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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of May 5, 2025:
Youngkin to veto $900M in budget items to hedge against risk of federal cuts
Reported by VPM News’ Jahd Khalil
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Friday he is vetoing several budget proposals, including some of his own, to keep a $900 million “cushion” to hedge against risks coming from new federal policies.
The $900 million comes from plans to spend a projected $3.2 billion surplus, and mostly comes from one-time capital investments.
The budget still includes $1 billion in tax relief, mostly in the form of rebate checks set to go out this fall. Those are also funded via the projected surplus.
“We all know that as President [Donald] Trump rightfully resets trade imbalances and restores fiscal responsibility in D.C., there are short-term disruptions,” said Youngkin. “Those short-term disruptions, I think, require us to be responsible and not spend 100% of this forecasted surplus today.”
All but a quarter of the cushion comes from capital expenses — most of it in the form of early-stage projects for Virginia’s state universities, including Virginia Commonwealth University’s acquisition of the Altria Building and a replacement utility plant for The College of William & Mary’s law school.
Botched tax rebate process deepens concerns over Richmond’s finance department
Reported by VPM News’ Keyris Manzanares
When Daniel Wavering opened up a letter from the City of Richmond’s Finance Department in early April, he initially thought it was some sort of scam.
“The letter said something to the effect of ‘Hey, you might be getting a — or you may have received a rebate check for your property taxes addressed to somebody else,’” the Highland Park resident said. “Their instructions were to either return it or destroy it, and that they would send the correct one out.”
Wavering said he was left feeling confused, because he hadn’t received a check addressed to him or anyone else — so he threw the letter out. Later, he learned through a reddit thread he wasn’t the only Richmond resident in this situation.
The city mailed out thousands of one-time real estate tax rebate checks this year as part of the RVA Stay tax relief plan, put forth by former Mayor Levar Stoney and approved by Richmond City Council last year. But in an April 28 press release, the city said that an “administrative error” by the finance department caused more than 8,000 of the checks to be made out to the Hartshorn Community Council — a homeowners association that manages about 100 townhomes, according to its treasurer.
News you might have missed from around the commonwealth
- City Council’s apparent $50K budget boost for Michelle Mosby’s nonprofit was an error, official says (The Richmonder)
- Three Va. Planned Parenthood clinics affected by Trump administration’s Title X funding freeze (Virginia Mercury)
- Is John McGuire trolling his constituents? (The Daily Progress)*
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.