Virginia Government & Politics

Chris Piper, former commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, will soon take the helm at the Virginia Public Access Project.

Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, who represents the 2nd District, introduced last week the Sailor Standard of Care Act, what she calls a “bipartisan solution” to improve mental health care for sailors. She championed the legislation in response to the suicides of seven Hampton Roads-based sailors last year. The tally for 2023 is already at two.

In a sign of the intensity of Virginia’s political debates over K-12 public schools — some in the Williamsburg-James City County system saw an ulterior motive hidden beneath the glaze and sprinkles.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced Friday the addition of 500 Americans to it's list of people barred from entry.

Unlike other recent governors, Youngkin ran for the position as a political newcomer with a clean slate, causing uncertainty about where he fell on the political spectrum.

Virginia ABC held a lottery April 19-23 to allow winners to purchase four liquors with limited availability — George T. Stagg Bourbon, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye, William Larue Weller Bourbon, and Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old.

A memorandum of understanding between state police and the Office of the State Inspector General, the watchdog agency tasked with investigating waste and rooting out inefficiencies in state government, says that in nearly all cases, VSP retains responsibility for “the oversight and conduct of internal investigations of its personnel.”

The institutions aim to merge by the beginning of next year if their merger is approved in state budget talks.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued a third round of endorsements Thursday in Virginia legislative races, backing 19 more Republican candidates, including six who are in contested primaries.

Virginia finance staffers are warning state lawmakers that even a short-term breach in the federal debt limit would rattle an already fragile state economy. Lawmakers point to those concerns to explain the continued delay in reaching a state budget deal.

A northern Virginia man charged with attacking two staffers for Rep. Gerry Connolly with a baseball bat is also being charged with a hate crime against another woman less than an hour earlier.

The medical cannabis program is the only way to legally purchase cannabis in Virginia. But, current Virginia medical patients point to the program’s shortcomings, and cannabis advocates say top state officials and lawmakers are actively suppressing it. The main issues reported range from registration fees, inconsistent supply, high prices, low potency and overall access.

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia says a man with a baseball bat walked into his Fairfax office, asked for him, and assaulted two of his workers. Fairfax City Police in northern Virginia said in a tweet that a suspect is in custody and that the victims are being treated for non life-threatening injuries.

The board, which consists of 16 states, provides data and recommendations to educators, institutions and policymakers to improve public education at all levels.

Graduation is a month away for approximately 90,000 Virginia high school seniors. For some, that milestone is cut short by tragedy. State lawmakers this recent General Assembly session passed House Bill 1514 to waive certain high school graduation requirements for senior students who die before graduation.

It is the first time Virginia voters have had the 45-day early voting period before a full state legislature election. Early voting will continue through June 17 at 5 p.m. for the June 20 primary day.

“I was pleased that the General Assembly approved nearly all my recommendations during the Reconvene Session,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Friday.

The Criminal Justice Services Board approved funding for localities to purchase automatic license plate readers — a move that’s drawn ire from some legislators who say it went against direction from the General Assembly.

A bill that would require users to provide identification before viewing websites with nudity or sexual content looks likely to be signed into law this week — and some privacy and free speech advocates caution it could have far-reaching effects.

A member of the commission said a state delegate recently sent him a copy of the hard drive from the laptop allegedly found in the gunman’s condo.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has defended his decision not to join most of his Republican counterparts around the country in supporting a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of the abortion medication mifepristone.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has signed an executive order that directs state agencies to take 10 steps intended to bolster the fight against the fentanyl crisis. The order includes setting up a plan to use wastewater surveillance to keep tabs on use of the drug.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin is celebrating the passage of a bill supporters say will help Virginia better track and combat growing instances of antisemitism.

Rent in all but five Virginia counties increased in a 10-year period, according to a Capital News Service analysis of U.S. Census Bureau gross median rent estimates. The average percent change statewide in rental costs was 24%. A wide range of occupations spend well over 30% of income on rent, some double that number. Numerous problems have compounded to create what was recently declared an affordable housing crisis by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the City Council.

Spruill has met twice with Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Secretary Kay Cole James in the last few weeks to push back on the administration’s new policy.

Margaret O. Daramola, who will graduate from Hampton this semester with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in history, is a writer, poet — and slam poetry performer — as well as a public speaker focusing on human rights and the experiences of the African diaspora.

Three Republican candidates are running in the District 94 House of Delegates primary: Amy L. Chudzinski, Ken O’Brien and Andrew B. Pittman.