This week marks the end of the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term as president.  Has it only been 100 days?  Seems like the national and international chaos created by the Trump White House has been affecting economies across the globe for much longer.  

Shortly after last November’s election, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay warned that Trump’s election would have a devastating effect on the county’s economy.  In his remarks, McKay noted that 40 percent of Virginia’s federal contractors are located in Fairfax County.  A shakeup of the federal workforce and cuts to housing programs were concerns voiced by Chairman McKay, but he also said that “we have to assume that Congress isn’t crazy enough to destabilize our government.”  Sadly, it looks like the Republican-controlled Congress has abandoned its role as an equal branch of government and has allowed Trump’s orders and activities to destroy trust in our democratic institutions, spiraling down in a race to the economic bottom.   

Virginia is a top state for federal contracting, accounting for more than $100 Billion per year to the Commonwealth’s economy. Of that figure, 62 percent is spent in Northern Virginia, and 16 percent in Hampton Roads.  441,488 civilian jobs in Virginia are dependent on federal contracting, according to the Virginia General Assembly’s Emergency Committee on the Impacts of Federal Workforce and Funding Reductions, chaired by Fairfax delegate David Bulova. In testimony before the committee earlier this month, Chairman McKay suggested that the Commonwealth consider adjustments to the state childcare subsidy to ensure that providers can continue to offer quality services as families are affected by job insecurities stimulated by Trump’s federal cuts.  Housing assistance and support for additional research and development in Virginia’s high-tech industry were among other suggestions by McKay.  

A local initiative by Northern Virginia Community College, called NOVAnext, is designed to assist dislocated federal workers to attain new workforce credentials or otherwise prepare for new employment in less time, and less cost, than a regular associate degree would take.  At a meeting of the NOVA Annandale campus Advisory Committee last week, a participant reflected on his own employment history.  When he was laid off as a federal employee, his mental health and feeling of self-worth were affected for a time, a situation felt by many in the same boat. He found a new and interesting job and is trying to help others as they navigate the choppy waters of retooling their skills for new opportunities.  More about the NOVAnext program can be found at next@nvcc.edu.  

 The Board of Supervisors held its traditional three days of budget hearings last week. Board members heard from school advocates, employee groups, childcare providers, supporters of the arts, and individual residents who shared their own particular concerns, sometimes tearfully, about the proposed budget and real estate taxes.  I testified about maintaining the free summer concert programs in the parks, which are targeted for massive reductions.  It was a bit strange to stand at the lectern facing the board dais when I spent 28 years behind that same dais, listening to thousands of residents testify about the budget.  Speakers are limited to three minutes, something that also was difficult.  You must be very focused to get your message across in three minutes!  The Board now will have the tough job of deciding the real estate tax rate, which programs to continue funding, and which may be cut.  Budgets reflect the values of the community and the governing body.  Given the uncertainty of cuts to the federal workforce, programs, and even entire departments, these may be the most difficult county budget decisions in a couple of decades.