Virginia has a final budget, after legislators returned this past Friday to act on Governor Youngkin’s proposed amendments – resulting in a mixed bag of success for the new Administration.

Two of the most discussed and debated issues in recent reporting – a three-month gas tax reprieve and a state funding restriction on abortion services – passed the Republican-controlled House, but were ultimately defeated in the Senate. Additionally, a proposal that would have created a new felony penalty for picketing or demonstrating near a court or residence (spurred by recent demonstrations that took place at the homes of certain U.S. Supreme Court justices) was voted down.

Yet other priorities of the Governor’s were adopted in the final bill that passed the legislature, including:

• Halting the release of over 500 incarcerated individuals previously found eligible for early release through expedited earned sentence credits;
• Extending lab-school status and funding eligibility to community colleges and TAG-eligible private schools
• Reallocating $10M in funding, originally intended for undocumented students, to support Virginia HCBUs.

As summer begins in earnest, attention has now shifted to the fall midterms for federal elections…and also to Virginia’s 2023 election cycle, when all 140 state seats will be on the ballot.

In summary: there is an overwhelming amount going on at the federal, state, and local level right now. Information overload is very prevalent, and all too real. So here are some photos of a few (Richmond-famous) cats on the internet, to give readers a brief reprieve.

Cheers –

Davis Consultants