Richmond, VA-–When Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an eleventh-hour veto of the Contraceptive Equity Act last month, he entered into what has become an increasingly fraught national debate around the right to access and use contraception. The bills, sponsored by Senator Ghazala Hashmi and Delegate Marcia Price, would have guaranteed that medical professionals would be legally allowed to prescribe contraception and […]
General Session
3 Things I’d Like to See in a Budget Deal
By Ashleigh Crocker It’s been fun watching Senator Louise Lucas dunk on Governor Glenn Youngkin over the budget the last few weeks. Democrats in the House and Senate want to give teachers and school staff raises, fund schools, ensure corporations pay their fair share in taxes, and legalize marijuana. Governor Youngkin doesn’t want to do […]
Antisemitic Candidates Don’t Belong in Virginia Congress
By: Kierra Johnson As many people continue to use antisemitism to villainize youth and social justice activists, it is important to remember that antisemitism has been on the rise in the United States for years. Especially since the election of Donald Trump, MAGA candidates and the general voting base of the GOP have repeated vile […]
What Do I Know?
By shay bell Every single day, I wake up and do my silly little tasks. I fill in some colors for a graphic. I write some words about the state of our Commonwealth. Every week, I get on this platform and tell you that everything is within our power to fix. But what do I […]
Virginia Coalition for Progressive Values To Host a Press Conference Ahead of Veto Session on the Status of Progressive Legislation
Richmond, Virginia—Progress Virginia and the Virginia Coalition for Progressive Values will host a press conference to discuss the status of several vetoed pieces of legislation. The press conference will feature remarks from legislators, as well as stories from people whose lives were personally impacted by the legislation. Focus areas will include minimum wage, paid family […]
Governor Youngkin’s Confusing Vetoes
By Kierra Johnson On April 5th, just before the weekend, Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed 11 bills after signing 88 others. His vetoes included several abortion bills. One of them was HB1539, which would have protected abortion providers from being extradited to other states for prosecution for simply doing their jobs.. HB519 would have protected doctors […]
Youngkin Vetoes Bills That Protect Patients Seeking Abortion Care
Richmond, Virginia—As states across the country ramp up their efforts to criminalize patients for exercising reproductive choice after the Dobbs decision, Virginia has become a sanctuary for people escaping draconian laws passed in their own states. By vetoing several bills that protected patients and their care teams, Governor Glenn Youngkin has failed Virginians by refusing […]
In A Late-Night Veto Session, Governor Kills Paid Family and Medical Leave
Richmond, Virginia—Paid family and medical leave is critical for working families, and consistently one of the most popular issues for voters: recent polling suggests that 85% of voters support paid leave policies. In February, the House of Delegates passed a historic bill to extend eight weeks of paid family and medical leave to workers in our community, […]
Your Governor Doesn’t Give a Single Sh*t About You
by shay bell You read that right, Governor Glenn Youngkin doesn’t give a single sh*t about you, me, or anyone else in the Commonwealth, and I have the proof. Last week, we announced that several bills had passed both chambers and made their way to the Governor’s desk. While we knew that Youngkin–in the spirit […]
Multimillionaire Governor Says Working Families Don’t Deserve $15 An Hour
Richmond, Virginia—Virginia is slowly becoming a better state for workers, and Governor Glenn Youngkin is not going to stand for that. On Thursday, the Governor, who divides his time between his state-funded lodgings at the Governor’s Mansion and his 30-acre ranch in the wealthy DC suburb of Great Falls, vetoed life-changing legislation that would have raised the minimum wage […]