to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s illegal RGGI repeal and gutting of a program intended to protect vulnerable communities from flooding and lower energy costs. This governor deserves to be held accountable for attempting to unilaterally override Virginia law, and this capitulation by the General Assembly unfortunately sets us back.
“Staying out of RGGI, and foregoing the hundreds of millions of dollars it generates each year, further burdens already disadvantaged communities on the frontlines of pollution and flooding impacts, and who shoulder disproportionate household energy costs. Furthermore, cutting this dedicated source of funding without a plan to address flooding, at a time when severe weather events are becoming more and more common, is reckless and bad public policy. And without funding for energy efficiency programs, the families least able to afford it will continue seeing rising energy costs as we head into the hot summer months.
“To be clear, Gov. Youngkin got us into this mess. But it is incumbent on lawmakers to do everything they can going forward to protect vulnerable communities from climate change and rising energy costs, and to secure a clean energy future.”
Michael Town, Executive Director, Virginia League of Conservation Voters
Lillian Anderson, Clean Energy & Climate Justice Policy & Campaigns Manager, Virginia Conservation Network
Connor Kish, Director, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter
Peter Anderson, Director of State Energy Policy, Appalachian Voices
Faith B. Harris, Executive Director, Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
Victoria Higgins, Virginia Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund
Elly Boehmer Wilson, State Director, Environment Virginia
Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director, Wetlands Watch
About us:
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters serves as the political voice of the state’s conservation community, working to make sure Virginia’s elected officials recognize that our natural heritage is an environmental and economic treasure for all. Virginia LCV works with conservation leaders across Virginia and strives for a conservation majority in state government. We secure good public policies on the state level and hold public officials accountable for their positions on environmental issues. For more information, visit www.valcv.org.
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That’s right – last night, the Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 “to reinstate the names of Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby-Lee Elementary in Quicksburg…The vote marked the first such U-turn anywhere in the US” (“Following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd and a summer of racial justice unrest, Virginia and other states took down Confederate statues from public spaces.”). So yeah, deep-“red” Shenandoah County has decided to lurch backwards – towards the shameful days of “Massive Resistance” and “Jim Crow,” and towards honoring traitors who took up arms against the United States of America in order to defend a horrific system of slavery. As the following speakers explained prior to the School Board’s vote, THAT is exactly what is going on here.
Spoiler: the Republican-dominated Shenandoah County School Board did NOT end up doing the right thing – far from it. Just disgraceful. By the way, do Glenn Youngkin, Jason Miyares, Todd Gilbert, etc. have any comment on any of this?!?