News

“The GOP is the party of education,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin tweeted on Wednesday.

The governor’s tweet followed his interview with Kayleigh McEnany on Fox News Tonight. “We in fact have policies and commonsense approaches to delivering a far better educational experience for kids across America but particularly in Virginia,” Youngkin said. “It starts with empowering parents. There is nobody who should at the head of the table in a child’s life other than their mother and father.”

Governor Glenn Youngkin signed HB 1606, sponsored by Delegate Anne Ferrell Tata (R-Virginia Beach), which formally adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism. This definition will be used as a tool and guide to identify instances of antisemitism and train first responders, educators, and other public servants how to respond to antisemitism and prevent hate crimes from happening.

The Board voted 9 to 1 to approve the FY 2024 budget. The marked-up budget includes some very good items, including my proposed full funding of the market rate adjustment for county employees who provide critical services to our residents and takes another important step towards addressing our public safety staffing crisis. However, it did not go far enough in addressing equally important areas, like reducing the almost 7 percent tax increase for the average homeowner, and completely ignored the continued overspending by FCPS. On Friday, I presented an alternative budget that would have reduced the tax bill 5 percent to offer our homeowners some relief in the midst of high inflation and increasing assessments.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin offered his vision of Republican governing values at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute in Simi Valley, California. “We can be the party of education; we can be the party of safe communities; we can be the party of jobs and economic prosperity; we can be the party of unbridled opportunity,” Governor Youngkin said. “We are the party of common sense.”

Having just returned from his trade mission to Asia, Governor Youngkin stressed the need to stand with our allies and attain economic independence from Communist China.

For once, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) is on the side of transparency.

No, I’m not talking about his complaints that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose personal travel paid for by a personal friend—which was permitted without a reporting requirement until a revision earlier this year of the Judicial Conference of the United States’ disclosure rules.

Fairfax Schools Monitor has sued the Fairfax County School Board to compel the release of its factual findings concerning the National Merit “commended student” controversy.  The suit was filed on April 27 in the Fairfax County General District Court under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. (“FOIA”).

In December 2022 an article in the City Journal reported that administrators at the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (“TJ”) had delayed informing students of their high achievements on the PSAT examination administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and had downplayed the significance of the awards when the information was released.

New exclusive data shows that Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve T. Descano is filing fewer felony cases in Fairfax Circuit Court than his predecessor, Ray Morrogh, even as crime has risen in Fairfax County under his tenure.

According to data obtained by Virginians for Safe Communities (VSC) via a Freedom of Information Act request, Descano filed half (-49.4%) as many felony cases (4,661) in Circuit Court between 2020-2022 compared to the 9,216 cases filed in the three years prior.

Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced more than 4.52 million people in Virginia’s labor force—the most ever since first recorded in 1976. The labor force participation rate has increased to 65.9% in March, a rate higher than the February 2020 pre-pandemic rate of 65.7%. According to Bureau of Labor and Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics (“LAUS”, or “the household survey”), the labor force in Virginia increased this month by 23,511 to 4,528,910.

Anne Reddy Keast of Springfield, Virginia, died on March 22, 2023. She was 89.

With her husband Paul, who preceded her in death, Anne had six kids — all boys — and 13 grandkids.

Anne’s extensive civic involvement included service on the Fairfax Water Board and the Virginia Board of Social Work. She was a very active GOP volunteer. Over the years, Anne held leadership roles in the 8th and 11th Republican Congressional District Committees as well as the State Central Committee.

Fairfax GOP Chairman hailed Anne’s exemplary life of service in a statement issued today.

Workforce retention is the issue of our decade, affecting all industries including the public sector. Staffing issues affect the primary function we provide for residents: critical services. My colleagues on the Board are pushing a false narrative that for the FY 2024 budget we can either fund competitive employee compensation or reduce the tax burden for residents, but not both. We can do both if we make the difficult decisions that our residents must make daily with their own household budgets.

Voting members of the Fairfax GOP filled the room last night to consider endorsements in Fairfax County’s critical races for school board. After the votes were tallied, the following endorsees were announced:

– Cassandra Aucoin (At-Large)

– Saundra Davis (At-Large)

– Priscilla DeStefano (Braddock District)

– Paul Bartkowski (Dranesville District)

– Harry Jackson (Hunter Mill District)

– Kristin Ball (Mason District)

– Stori Zimmerman (Mount Vernon District)

– Tony Sabio (Providence District)

– Debra Tisler (Springfield District)

– Cindy Walsh (Sully District)

Fairfax GOP Chairman Steve Knotts congratulated the newly-endorsed candidates in a tweet last night: “We added 13 great candidates to our roster tonight who are bringing fresh ideas to Fairfax County — on to victory in November!”

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the general fund revenue collections for March 2023 unadjusted for policy or timing impacts, fell by 3.8 percent compared to March 2022 mainly due to higher refund issuance. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, revenues are 0.6 percent higher than the same period last year. Relative to the official forecast updated in December, unadjusted general fund revenues are ahead of forecast by $124.2 million year-to-date. 

“March’s revenue numbers, once again, demonstrate there’s plenty of money available to lower costs for families and local businesses. We can also fund those most critical investments in education, safer communities and transforming the way behavioral health care is delivered for Virginians,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin.