Politics

Estimating a $14 billion budget surplus over the next three years, Youngkin calls for giving every state resident a $1,500 tax cut during the first year. The Republican, now seven weeks on the job, also called for doubling the standard income tax deduction to $9,000 for single filers, and $18,000 for joint filers.

The governor also said a new gas tax that was to go into effect in July would be suspended for one year. Youngkin also said he is working with leaders in the General Assembly to make good on a campaign promise to eliminate the state’s grocery tax.

By Tyler Arnold

(The Center Square) – Democrat-backed legislation that would have accelerated the timetable for when retailers could sell recreational marijuana in Virginia was shut down in the House of Delegates.

(The Center Square) – The Virginia Senate narrowly passed legislation that requires schools to notify parents of sexually explicit material in the coursework and allow parents to opt their children out of such assignments.

Senate Bill 656, sponsored by Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, passed the chamber 20-18 with support from Republican leadership and a handful of Democrats. The legislation will now head to the House, which has a Republican majority. Gov. Glenn Youngkin strongly supports the legislation.

The president is expected to talk about caping the rising cost of prescription drugs, which was in his Build Back Better bill that died in December 2021. He’ll be joined by Rep. Abigail Spanbeger (D), who represents the district and is mounting a re-election campaign despite the district boundaries being redrawn in December and no longer including her home in Richmond’s western suburbs. 

“Addressing this affordability crisis has been one of my top priorities since arriving in Congress. For Virginia’s seniors, the rising cost of lifesaving prescription medications is creating significant uncertainty,” said Spanberger in a press statement.

Ben Litchfield, a consumer financial services attorney, has thrown his hat to run for state senate in the newly-created 27th District, covering portions of Stafford and Spotsylvania counties and Fredericksburg.

Litchfield and his wife Valerie have lived in Stafford since 2015. Until recently, he served as the Stafford County Democratic Committee Chairman.

Delegate Tara Durant (R-Fredericksburg, Stafford) wants schools to notify parents of sexually explicit material in lesson plans and books.

The freshman Republican’s bill would require the state Board of Education to:

Caleb Max, 24, of Loudoun County will seek the 10th District seat currently held by Democrat Jennifer Wexton since 2017. After founding a landscaping business in his teenage years that continues to operate in the region, Max bought a cattle farm and later purchased a small deli at the start of the pandemic in 2020.  

Max made fighting the genocide of the Uyghur Muslims in China a campaign and recently was recognized by the Virginia Muslim Association for his assistance to the Afghan refugee and Muslim community after President Biden’s order to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.