McClellan wants to bring experience to the Executive Mansion and Jay Jones hits Mark Herring over death penalty
The latest in Virginia politics.
McClellan vies for governor seat after 15 years in legislature
By Hunter Britt
Capital News Service
RICHMOND, Va. — Sen. Jennifer McClellan is one of 13 candidates vying to become Virginia’s next governor; a state that has never had a woman in the top post.
McClellan, D-Richmond, has helped shape Virginia’s changing political landscape for 15 years as a state legislator. She just completed her fifth year serving as a senator. She won the position in a 2017 special election, departing her 11-year post as a delegate representing Charles City County and parts of Richmond City and Henrico and Hanover counties. McClellan now looks to the executive mansion.
“We need a governor who can rebuild our economy, our healthcare, our economic safety net, and help us move forward post-COVID in a way that addresses inequity and brings people that are impacted by these crises together to be a part of that solution,” McClellan said. “I’ve got the experience and perspective to do that.”
McClellan’s party has controlled both chambers in the legislature for the past two years, along with the executive branch. The Democratic trifecta has ushered in more progressive legislation and undone decades of conservative policy.
“I have a full understanding of how we got where we are as a commonwealth, where we need to go, and how to build that coalition of people to come together to do that,” McClellan said.
McClellan has close ties with many of the issues she fights for, including domestic workers’ rights. She comes from a long line of domestic workers. The General Assembly recently passed a bill spearheaded by McClellan that includes domestic service workers in employee protection laws. Every woman on her mother’s side of the family has been a domestic worker, the senator said.
“My mom was one of 14 children born during the Depression in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi,” she said. “For her mother, her grandmother, her sisters, those were the only jobs available.”
Key issues
McClellan said she wants to bolster Virginia as the state digs into another year of the pandemic. That includes a focus on education, health care, and economic recovery and development.
McClellan said she wants to provide more funding for public schools, including raising teacher salaries to an average of $65,000. Legislators have cut Virginia’s education funding formula since the recession, according to a report from the Commonwealth Institute. The cuts include capping the number of school support staff paid for by the state.
McClellan plans to help stabilize and expand the child care industry. The pandemic caused many child care workers to lose jobs and day cares to close. The industry will continue to decline without public investment and policy reform, according to a University of California, Berkeley report.
The senator said child care should be recognized as a public necessity. McClellan said she laid the groundwork for the Universal Child Care & Early Learning Plan during the 2021 General Assembly session. McClellan’s $4 billion plan calls for universal child care by 2025 for babies and children up to age 4.
The governor recently signed McClellan’s Senate Bill 1316, which exempts prospective child care employees and volunteers from background checks if one has been performed in the past five years. The bill also prompts the Department of Education to establish a two-year pilot program that would move federal child care subsidy dollars from an attendance-based to an enrollment-based model. If an emergency kept the student from attending, the facility does not get subsidy dollars under the attendance-based system, even though the facility already had financially prepared for the student. Child care centers lost federal funding in the past year due to the pandemic and children missing more days than usual.
The pandemic has negatively impacted many small businesses and workers. McClellan said she will create a COVID Long-Term Effects Small Business Loan allowing small business owners to apply for a low interest, 30-year loan. McClellan wants to expand small businesses access to capital through increased funding partnerships with entities such as the Virginia Community Capital bank. She also promoted evaluating laws and tax structures to help “allow entrepreneurs to innovate and grow” their businesses in alignment with market trends.
The General Assembly in recent years has made efforts to improve workers’ rights, though several bills were whittled down or didn’t advance. McClellan wants to expedite the transition to a $15 minimum hourly wage, allow an estimated half a million gig workers access to unemployment benefits and remove barriers to collective bargaining. She would also like to pass a stronger version of a paid sick leave bill than what the Senate amended this session.
Governor Northam signs bill to abolish the death penalty
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill Wednesday to abolish the death penalty across the Commonwealth.
Virginia is the first southern state to make this change that 22 other states have already done.
“Over our 400-year history Virginia has executed more than 1,300 people, more than any other state,” Northam said while speaking Wednesday afternoon at the Greensville Correctional Center, the site of many state-sanctioned executions.
Northam remained thankful for the work of the patrons and organizations that made this happen. “This is a truly historic day for Virginia, and I am deeply grateful to those who have fought tirelessly and for generations to put an end to capital punishment in our Commonwealth,” Northam said.
Democratic Attorney General candidates Jay Jones and Attorney General Mark Herring respond to the repeal of the death penalty
Jones and Herring are both seeking the Democratic nomination to run for attorney general. They released the following statements after Governor Northam signed the bill to abolish the death penalty Wednesday.
Herring: “For too long Virginia had the shameful distinction as one of the states that most frequently imposed the death penalty,” said Herring. “Now we are showing a better, more just way forward as the first state in the south to do away with it. Ending this practice is just one step in our ongoing, crucial work to reform the Commonwealth’s criminal justice system to make it more fair, equal and just for all Virginians.”
Jones: “This is a historic day in Virginia and a big step forward on the path to a more fair justice system. I have always believed deeply in my soul that the death penalty is abhorrent. I am heartened today that Virginians have come together - citizens, legislators, and our Governor - in the name of justice, civil rights, and decency to do the right thing and abolish it,” said Jones.
Jones also called out Herring for his support of the death penalty in the past. “Mark Herring has not only opposed the abolition of the death penalty time and time again. He voted to expand the death penalty 16 times, ran for Attorney General supporting the death penalty in both 2013 and 2017 and actively worked to defend the practice in court as Attorney General. It is because of politicians like Mark Herring that it took Virginia until 2021 to finally abolish this unequal practice,” added Jones. “While we celebrate the labor of community advocates across the Commonwealth in our monumental victory today, we must reckon with why it took so long to get to this point. Mark Herring stood as an obstacle in this fight. Election year conversions aren’t serious and shouldn’t be taken that way. His record speaks for itself. Imagine what we could accomplish with an Attorney General who fights for progress instead of obstructing it.”
GOP candidates target gun laws - Winchester Star
by Evan Goodenow
On a day when 10 people were killed in Boulder, Colorado, in the second mass shooting in the U.S. in less than a week, state Republican candidates vowed to roll back Virginia gun control laws and block or defy new state or federal ones.
“Democrats are putting forward some very dangerous gun-grabbing legislation,” gubernatorial candidate Peter Doran told about 100 people at a Monday night candidates’ forum at Fox Meadow Barn in Frederick County. “I will tell Joe Biden that if he wants to put forth or sign legislation or executive orders that violate your constitutional rights to protect yourselves, as Virginians we will tell him no. We will not enforce those laws.”
Terry McAuliffe Releases Plan to Tackle Climate Change and Secure Virginia's Clean Energy Future by 2035
Terry McAuliffe is announcing a plan today to combat the harmful effects of climate change. The plan also includes an effort to secure a clean energy future for Virginia by setting a target to reach 100% clean energy by 2035, aligning the Commonwealth with President Biden’s climate goals and efforts to pass a federal climate and infrastructure bill this year.
The plan includes investing in energy efficiency, restructuring Virginia’s regulatory structure to protect consumers and incentivize the transition, and decarbonizing Virginia’s transportation sector.
McAulliffe anticipates that 13,000 new jobs a year will become available to help Virginia transfer to new energy. Part of his plan includes collaborating with Virginia’s institutions of higher education and clean energy industries to expand capacity for relevant courses, develop a hands-on curriculum, and expand apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs that provide students with the skills required for these well-paying jobs. McAuliffe said he also wants to prioritize re-training for the 24,000 Virginians who currently work in predominantly rural fossil fuel industries so they can access the clean energy jobs of the future.
“Climate change is one of the greatest threats to the future of our Commonwealth and our communities, yet Republicans continue to deny its impact, putting Virginians' lives and futures at risk. Securing our clean energy future is critical to securing our future, and I promise you that Virginia will lead the nation in tackling climate change and transitioning to clean energy,” McAuliffe said Thursday. “We're going to get Virginia to 100% clean energy by 2035 by partnering with President Biden and investing critical federal dollars, secure our vital coastal communities like Hampton Roads, tackle inequities and environmental racism, and build a brighter future for all Virginians."
Democratic LG candidate Sam Rasoul is holding a virtual climate rally tonight
Del. Sam Rasoul (D-11) announced that his campaign for Lieutenant Governor will convene a virtual climate rally following the campaign’s endorsement by the national Sunrise Movement.
The virtual rally will feature Abdul El-Sayed and speakers from the Sunrise Movement and Virginia climate movement, and be live-streamed on Rasoul’s Facebook page tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Wittman and Spanberger team up to try and expand 529 fund availability
Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) are teaming up to try and provide some financial relief to students that pursue job training opportunities.
H.R. 2171: the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act would allow for the use of 529 funds to pay for the tuition, exam, and supply costs associated with career technical education. A 529 is a savings plan that can be used to fund college expenses at eligible educational institutions nationwide.
“Even before the pandemic, businesses across Virginia faced a severe talent shortage due to a lack of career and technical training as well as STEM education. Now, as we rebuild our economy, cultivating a workforce with in-demand skill sets is more important than ever,” said Wittman. “One of my top priorities is ensuring our students cultivate the skill sets needed to thrive in today’s workforce. This bipartisan legislation creates opportunities for students to pursue post-secondary credentialing programs by allowing them to use their 529 savings to pay for tuition, exams, and supplies.”
Currently, 529 funds can only be used to cover expenses for students that are enrolled at or applying for an accredited college, university, vocational or technical school. 529 funds can also be used to pay for certified and registered apprenticeship expenses, certain payments on qualified education loans, and up to $10,000 per year for tuition at a private, religious or public primary or secondary school.
The bill would change the internal revenue code to allow people attempting to earn an industry-recognized certificate to use their 529 funds for expenses like tuition, supplies, and test fees.
“Especially as we rebuild our economy in the wake of COVID-19, we need to make sure Central Virginia students and workers receive the training required to remain competitive and successful. 529 savings plans have long ensured that the next generation of Virginia workers can afford a higher education — but students are currently constrained from using these accounts to pay for necessary credentialing programs and exams,” said Spanberger. “Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation would give Virginia students and workers the ability to use their 529 plans to cover tuition, books, and testing costs related to these training programs.”
“Virginia529 looks forward to working with @RepSpanberger and other legislators to help close 529 plan education gaps,” tweeted the Virginia chapter of 529 after the bill was introduced in the House of Representatives.
Trump Returns to Virginia Airwaves Ahead of GOP Convention - VPM News
by Ben Paviour
Our First Principles Fund, a group attacking Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) for his vote to expand Medicaid in Virginia, among other points, has spent at least $68,000 on TV and radio ads attacking the gubernatorial hopeful since March 8 without filing any paperwork with the Virginia Department of Elections. State code requires groups to file a “statement of organization” within ten days of spending at least $200.
Federal Communications Commission filings list David Clemens as the group’s treasurer. Clemens did not respond to an email sent to an address listed at two federal PACs associated with his name: No Socialism PAC and AOC Hates the USA. Clemens is also listed as the treasurer of Virginia Cornerstone PAC, a group that has accused Youngkin of being overly cozy with China, Hilary Clinton, and the Black Lives Matter organization.
Virginia Democratic voters face a key choice in upcoming primary for governor - NBC News
By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
Stay the course? Or go in a new history-making direction? That’s the question for Virginia Democratic voters ahead of the party’s gubernatorial primary on June 8 featuring former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, former state Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, current Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and state Del. Lee Carter.
It’s a race that also somewhat echoes the 2020 Democratic presidential contest — with McAuliffe running as the experienced hand, with McClellan and Carroll Foy having the chance of being the state’s (and nation’s) first Black female governor, with Fairfax having the chance of being Virginia’s second Black governor, and with Carter running as a self-described socialist.
In graphic poem, Charlottesville mayor compares her city to a rapist - Washington Post
by Laura Vozzella
Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker on Wednesday tweeted a poem she'd penned about the college town she leads, one so spare that it approached haiku, and yet abundantly shocking.
“Charlottesville: The beautiful-ugly it is,” it reads. “It rapes you, comforts you in its [graphic word deleted here] stained sheet and tells you to keep its secrets.”