Wednesday's top stories
The top five political stories in Virginia.
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5 Va. colleges awarded lab school funding must resubmit applications - RTD
by Anna Bryson
Five Virginia colleges that have already been awarded millions in state funding for lab schools are scrambling to find new partners and resubmit their lab school applications within the next month.
Budget language finalized this month emphasizes that state code does not allow lab school funding to go to private or two-year colleges — which Democrats who wrote the law have asserted for the past two years.
'Podunk': GOP hopeful for U.S. Senate denigrates small town paper rather than answering questions about Super PAC - News Leader
by Elizabeth Beyer
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Hung Cao again failed to address critical questions about spending by the Unleash America super PAC when asked by a conservative talk show host on Tuesday, May 21.
But he did continue his attacks on the story that prompted critiques from members of his own party.
Instead of explaining why the money raised by the super PAC did not go to Virginia Republican candidates for state office in 2023, Cao again called the report that prompted the allegations a “hit job” and referred to the Staunton News Leader, which reported the story, as a “podunk local newspaper” on an episode of the Alec Lace show Tuesday.
Democrats say Youngkin's rejection of RGGI costing millions despite budget boost - RTD
by Dave Ress
Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s opposition to a multi-state effort to cut greenhouse gases costs Virginia about $150 million a year even after the General Assembly boosted funding for flood control efforts, House of Delegates Democrats say.
In addition, they said Youngkin’s veto of a bill that would have let the state tap federal funds for loans with low interest rates to finance clean energy projects, investments in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and similar efforts will cost Virginia still more.
Va. teacher pay gets a boost in budget, but it’s still projected to fall short of national average - Va Mercury
by Nathaniel Cline
Legislation that would have aligned Virginia teachers’ pay with the national average or higher by the 2027-28 school year won bipartisan support but was blocked from the state budget by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto last week.
The two-year budget, signed last week, includes $540 million to help pay for 3% salary increases for teachers and state employees in both years.
The governor said he supported the goal of “ensuring that teachers and state-funded education support positions are funded competitively,” but didn’t approve the bill to boost educators’ salaries to the national average because it relied heavily on what he viewed as flawed data from the National Education Association, which represents educators across the country.
Roanoke City Manager Cowell Resigns. Here's What Led Up To It. - Roanoke Rambler
Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell is out of a job, in the wake of toxic workplace claims that have rocked city hall. City Council on Monday unanimously accepted Cowell’s resignation and put Mayor Sherman Lea in charge as an acting city manager following Cowell’s June 7 departure.
A national search firm will help the city name an interim city manager “soon” as well as find a permanent manager, the city said in a late Monday press release.
From behind the paywall, my story from yesterday:
Kiggans says the ads are a lie. Democrats say her voting record tells a different story
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-VA02, is defending herself against attacks accusing her of voting for legislation that could potentially cut funding for veterans’ services. A former Navy pilot and nurse practitioner, Kiggans represents the Hampton Roads region in Congress, where a large portion of the population is active-duty military personnel.
Vote Vets, a group that says they elevate the voices of veterans and military families through progressive legislative policies and electoral endorsements that impact the lives of active service members and veterans, is calling out Kiggans for her comments defending herself in a recent video. They have endorsed Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal in VA-02.
In a video posted on social media, Kiggans defends herself against the Democratic attack ads, calling them lies.
“You’ve probably already seen some of the ads Democrats have been running about me for the past few months,” Kiggans says in the video. “And many of you have come up to me and said, ‘we saw the ad about you wanting to take away veterans’ health care, but we know you’re a veteran, the daughter of a veteran, the wife of a veteran, and mom to future veterans, and a nurse practitioner. So that ad just doesn’t make sense.’ And you’re right, it doesn’t make sense.”
She points out that the actors in the ads, who are also Kiggans’ constituents, are known Democrats in the area.
“When the opposition party has their chairman in an ad, it’s obviously going to contain a bunch of partisan lies,” she says in the video.
The vote that Democrats are referencing when accusing Kiggans of supporting cuts to veterans’ benefits is the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which narrowly passed in the House of Representatives. Republicans say the bill is intended to provide “commonsense spending reforms” and is a cut to all spending in the budget.
With no specific language in the legislation to protect the Department of Veterans Affairs, the VA projected in a press release that they would suffer a 22% cut to their funding.
The VA projects that this cut would result in “30 million fewer Veteran outpatient visits, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration.”
They also project that it will undermine access to telehealth, increase wait times for benefits and prevent construction of new healthcare facilities.
The VA’s analysis assumes an across-the-board reduction of roughly 22% compared to currently enacted FY 2023 levels for non-defense discretionary accounts. That aligns with proposals to return discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels on an ongoing basis while exempting defense spending, they say.
Republicans say the cuts will not be uniform and accuse Democrats of misleading the public. However, they also voted down Democratic amendments to the bill that would protect funding for veterans.
In response to the video from Kiggans, Vote Vets called on Kiggans to “own up” to her vote.
“Lying in a video where you claim to be correcting [misinformation] is a heck of a choice, [Rep Jen Kiggans],” they wrote on social media. “You voted to cut 30,000 jobs at the VA and imperil Veterans health care. Just own up to it and defend it. But don’t insult voters by lying about it.”
The Kiggans campaign is calling these attacks against her a “new low.”
“Jen Kiggans is a former Navy helicopter pilot, geriatric nurse practitioner, and mother to four children. Partisan attacks are an unfortunate part of politics, but blatantly lying about the voting record of someone whose entire career has revolved around serving her community and her country is a new low,” a Kiggans spokesperson said Tuesday morning. “This is not the first time Democrats have used these despicable tactics and it, unfortunately, will not be the last. Dark money-funded liberal groups have resorted to these dishonest tactics because they know that southeast Virginians stand with Congresswoman Kiggans’ rock-solid, commonsense voting record, strong advocacy for military and veteran families, and continued work to lower costs of living for all Americans. The more lies these groups tell about Jen, the more the people of Virginia’s Second District become immune to their tactics. Voters from across the political spectrum in VA-02 see through these political groups’ shameless slander and will send Jen Kiggans back to Congress in November.”
Kiggans defeated the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Elaine Luria, by three points in 2022.
Democrats are targeting this district as a potential flip. Two Democrats, Missy Cotter Smasal and Jake Denton, are seeking the nomination to run against Kiggans in November.