Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke), who was tapped by House Speaker-designee Don Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth) to serve as the chair of the House Education Committee, predicted Democrats will find some “accord” with Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) in a Thursday interview.
Rasoul said he expects “common accord” with Youngkin on “mental health and some student mental health work” in remarks made to The Richmond Times-Dispatch, calling them “[p]laces where we can work together.”
Still, Rasoul (pictured above, left) told the outlet, “Virginia needs to do a lot more to be able to care with students for disabilities.”
He also claimed Virginia is “one of the worst states with regards to how we fund programs that help our English language learners, our ELL students,” and noted “there were no additional funds” for those students in the budget Youngkin recently proposed.
“It was a struggle to see where we’ve made real (progress) on education in this proposed budget,” Rasoul told The Times-Dispatch. The Democrat added, “We certainly will have a lot of work to do.”
Rasoul’s claims that Youngkin is not devoting enough state money to education comes after the governor proposed $448 million to fund childcare and after-school programs that would otherwise be severely reduced by the depletion of pandemic-era funding from the Biden administration. Youngkin also proposed $500 million to fund youth mental health programs in Virginia’s public schools and colleges, $150 million in additional mental health funding, and $115 million for the commonwealth’s teacher retirement fund.
Though top Democrats and Youngkin have repeatedly identified education and mental health as likely areas of cooperation, at least two lawmakers have already signaled their opposition to Youngkin’s plan to eliminate the commonwealth’s controversial car tax.
Rasoul suggested eliminating the tax did not reflect Virginia’s “reality,” which includes “severely” underfunded “schools and mental health” providers, while State Senator Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) called the proposal “very disappointing” and said Youngkin’s decision to surprise lawmakers with the announcement “does not get us off on the right foot” for the next two years.
Youngkin also faced criticism following his administration’s announcement that a federally funded tutoring program will conclude at the end of 2023, though Virginia officials said the pandemic-era funding was depleted.
Virginia Democrats have also proposed a number of partisan legislative efforts, including efforts to curtail gun ownership, enshrine a right to abortion access into the Virginia Constitution, and automatically restore voting rights for felons. It is widely expected that Youngkin would veto bills when possible but would be unable to veto constitutional amendments.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by KWL. CC BY-SA 4.0.
