Pod Virginia

IN THE NEWS:
Glenn Youngkin is vetoing over two dozen bills, which is more than any recent governor in their first year. Democrats say they were blind-sided and that the Governor cares more about politics than policy.

Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) wins the award for most bills vetoed - nine. He says its retribution for voting against Andrew Wheeler's nomination for Sec. of Natural Resources. The politics of revenge is not unheard of in Richmond, so what comes next?

Finally, we discuss what the bills did that Youngkin vetoed, such as Del. Cia Price's bill to give local governments the authority to crack down on slumlords and another bill from Del. Nadarious Clark (D-Portsmouth) that would have created a statute of limitations to collect medical debt.

INTERVIEW: Chris Saxman, Executive Director of VA Free and Beck Stanley, director of government affairs for the Virginia Agribusiness Council. the power duo are part of a team that teaches a class on lobbying at the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies. If you've only ever seen Schoolhouse Rock's explanation of how a bill becomes a law, you may not have a complete picture of how it works. The people who lobby state government aren't exactly corporate fat cats--the interests they represent are as diverse as the subject matter expertise required to advocate effectively for a bill. Saxman and Stanley provide an introduction to how lobbying works and what it takes to become one.

Jahd Khalil is a journalist with WVTF who's reported on the disagreements between House Republican and Senate Democratic budget negotiators. We explain the big sticking points, such as money for schools and cuts to the investment into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

However, localities offer teacher contracts in April, and they're pressuring legislators to cut a deal - even if it's a bad deal - with the promise of budget certainty.

Generally, the Senate budget includes more funding for services and the House budget wants tax cuts. Where do you come down?

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TODAY'S STORIES:

First, Gov. Glenn Youngkin called the legislature into Session to resolve the budget despite the House and Senate not having an agreement on how to resolve a $3 billion gap between each chamber's version. Wile the Governor can call them into session, they can gavel in and gavel out until neegotiators have a deal.

Second, Youngkin is pressuring the leegislature to pass a gas tax holiday to ease the pain at the pump. The only problem is that gas tax savings would put that cash back in the pockets of the oil companies, not stay in yours. It would also deprive funds for public transit and public infrastructure improvements.

Third, Republicans are forcing the state government to purge reference to equity from their websites. The Virginia Education Association is stepping up to preserve their important work, announcing it will serve as a clearinghouse for diversity training materials and other resources that might be purged from state websites.

GUEST - Chaz Nuttycombe, director of CNalysis

Chaz discusses the new state senate districts that have two or more incumbents in them and how those incumbents might fare. He also covers other interesting races like Sen. Joe Morrissey v. former Del. Laschrecse Aird, and former delegates Hala Ayala vs Jennifer Carroll Foy.

See more at https://Linktr.ee/JacklegMedia. Learn more about our sponsor, SAARA of Virginia, at www.saara.org

IN THE NEWS:
Governor Youngkin has appointed a new elections commissioner: Susan Beals, a former member of the Chesterfield Electoral Board and a former aide for Republican state Senator Amanda Chase.

A new bill on the Governor's desk could allow police departments to use facial recognition AI to identify subjects, but faces pushback from critics of disproportionate policing.

A judge has ruled that mask mandates could be considered reasonable for students at high risk of COVID-19 under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

GUEST:
Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) is the sponsor of new federal legislation to educate Americans on how to spot Russian disinformation and misinformation campaigns. He modeled the bill on a program in Finland that's been successful for decades and would create a commission to study misinformation and develop successful ways to inoculate the American public against by improving media literacy. Beyer sat down with Pod Virginia to discuss his new legislation and explain how Russian disinformation campaigns work.

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Celebrate Sine Die and test your knowledge about Virginia politics against the hosts of Pod Virginia and Bold Dominion in a cross over styled as a game show about what happened in the 2022 legislative session.

Subscribe to the Bold Dominion podcast for more news and analysis on Virginia politics https://bolddominion.org/

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Happy Sine Die! We're talking about some bills that passed this Session that you may have missed.

IN THE NEWS: Local government advisory boards and commissions lost the ability to meet virtually when the State of Emergency ended. Now, a new law from Del. Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria) will restore the ability for uneleected local governmental bodies to meet virtually.

Two teenagers who created thee VA Bipartisan Civic Engagement Coalition worked with lawmakers to craft a bill establishing a new advisory board of students to help the Board of Education make policies.

Students with lunch debt will finally be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities thanks to a new bill from Del. Danica Roem (D-Prince William). She's been working for years to stop schools from punishing children for being poor.

GUEST: Brad Kutner, reporter for the National Law Journal, discusses a federal lawsuit that could upend Virginia politics and force a special election for the House of Delegates this year.

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IN THE NEWS: The House ended a discussion to speed up efforts to legalize marijuana in Virginia. Senator Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) believes that Republicans are afraid to act on a policy already implemented. Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) is the patron of a bill that would allow local police to use AI facial recognition technology to catch criminals. The General Assembly prohibited that practice last year, but supporters of the bill say that was a bad decision.

GUEST: Dylan Bishop, Virginia Cannabis Business Association. The Association of small and medium businesses in the marijuana industry are disappointed the General Assembly declined to speed up legal marijuana sales. He takes you into the weeds to explain what the debate was and what went wrong.

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IN THE NEWS: When the Air Pollution Control Board denied a permit for a pipeline compressor station in Chatham, some criticized the ability of a citizen-led board to issue permits. One of those people is Republican Senator Richard Stuart of King George County. Now he has a bill stripping the Air Pollution Control Board of deciding who gets a permit and who doesn't. The Senate has already approved Stuart's bill, and a House committee approved it Wednesday. So it's on its way to the House floor, where it's likely to get a welcome reception.

Virginia has some of the weakest public disclosure laws in the country for police files. Documents that are widely available in other states are not available in Virginia, even for closed cases. Last year, lawmakers approved a new bill that allowed for some access in closed cases. But now Gil Harrington says that law puts family members of crime victims in the crosshairs. She's the mother of Morgan Harrington, who was murdered in 2010. She's working with Republican Delegate Rob Bell to roll back the new public documents to prevent salacious material from appearing on a made-for-TV movie. But Megan Rhyne at the Virginia Coalition for Open Government says returning to the old system would harm public access. Lawmakers are trying to work out a compromise that would block access to photos and videos for now and send the rest of the bill to the FOIA Council to study for next year.

Senator Amanda Chase’s effort to spend $70 million of taxpayer money to conduct a “full forensic audit” of the 2020 election. It was denied, but it’s worth noting senators who failed to vote against it. Four Republican senators voted for it: Amanda Chase, Jen Kiggans, Mark Peake, Bryce Reeves

GUEST INTERVIEW: (Christopher) Goad Gadsby is a Richmond Twitter legend. The guy with the disco mustache, tweeter of extreme politics, and host of the radio show Richmond Cryptoids. You may recognize him from his reporting during the Black Lives Matter protests in Richmond where he had a run-in with RPD. Goad endures hours of committee hearings, detailing them on Twitter so people who aren't there know what's happening. He discusses Republicans moving the "Overton window" and political arsonists setting fires with fake issues like "Critical Race Theory."

Find out more at http://linktr.ee/JacklegMedia.

IN THE NEWS: The General Assembly passed legislation allowing parents to opt their children out of following local mask mandates during a pandemic. What consequences might this pyrrhic victory have for Virginia residents? The General Assembly is debating equity licenses for marijuana retailers. What terms might they agree to in a compromise to expedite legal cannabis? Finally, the Governor wants to double the standard tax deduction and Democrats prefer a modest increase that preserves the state's fiscal options. What are the risks to the Senate putting a compromise bill on Youngkin's desk?

INTERVIEW: Alexsis Rogers is the State Director of Care in Action and a former candidate for Mayor of Richmond. She's opposing an effort, supported by most Senate Democrats, to write Jim Crow language back into the Code of Virginia and strip farm workers and domestic workers of overtime protections.

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IN THE NEWS: The Senate approved legislation to codify Glenn Youngkin's executive order undermining school mask mandates. The House is expected to pass it quickly. It also rejected nominee Andrew Wheeler, Glenn Youngkin's choice for Secretary of Natural Resources. That move set off a cascade of partisan machinations that threaten to leave Wheeler in place for another year as a recess appointment.

INTERVIEW: Delegates Jeion Ward (D-Hampton) and Mike Mullen (D-Newport News) introduced legislation to honor sites listed in the "green book," a handbook for black travelers that showed them which sites were safe during the era of Jim Crow segregation. What kind of sites were featured, and why is it still important today?

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