Nearly one year after the expansion of Virginia’s Medicaid benefits took effect, nearly 70 percent of eligible Alexandrians have signed up.
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state legislature
Three elected officials visited businesses across Alexandria as part of an effort to drum up support for a paid family and medical leave bill.
Rep. Don Beyer, Del. Carroll Foy and State Sen. Jennifer Boysko — all Democrats — visited three businesses on Friday (Dec. 13) and spoke with business owners who were supportive of the bill. The trio visited Lori’s Table (1028 King Street), Bishop’s Boutique (815 King Street) and Let’s Meat on the Avenue (2403 Mount Vernon Avenue).
After some back and forth decision, Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) has announced that having school start earlier than Labor Day next year would do more harm than good.
For years, local school districts were prohibited from starting school before Labor Day under a law colloquially known as the Kings Dominion law. In February, the Virginia legislature overturned the law.
It has been years since the City Council has been giddy during a meeting discussing its state legislative package.
For the first time in decades, there is a Democratic majority in the Virginia legislature, which is a boon to the city’s all-Democrat council.
It’s an early Christmas for Alexandria leadership, with Democrats taking control of the Virginia legislature opening the door for efforts to assert local control of several key policy questions.
Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, which means that localities like Alexandria can only exercise powers expressly granted by the state. In practice, Mayor Justin Wilson said this leaves localities forced to seek approval from the state for basic city policy questions, particularly on fiscal issues. Under a Republican majority, Alexandria struggled to have many of its legislative priorities addressed.
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(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Virginia’s election on Tuesday (Nov. 5) could shape the future of the Commonwealth as Republicans fight to hold onto a slim majority in the state legislature.
But don’t expect to see those fireworks in Alexandria. In all but one of the five state Senate and House of Delegates races, the incumbents are running unopposed.