Buzz among local leaders about incoming Youngkin’s plans for education, transportation

There’s a lot of uncertainty among Virginia lawmakers who had gotten used to Democratic control in Richmond.

At a recent joint meeting of state and local lawmakers in Woodbridge, many asked whether or not incoming Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin — the first Republican to win the highest office in the state in the past 12 years — would continue funding investments in rail and public transportation, or if he would instead favor new road construction.

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They said his plan to eliminate the state’s tax on groceries would cost the county government school system millions. Yesterday in Roanoke, Youngkin said there is plenty of room for budget cuts. Virginia over-taxed its residents by 2.6. billion, he said.

Youngkin campaigned on school choice, which would allow educators to set up private charter schools in the state (there are eight of them in Virginia, while in neighboring Maryland and North Carolina, more than 100 exist in each state). Children in failing public schools would be allowed to attend these charter schools.

Youngkin was in Phoenix this week to talk about education, saying his administration will focus on helping children succeed.

“The polls kept telling us that education was the seventh or eighth or ninth most important issue,” the Associated Press quoted Youngkin. “Let me tell you, it is the top issue right now, and Republicans across the country can own this topic.”

Loudoun County made national news this year when it became ground zero for the education debate. Everything from masking children in the classroom, using personal pronouns to identify students, and whether or not students are safe at school following the rape of a female student, the sexual assault of another, and the school division’s efforts to keep the news out of the spotlight all made headlines.

At that joint meeting in Woodbridge, Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson urged Democratic lawmakers to repeal HB257 signed into law last year, which eliminates a requirement school principals report students law enforcement they may have committed a misdemeanor crime.

Lawson’s appeal received a lukewarm response, especially from Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, the bill’s co-patron, who sat silently next to Lawson.

On transportation, in the wake of the pandemic with so many poeple now working from home, Youngkin was never pressed on the issue. Although data will drive all transportation and infrastructure decisions, Youngkin told a reporter during the campaign.

The state began using a data-driven process to fund transportation projects, called Smart Scale, when Terry McAuliffe was governor. Pedestrian projects, such as new sidewalks, don’t score well and often go unfunded, said Senator Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax, Prince William, Stafford).

During the upcoming legislative session beginning January 12, 2022, Surovell said he’ll introduce legislation that would allow pedestrian-friendly projects to be scored separately from road and transit plans.

Northern Virginia has been home to Founder and Publisher of Potomac Local News Uriah Kiser since childhood. He and his wife are now raising their child here. Have a news tip or story idea? Email email him.