RICHMOND –The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the 2024 Session put down more than a few miles of fresh asphalt on that path.

That’s the overarching theme of the past 60 legislative days, House Republican leaders said during a press conference on Saturday just before the House adjourned sine die.

“Every single member of this body ran at least part of their campaign on how we would fight the higher cost of living that Virginians are facing due to inflation. Republicans had ideas to help, such as ending the grocery tax, and cutting taxes on hard working families,” said Republican Whip Michael Webert, R-Fauquier.

“Those ideas were summarily rejected. That’s par for the course when you’re in the minority,” Webert added. “But what we didn’t expect was Democrats working to actively make things worse.”

Democrats voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, even on farms, which will drive businesses and farmers out of business. Democrats also blocked efforts to let Virginians buy the cars they want by maintaining an electric vehicle mandate.

In addition to the cost of living issues Democrats exacerbated, they made things worse in other areas.

Education

“What Democrats fail to realize is that money doesn’t teach our children. People do. These are hard working teachers who need our support as they do their jobs,” said Deputy Leader Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington. “For two sessions in a row, Republicans have introduced legislation that would put teachers back in charge of their classrooms. If a student is unruly or disruptive three times, they can be sent to the principal’s office. If they’re violent, they go immediately.”

Democrats took a different path, passing legislation that makes it even harder to remove a student who is disruptive during educational time.

They also killed legislation that would have made it clear that school boards can create policies prohibiting cell phone use during educational time, cut funding for the Governor’s Diploma plus and lab school program. They defeated legislation that would have required schools to alert parents within 24 hours if there’s an overdose in the school.

And they cut millions of dollars from our school resource officer grant program at a time when we need more trained professionals in our schools watching for fentanyl and other dangerous drugs.

“Our teachers and students need help, and Democrats just made it worse,” O’Quinn said.

Housing

“Democrats spent a lot of time this session talking about how housing is unaffordable, and that they need to do something. What did they propose? They took two separate tracks – one, they attempted to bring rent control to Virginia, or as one economist described it, the fastest way to destroy a city, other than bombing,” said Republican Caucus Chair Amanda Batten, R-James City County. “The other was to put more and more regulations onto those who own rental properties, driving up the costs of doing business.”

“Democrats are full of good intentions, but they never take the time to see how their good intentions play out in the real world,” Batten said. “The end result is higher costs for those who own rental property or build homes, which lessens the supply. Rents and costs go up accordingly.”

Public Safety

“The last time Democrats were in charge, they made it clear that they were far more concerned with the comfort of criminals than they were with the safety of our communities or the impact on crime victims,” Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah said. “This session was no different. They brought forward budget amendments that will let people convicted of serious crimes out of jail earlier, particularly those who commit crimes with guns.”

Rather than focus on programs that work to save lives from gun violence, Democrats came after law-abiding gun owners in an effort to make life harder for them.

They also attempted to change the law to let illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes avoid deportation, and they passed a bill to prevent judges and prosecutors from asking about someone’s immigration status.

If Republicans return the majority, so will results – not just good intentions.

“Next session, Republicans will bring forward a series of bills that will address all these issues and more,” said Leader Gilbert. “ Democrats have made your life more difficult. If Virginians return Republicans to control of the House, we will immediately pass bills that will make your life more affordable, keep your family safer, and improve your children’s education.”

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RICHMOND – Millions of dollars for school resource officers. Security for threatened Jewish students on college campuses. Teacher retirement accounts. Gun violence prevention.

None of these crucial items were kept in the budget on Thursday, as Democrats voted to raise taxes by $1.5 billion on hard working Virginia families.

“Budgets are always a work in progress until the Governor signs them, and while this budget does include a lot of good priorities, many of the choices made by House Democrats today are disappointing to say the least,” said House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah. “Hard-working Virginia families can’t afford to pay $1.5 billion in higher taxes.”

Worse, the budget has serious problems that will come back to haunt Virginia in the near future, said Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach.

“I have been to New York to talk to the three major bond rating agencies about the status of our AAA rating. They all told us they like the fact that Virginia does not overspend, and we have made extra payments into the Virginia Retirement System, along with using cash to pay for capital projects instead of debt,” he said, speaking on the floor.

“However, I fear this budget will not perpetuate that glowing endorsement for our state’s financial well being,” Knight added. “We need to keep it simple, and we need to spend less in the face of a declining economy. We need to continue to avoid taking on unnecessary debt.”

“I’m disappointed House Democrats voted against two public safety programs that previously earned bipartisan support: grants for school resource officers and Project Ceasefire,” said House Republican Caucus Chair Amanda Batten, R-James City County. “These are common sense policies, and it is unfortunate that Democrats refuse to work across the aisle to help Virginians.”

“For all the good things in the budget, I’m disappointed that Democrats chose to raise taxes on hard working families rather than follow the Republican practice of making life more affordable for them,” added House Republican Whip Michael Webert, R-Fauquier.

Republicans objected to a number of changes to the budget, including a change of policy that will let hundreds of violent offenders out of jail early.

“People who commit armed robbery with a firearm shouldn’t get a discount on their sentence,” Leader Gilbert said. “When this legislation passed initially, it was understood that it wouldn’t apply to violent criminals. Democrats have decided that it should.”

Democrats also voted to remove millions in funding set aside by the Governor for college campus security projects – including ensuring that Jewish students are kept safe after the October 7 attack on Israel and subsequent antisemitic attacks on many campuses.

“There are frequent marches down the streets of Richmond calling for the destruction of the State of Israel. And yet, this budget calls for the elimination of nearly $2 million for security designed to protect these students at VCU,” said Del. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery.

“It is the same at other schools, over $1.5 million for security at JMU eliminated, $2 million at UVA, and nearly $3 million at Virginia Tech. These funds wouldn’t just be used to provide security to students based on their ethnicity and faith, they would be used to provide security to all students,” he said.

Republicans also objected to the defunding of Governor Youngkin’s “Diploma Plus” program, which would have allowed Virginia high school students to graduate with an additional credential that would allow them to enter the workforce without incurring any student debt.

“The program— as funded in the governor’s introduced budget — would have helped up to 10,000 students with grants to get credentialed in high demand industries,” said Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights. “I mentioned earlier the most marginalized students being beneficiaries of this program and at least 25 percent of the introduced appropriation would be used for students that receive free and reduced lunch or are at less than 300 percent of federal poverty standards.”

“These are the students least likely to be able to afford college or a credential program and are supposed to be the students that need our help the most and we are shutting them out,” Cherry said.

Other significant cuts include:

• Cuts of $10 million for the development of comprehensive psychiatric programs
• Cuts $1 million from a proposed cut youth mental health services database
• Cuts $200,000 set aside to fund peer to peer mentoring
• Cuts of $8 million for additional behavioral crisis services
• Cuts of $18 million for police recruitment and wellness programs
• Cuts of $1 million set aside for a Healthcare Workforce Training System in Hampton Roads
• Cuts of $25 million from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Loan Fund
• Cuts of $17 million from Project Ceasefire
• Cuts of $11 million from SRO grants

Both the House and Senate will vote to put their competing budgets into conference in the coming days, setting the stage for final negotiations and a hopeful final vote on or before March 9th, when the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn.

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Earlier today, House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert appointed Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington, to serve as Deputy Republican Leader for the 2023-24 General Assembly.

Statement of Speaker Todd Gilbert:

“It’s more critical than ever that Southwest Virginia continues to have a strong voice as part of our leadership team. Israel O’Quinn has proven himself time and time again to be an able leader in not only his community, but also in our Republican caucus and on the floor of the House. I look forward to working with him and the rest of our Republican team as we continue the fight for common-sense solutions to improve the lives of every Virginian.”

Statement of Deputy Republican Leader Israel O’Quinn:

“It’s an honor to once again have been appointed to serve on our House Republican leadership team. Working with Leader Todd Gilbert, Chair Amanda Batten, and Whip Michael Webert, we will promote policies that will make Virginia the best place to live, work, and raise a family and we will also oppose legislative overreach. I’m proud to represent Southwest Virginia and believe every part of our Commonwealth should have a seat at the table.”

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House Speaker Todd Gilbert issued the following statement:

“Lack of action at the federal level has made every state a border state. I commend and support Governor Youngkin’s actions today in the strongest possible terms. The fentanyl crisis that claims an average of five Virginians lives every day has its roots at the southern border. Drug cartels smuggle their lethal poison into our country among the thousands of migrants who are trafficked across the border every day. In the meantime, House Republicans will continue our efforts to hold those who peddle fentanyl accountable for the lives they take.”

House Public Safety Committee Chairman Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, issued the following statement:

“On the southern border, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his team are doing the work that President Biden should have been doing. I commend Governor Youngkin for sending Virginia’s finest citizen soldiers to help stem the tide of fentanyl pouring into the country, and to assist with the humanitarian crisis that has developed due to the President’s inaction. This action will save lives, not only on the border, but in every community in Virginia.”