By Morgan Sweeney

(The Center Square) — Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., joined Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, to introduce a bill to waive passport fees for families visiting a service member injured overseas.

“The last thing military families need is added stress and expense when going to visit their loved one in a time of illness or injury,” Carey said in a statement.

Passport fees are already waived for families of American military personnel who have to attend an overseas funeral or memorial service or visit an overseas grave. Spanberger and Carey felt the fees should also be waived for injured service members who have not been medically cleared for travel, as they may be in critical condition, and time is of the essence for them and their families.

“When a parent, spouse, or sibling receives the dreaded phone call that their loved one has been injured in combat, that family member should not have to worry about the extra cost of obtaining a passport to be by their side. Our nation’s service members — and their families — deserve our highest standard of care and support for their immense sacrifice,” Spanberger said in a statement.

Spanberger did not seek reelection in the upcoming congressional general election, as she declared in November that she intends to run for governor.

Virginia’s Department of Health (VDH) has set up an outbreak investigation website documenting the outbreak of Shiga toxin-inducing Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections in Lake Anna swimmers. 25 cases have been confirmed, and the only known common factor is swimming in the lake on Memorial Day weekend.

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George Mason University's Patriot Pitch Competition awarded its top prize in the General Entrepreneurship Track to Zachary Suh, a 19-year-old freshman from Ashburn studying marketing.

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Republican Derrick Anderson emerged as the winner of the June 18, 2024, Republican Primary for Virignia’s 7th Congressional District.

The district includes eastern Prince William County, Stafford, and Spostylvania counties, and Fredericksburg.

Anderson secured 16,203 votes, accounting for 45.25% of the total votes cast. He will face Democrat Eugene Vindman in the upcoming November 2024 General Election.

The primary race saw Anderson leading comfortably among his competitors. His closest rival, Cameron Hamilton, garnered 13,333 votes, representing 37.23% of the electorate, which was not enough to close the gap with Anderson. Jon Myers came in third with 4,585 votes, capturing 12.80% of the total vote. The remaining candidates, John Prabhudoss, Maria Martin, and Terris Todd, received significantly fewer votes, with each securing less than 3% of the total.

Our country is the weakest it has been since the event that drove me to run for Congress: the botched withdrawal in Afghanistan. I lost five of my guys, including Green Berets, in Afghanistan, and I was disgusted by the weakness portrayed by the United States during the chaotic withdrawal that saw 20 years of progress and sacrifice wasted in the blink of an eye,” Andesron said in his election night speech on June 18. “We will secure our border to make sure our communities are safe again, our nation is secure, and to guarantee that those who immigrated here legally still have access to the American dream they came here for. We will make living more affordable. It’s time Washington be reminded that their policies are impacting each of us more than they try to understand, and it starts right in our pocket books, wallets, and at our kitchen tables. That ends today.”

Anderson made a bid for the nomination in 2022, but lost to Yesli Vega.Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) has held the the 7th District congressional seat since 2018. She’s not seeking re-election to Congress but is running for Virginia Governor in 2025.

Pivoting to the General Election, Anderson tells us he’ll be knocking doors in Prince William County tomorrow, June 22, 2024.

Vindman, of Dale City, ran a campaign solely to oppose Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for President. He and his twin brother Alexander Vindman were key figures in Trump’s first impeachment in 2020.

Vindman cruised to victory over a sea of Democrat candidates vying for the nomination, winning nearly 50% of the vote in the district. He out raised them, too, raking in more than $5 million, mainly from out-of-state liberal donors who oppose Trump.

The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) services are set to strengthen their collaboration. The VRE Operations Board is expected to vote on Friday, June 21, to restore an agreement that allows VRE riders to board MARC trains and vice versa. This move has been speculated as a step toward providing non-stop service between Maryland and Virginia.

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Virginia’s Department of Health (VDH) has confirmed 20 known cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections in patients who swam at Lake Anna over Memorial Day weekend. Deputy Director Katherine McCombs said swimming at the lake is the only known connection between the patients.

Randal Brown, of Augusta County, near Charlottesville, said his family visited the lake on May 25 and May 26. Everyone went swimming and ate the same food. His son Bentley, who just turned eight, was the only one to get sick. The family went to the Augusta Health ER on May 30 when Bentley had severe stomach pain.

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By Casey Harper

(The Center Square) – Small businesses are citing the highest levels of uncertainty since the COVID-19 pandemic, a concerning economic indicator.

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The Virginia Department of Health has confirmed to Potomac Local it has launched an investigation after multiple people fell ill after swimming at Lake Anna over Memorial Day weekend. While the state health agency has not said how many are sick, all have reported gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses. According to agency spokeswoman Brookie Crawford, some have been diagnosed with Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections.

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By Morgan Sweeney

(The Center Square) – Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office issued an announcement Wednesday morning that as of next year, Virginia will no longer follow California’s electric vehicle mandates.

“Once again, Virginia is declaring independence – this time from a misguided electric vehicle mandate imposed by unelected leaders nearly 3,000 miles away from the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Though Youngkin has fought green energy mandates established by the prior administration – most notably, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – the announcement comes as a surprise, as it was believed that the decision was in the hands of the General Assembly.

Youngkin encouraged state lawmakers at the start of this year’s legislative session to repeal the 2021 law tying Virginia’s vehicle emissions policies to California’s, but the bill never made it out of committee due to the Assembly’s Democratic majority.

But state Attorney General Jason Miyares has issued what is sure to be a highly contested official opinion “confirm[ing] that Virginia is not required to comply with expansive new mandates adopted by the unelected California Air Resources Board (CARB) set to take effect January 1, 2025.”

The governor held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, proudly declaring Virginia’s emancipation from California policy.

“I have the privilege of announcing once and for all the California electric vehicle mandate in Virginia. The idea that governments should be telling Virginians what kind of car they must drive is just simply wrong,” Youngkin said.

Federal law limits state autonomy regarding vehicle emissions: States must adhere to federal vehicle emissions standards, or they can choose to adopt California’s more stringent standards.

In 2021, under a Democratic governor and a Democratic majority in the General Assembly, Virginia passed several bills that dramatically changed the state’s energy and environmental landscape. One was the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which committed to transitioning Virginia’s electric grid entirely to green energy by 2050, and another hitched Virginia’s electric vehicle policies to California’s.

California requires 100% of new car sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035 and can fine automakers that fail to comply.

Republicans have bucked against the mandates since they came to Virginia but have been unable to reverse them through the legislative process. But Miyares seems confident that he has found a legal loophole.

In 2012, California adopted its Advanced Clean Car Program I, regulating vehicle emissions standards from 2015 to 2025. In 2022, California adopted the Advanced Clean Cars II.

“Virginia’s air pollution control board has never approved, never adopted these ACCII (Advanced Clean Car Program II) regulations and because there was an explicit sunset provision placed on ACCI, it expires on December 31 of this year,” Miyares said.

Miyares also pointed to “permissive” language in the Virginia law referring to the first program, ACCI, which allowed the commonwealth to abandon California’s clean cars policies in 2025.

“I can reach no other conclusion as the attorney general of Virginia that the provisions tying us to California ACCII are no longer operable and yes, Virginians, yet again, have consumer freedom,” Miyares said.

Republicans are voicing their support for the move, grateful the commonwealth’s environmental policies will no longer be tied to California’s.

“Virginians, not unelected bureaucrats in California, should be able to choose the cars that fit their families needs,” Republican Senate Majority Leader Michael McDougle posted on X.

“Outstanding!! This had to be one of the most ridiculous policy decisions forced on Virginians when the Democrats took complete control of government in 2020/2021,” Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, posted on X.

Virginia Democrats have yet to issue an official response to the news.

By Morgan Sweeney

(The Center Square) — The jury announced its verdict in former President Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial Thursday evening, and social media was set ablaze.

Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records that could have been harmful to his 2016 presidential campaign.

Many of the commonwealth’s prominent government officials and elected representatives took to X, formerly Twitter, joining the chorus of voices weighing in on the verdict.

Most Republicans expressed distrust of the trial and its outcome, including Attorney General Jason Miyares.

Miyares blasted the trial as an illegitimate attempt at eliminating a powerful political opponent, reminding spectators of the case’s beginnings – when formidable American institutions declined to bring charges against Trump.

“In America, we don’t seek to jail political opponents – we seek to defeat them at the ballot box,” Miyares wrote. “To be clear, the FEC declined to prosecute this case. The US Attorneys Office declined to prosecute this case.”

He went on to take shots at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, lead attorney for the prosecution.

“This case was moved forward by a far-left prosecutor who regularly refuses to prosecute violent criminals but chose to move forward because the defendant was named Donald Trump.”

Despite his criticisms, Miyares still conveyed faith in the American justice system and the possibility of another outcome.

“America has the greatest justice system in the world – and that is partly because it has a robust appeals process. There is broad consensus that this case is riddled with potential reversible errors and should be appealed in an expedited manner and resolved as quickly as possible,” Miyares said.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears echoed Miyares’ sentiments while questioning why Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden haven’t been subject to similar legal battles.

“We know that the case was brought by a man bent on destroying another. This was not about justice – this was a mockery of justice,” Sears wrote.

“Where was the case against Hilary for ‘wiping’ her server? Where is the case against Pres Biden to determine his involvement in Hunter Biden’s business dealing with China and Russia?”

But Sears ultimately took the same hopeful note that Miyares did, turning to the appeals process.

“So the president will appeal and we will pray that righteousness and justice will prevail,” Sears said.

Though Gov. Glenn Youngkin did not comment on X by the time of publication, the Democratic candidate for governor for 2025, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7, did.

“We are a country of laws. Today, our justice system held someone accountable for his crimes,” Spanberger said, challenging her peers to trust the legal process and accept the verdict.

“In the wake of this verdict, responsible lawmakers must lead by example and not deny the truth or stoke anger. We must demonstrate principled leadership and uphold the rule of law,” she wrote.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-8, delivered a slightly more measured response.

“It is tragic that an American president has been convicted of crimes, but Donald Trump is responsible for his own actions. If a jury finds those actions were criminal after due process in a court of law, he must be held accountable. In the United States no one is above the law,” Beyer wrote.