RECAP: Virginia This Week (June 18, 2021)

Jun 18, 2021 | Newsletter, The Recap

Highlights this Week:

COVID-19

KEY MEASURES: Virginia Department of Health

Dashboard updated 6/18/2021. Case counts reflect what has been reported to VDH by healthcare providers and laboratories.

Visit the VDH Dashboard 

Resource Links:

Virginia Department of Health
Coronavirus in Virginia: State Hub
Centers for Disease Control

Current Vaccination Status in Virginia: PHASE 2

Virginia Politics

Government & Policy

Northam rebuffs plea to extend eviction protections past June 30

 

Virginia won’t extend key pandemic-era eviction protections past the end of the month, Gov. Ralph Northam’s office said Thursday.

The decision came as two of the state’s foremost legal aid organizations urged Northam to keep certain safeguards in place using his executive authority.

In a letter sent Thursday, the Legal Aid Justice Center and the Virginia Poverty Law Center asked the governor to preserve the protections currently slated to cease when Virginia’s state of emergency expires June 30. Thousands of families could be at risk of losing their homes if the protections lapse and eviction filings and judgments return to pre-pandemic levels.

More from the Richmond Times-Dispatch »

Statewide Races

Princess Blanding qualifies for the ballot in Virginia governor’s race

Princess Blanding, a Richmond activist whose brother was fatally shot by a city police officer in 2018, will be on the ballot this November as a third-party candidate for governor.

Virginia election officials confirmed that Blanding qualified for the ballot by submitting the required paperwork and signatures. She will face Democrat Terry McAuliffe, the former governor, and Republican Glenn Youngkin, a former private equity executive.

Blanding became a prominent figure during the protests over police brutality in Richmond last summer, when the death of her brother attracted renewed attention.

View coverage from the RT-D »

Elections 2021

Once again, Virginia Democrats are looking to female candidates to cement their grip on power

 

RICHMOND — This fall’s elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates will look unlike any the state has ever seen, with women leading the way in unprecedented fashion for Democrats and contests playing out in parts of the state that haven’t seen competitive races in years.

While both major parties are fielding a record number of female candidates, Democrats have crossed a historic threshold: For the first time, women account for more than half of the party’s House nominees, 50 out of a total of 97.

The slate that took final form after the June 8 primary elections will battle for control of the House, with Democrats defending the majority they won two years ago after a generation in the wilderness and Republicans fired up to reclaim power.

More in the Times-Dispatch »

Federal

Plan to widen beltway and Interstate 270 suffers major defeat in key vote

 

A regional transportation panel on Wednesday dealt a potentially crippling blow to planned widening of I-495 and I-270 and the replacement of the American Legion Bridge between Maryland and Virginia.

Sitting as the Transportation Planning Board, county and municipal leaders from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia voted to remove the project from a federally mandated environmental study.

Full story from Virginia Mercury »

Business, Economy, & Labor News

Virginia's COVID-19 workplace rules could be up for revision or repeal

A mask mandate and other statewide rules adopted in January to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Virginia’s workplaces could be headed for revisions or possibly a repeal. Full story »

Virginia Ready Initiative opens up to all Virginians

 

NBC 12 »

Virginia businesses facing big payroll tax hike without General Assembly action

WAVY News »

Click to visit our 2021 Elections hub!

2021 Virginia General Election

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