On Friday May 2nd, Governor Youngkin took final action on legislation for this year, which is the final year of his term.  In the two years I have served in the Virginia Senate, he has signed ten of my bills – and vetoed another ten.  One bill, my invasive plants legislation, was vetoed last year, and then signed (with some amendments) this year, which is a good example of how the back-and-forth of the legislative process moves our commonwealth forward.  

Every piece of legislation I have brought has been in response to real problems in the community brought to me by constituents.  I have heard from many folks having issues with the U.S. Postal Service, and I wanted to see what could be done at the state level to address this federal program.  What I learned is that although mail theft is known to be a federal crime, federal prosecutors are not always available to prosecute it – and state prosecutors have not previously had the authority to do so.  My bill SB939 basically brings the federal crime of mail theft into the Code of Virginia, so that our communities who are seeing rising theft of mail can take action even if their federal prosecutor does not have resources available to take the case.

The Governor also signed our state budget on May 2nd, several weeks after giving comments to the press indicating that he intended to do so.  However, his signature came with substantial amendments, $600 million in cuts, mostly to higher education, which were not communicated to the General Assembly in advance.  Official action on the budget may be the last step in the legislative process for the Governor, but it is the first step for our universities, local governments, school districts, and other state agencies, as well as non-profits and even small businesses who are impacted in one way or another by the Commonwealth’s plans to collect and spend tax dollars.  It is good we were able to give folks the certainty that Virginia is moving forward by agreeing to a budget on schedule, but troubling that the Governor’s economic advisors felt we need this extra cushion to prepare for the impact of President Trump’s trade policies.

Regarding federal trade policy, we have already seen an impact in the volatility of the financial markets, and we are beginning to see an impact on the shelves.  I think it is important to remind folks that the tariffs that are being put in place were not in response to any real problem in our country.   There were no banks becoming insolvent like in 2008, no shift in global energy supplies like after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2021.  President Trump says no other president would do what he is doing, and he’s right – because there is no reason to do what he is doing.  

I continue to hear from folks impacted by reductions in the federal workforce and other economic hardships.  If you or someone you know needs help connecting with state services, or if you see a problem that you think state legislation may be able to address, please reach out to me.

As always, it’s an honor to continue to represent the people of the 37th Senatorial District.