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Freedom Virginia's 'Get Ahead’ agenda is centered around ensuring Virginia is more fair and affordable for hardworking people by making corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share, just as the middle class does.
Senate blocks Youngkin appointees
The Virginia Senate is blocking multiple appointees from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. A source told Virginia Scope that these appointees had no idea they were not going to be removed.
Jeff Goettman, Yesli Vega, Meg Bryce and Ken Marcus were among the appointees blocked.
When these appointments made it to the full Senate floor Friday afternoon, the debate lasted hours.
Republicans wanted to pass by the proposal taking up debate on the resolutions until Monday, but Democrats killed that motion.
Republicans severed the amendments on each of the appointees who were removed and asked Democrats multiple questions as to why they did so.
Democrats would not specifically say the reason for removing each appointee, citing precedence and not wanting to harm the reputation of the removed appointees.
“It is known we don’t support extreme ideology,” Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria. “We have certain expectations….we are not going make characterizations beyond that on the floor.”
“It is the prerogative of this body to reject people,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell. “The message to the governor is to maybe come up with better nominees next time.”
Democrats also pointed out that they approved hundreds of Youngkin’s appointees while only removing a few of his picks.
“I commend Youngkin on having hundreds of good choices,” Ebbin said.
Youngkin responded with a long statement Friday night.
“Senate Democrats rejected highly-qualified, nationally-recognized individuals who have already been serving with distinction on a volunteer basis,” he said. “What reasons did they offer for their actions other than their own extreme partisanship? None. Repeatedly, they could not articulate a single substantive reason to reject them.”
Youngkin is hoping that the House of Delegates will reinstate the appointees that have been removed by the Senate.
“Virginians are looking to the House to right this wrong,” he said.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-VA03, was hanging at the General Assembly Friday. When asked whether he had decided whether he would run for governor in 2025, he said he was currently focused on his work in D.C.
When asked if there is a timeline for when he will make a decision, he said, “The filing deadline is coming up,” before pivoting back to talking about D.C.
In order to qualify for the primary ballot, Scott would have to file his Certificate of Candidate Qualification, Declaration of Candidacy and Petitions of Qualified Voters by April 3.
Sen. Christie New Craig, R-Chesapeake, received a second chance on her skill games legislation after it initially failed to advance out of a subcommittee earlier this week. The bill advanced out of the General Laws Committee Wednesday – but not without some confusion and drama.
“This bill is a long time coming,” New Craig said before the committee voted. “We have seen this for four years. The commonwealth has given up at least over a billion dollars in tax revenue that we could have collected that could go to K-12 schools and other services.”
The proposal would establish taxes and penalties for skill game machines in the commonwealth. During the General Laws Subcommittee on Monday, the legislation failed to receive a “second” when it was moved to report the bill and advance.
Republican efforts to amend the VCEA fail in House subcommittee
Republicans worry that ratepayers will ultimately have to pay for fees put onto utility companies due to provisions in the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) penalizing them if they fail to meet renewable energy benchmarks. To combat the possibility of price increases, House Republicans proposed legislation that would conditionally remove those penalties if they fall short.
According to the VCEA, utility companies like Dominion Energy have to produce a certain amount of renewable energy each year. If they miss the benchmark, they can purchase a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) or make a deficiency payment.
Republicans want to make it easier for utility companies in Virginia to avoid those increased costs and prices for customers by tweaking the VCEA.
Glenn Davis, the Director of the Virginia Department of Energy, said that per his conversations with Dominion Energy and their State Corporation Commission filings, he is expecting the public utility to face more than $400 million in forced REC purchases and deficiency payments in 2026.
The Senate passed three constitutional amendments Tuesday that would remove the defunct same-sex marriage ban, enshrine the right to reproductive access and automatically restore voting rights to people who were incarcerated for a felony conviction.
SJ 247, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, which would guarantee the right to reproductive freedom in Virginia, passed on the floor.
“It will take the issue out of the General Assembly’s hands. Once and for all,” Boysko said on the floor. “This amendment ensures that Virginia remains a safe place for women and families.”
It would remove the requirement of three doctors to sign off on a late-term abortion if a woman’s life is in jeopardy and change it to one. Advocates say that this is necessary due to the lack of doctors in some parts of the commonwealth, making it hard to find three doctors in an emergency.
Skyrocketing energy demand from Virginia's rapidly growing data center industry could cost households an extra $444 annually on their electric bills. Tell your legislator: Data centers need to pay their fair share.
People’s March brings thousands to Washington in defiance of Trump
By Sarah Hagen and Andrew Kerley, VCU Capital News Service
WASHINGTON -- A diverse coalition of thousands marched in Washington on Saturday in the name of women’s rights, climate change, prison abolition and more, but also as an act of defiance against President-elect Donald Trump.
The march was a callback to 2017, when the first Women’s March was held the day after Trump’s first inauguration. The now rebranded People’s March was held two days before the start of his second term. Protests began in three separate locations, each with a different focus. Demonstrators marched through the district, to eventually converge at the Lincoln Memorial.
Speakers at Franklin Park rallied the crowd over abortion access, LGBTQ rights and the Equal Rights Amendment. President Joe Biden the day before declared the ERA to be law, though many say the move is just symbolic and could not stand on legal ground.
Protesters chanted throughout downtown “we’re not going back,” “trust Black women” and “this is what democracy looks like.” Lida Jones, a 79-year-old protester, said women of future generations will not have as many rights as she does “unless they care.”
“People don’t care about things like this until they’re personally affected,” Jones said. “I think there are not enough young people involved.”
The new GAB building is frustrating daily occupants
The new General Assembly Building that opened in 2023 and cost nearly $300 million is frustrating some of its occupants and daily guests.
Limited cafeteria seating and frequently out-of-order bathrooms are issues, but the top complaint is the wait for elevators.
Any given morning during the legislative session, you might stumble upon large crowds of people waiting to catch one of the eight elevators on the first floor to escort them to one of the fourteen floors in the building.
“I am glad we were able to get an elevator,” one delegate said as he walked off the 13 floor Friday.
A poll conducted by Co/efficient on behalf of Energy Right looked at support for solar power and other energy sources in Virginia.
The poll was conducted from January 15-17 with 896 likely voters.
Here are the toplines:
Youngkin approval: 61% approve, 39% disaprove.
61% support solar power, 14% oppose and 24% are unsure.
52% support President Trump’s “America First” energy plans, 32% oppose and 16% are unsure.
When asked: nearly one-third of Virginia counties do not allow for solar energy projects. Should the authority to permit solar projects be left to local governments or the Virginia General Assembly? — 49% support local government control, 28% support General Assembly control and 22% are unsure.
Respondents were given three statements and asked which statement aligns with their view:
Protecting the environment and developing
energy supply should be balanced and
given equal priority.
• Protecting the environment should be given
priority over developing energy supply.
• Developing energy supply should be given
priority over protecting the environment.
67% balanced, 21% said environment and 12% said energy supply.
33% said they want more coal energy, 43% said they want less and 23% said they want the same as now.
45% said they want more natural gas energy, 22% want less and 33% said same as now.
49% said they want more wind energy, 32% said they want less and 19% said they want same as now.
60% said they want more solar energy, 19% said they want less and 21% said they want same as now.
51% said they want more nuclear energy, 19% said they want less and 30% want the same as now.
60% said they support solar energy development, 17% said they oppose it and 23% said they are unsure.
I watched the replay of Friday’s Senate session. It was 4 hours! Most of the time was all on the Youngkin nominee’s being removed. I don’t understand how the House could reinstate them ? The Democrats control the House too.. I commend the Democrat Senators for how well they handled the proceedings. My son and daughter in law are GMU graduates. The 3 nominees for GMU were partisan picks by Youngkin and were not a good fit for the school.
I watched the replay of Friday’s Senate session. It was 4 hours! Most of the time was all on the Youngkin nominee’s being removed. I don’t understand how the House could reinstate them ? The Democrats control the House too.. I commend the Democrat Senators for how well they handled the proceedings. My son and daughter in law are GMU graduates. The 3 nominees for GMU were partisan picks by Youngkin and were not a good fit for the school.