This is a daily newsletter covering Virginia politics from top to bottom. Please consider becoming the ultimate political insider by supporting non-partisan, independent news and becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter today.
Have a tip? You can reply to this email, or email me directly at Brandon@virginiascope.com
The rundown
The fundraising information for Aaron Rouse and Kevin Adams was released and they both raised a lot of money. Find out who donated to their campaigns and also find out what they spent that money on.
State Sen. Scott Surovell plans to introduce legislation that would provide sick leave to all healthcare and grocery store employees.
There is still no Speaker of the House in DC.
Goochland Republican Committee is surveying members to send their results to Rep. Good on who to support for Speaker.
Did you miss some of the stories from earlier this week?
Executive Public Schedule
8:00 AM: GOVERNOR GLENN YOUNGKIN ATTENDS BREAKFAST WITH LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR WINSOME EARLE-SEARS AND ATTORNEY GENERAL JASON MIYARES
LOCATION: Governor's Executive Mansion
10:00 AM: GOVERNOR VISITS VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
3:30 PM: GOVERNOR RECEIVES BRIEFING FROM SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES JOHN LITTEL
Surovell to introduce legislation that would provide sick leave to all healthcare and grocery store employees
State Sen. Scott Surovell (D) plans to file legislation ahead of the upcoming General Assembly session that would provide sick leave to all healthcare workers and grocery store employees. The legislation made it out of the Senate last year but did not survive a subcommittee in the Republican-held House of Delegates.
It would expand on a prior policy that covered full-time employees but failed to cover part-time workers.
“Virginians who work in frontline industries should know they can take the time they need to get better when they feel sick instead of being forced to work to pay their bills and contribute to disease spread,” Surovell said. “Economists tell us that Virginia still has not recovered from the pandemic-era labor shortage. I’m optimistic that this legislation will ensure that employers are better able to recruit professionals to fill many currently vacant roles.”
The General Assembly convenes on Jan. 11 for the legislative session. The dynamics of the House partisanship is likely to be the same as last year with 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats. There are a few special elections but they are in safe districts for the party that previously held the seats.
Money reports in the SD-07 special election.
Democrats still hold a majority in the state Senate but how large the majority is will depend on that Jan. 10 special election to fill Rep. Jen Kiggans’ former state Senate seat. Kiggans barely won the election in 2019 and there is still one year left on her term in Senate District 07.
Democrat Aaron Rouse and Republican Kevin Adams are both running for the seat. They both raised large sums of money for a state Senate special election.