The VPM Daily Newscast contains all your Central Virginia news in just 5 to 10 minutes. Episodes are recorded the night before.
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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of February 7, 2024:
Virginia House, Senate counter Youngkin budget amendment proposals
Reported by VPM News’ Jahd Khalil
The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates passed two sets of budget amendments with relatively small differences between them Thursday, creating a counter proposal to the spending changes sought by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
In December, Youngkin proposed that legislators create a car tax credit for Virginians making $50,000 or less ($100,000 or less for joint filers); eliminate taxes on tips; fund vouchers and charter schools; and allocate additional money to direct aid for public schools and school construction.
Legislators voted on budgets that had a slightly smaller amount of overall tax relief, but spread it to taxpayers of all incomes, with additional cuts for those making less.
Lawmakers’ proposals included sending each Virginia tax filer a $200 rebate in October in place of the car tax credit; spending a similar amount to Youngkin’s no-tax-on-tips proposal to make 20% of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit fully refundable; and removing a funding cap that limits school districts’ ability to hire support staff like instructional aides and cafeteria workers.
Youngkin-backed effort to set THC impairment level on worksites fails
Reported by VPM News’ Dean Mirshahi
Virginia Democrats scrapped a Republican-led effort to set a standard that would identify when workers on manufacturing and utility job sites were impaired by the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
State Sen. Bill Stanley (R–Franklin County) and Del. Kim Taylor (R–Dinwiddie) proposed bills this year, both backed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, to require the state’s Safety and Health Codes Board to establish a THC impairment standard and testing protocol on manufacturing and utility worksites in Virginia.
Republicans said the proposal would have addressed growing safety concerns among manufacturers and give employers alternatives to zero tolerance policies.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D–Fairfax) pointed out that the state’s Crime Commission looked at cannabis-impaired driving in 2022 and didn’t move to set up rules in part because there’s no widely-accepted standard for determining THC impairment.
“We were trying to figure out what we can do about marijuana-impaired driving, and everything we looked at concluded that because [of] the way marijuana metabolizes, it’s basically impossible to set a per se limit for THC like we do on alcohol,” Surovell said. “That’s why we don’t.”
News you might have missed from around the commonwealth
- VCU Health buys 9-acre site on Iron Bridge near Chesterfield courthouse (Richmond BizSense)*
- House Speaker orders bipartisan look at federal fallout in Virginia (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
- Virginia House targets speed camera ‘cash grab’ (Virginia Mercury)
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.
