July 14, 2025
Youngkin turns to AI to cut more red tape across Virginia Government
Days after declaring victory in his administration’s push to cut regulatory red tape by 25%, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is now looking to artificial intelligence to help push that number even higher. In an executive order issued Friday, Youngkin announced Virginia will launch the nation’s first “agentic AI” pilot program designed to streamline state regulations and guidance documents. The initiative will scan thousands of pages of agency rules using generative AI to identify redundancies, contradictions and overly complex language — all in the name of efficiency.
As U-Va. president leaves, faculty say board failed to protect university
University of Virginia faculty passed a vote of no confidence Friday in the school’s governing body, saying it failed to protect against “outside interference” by the Trump administration that led to the eventual resignation of President James E. Ryan. The vote by the U-Va. faculty senate — which came on Ryan’s last day in office — called on the board to provide faculty with an “immediate and complete accounting” of its response to inquiries by the Justice Department in recent months.
Earle-Sears reaches out to Black churchgoers in GOP bid for governor
It wasn’t the stereotypical political event: no buses, no signs, no impassioned speeches. Instead, there was Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears at the door of Antioch Baptist Church, greeting congregants as they came for the 10 a.m. service at the Fairfax County church. . . . On the campaign trail bidding to be Virginia’s next governor, Earle-Sears, a devout evangelical Christian who on Monday held an online prayer call for the flood victims in Texas, pauses regularly to worship with fellow believers.
General Assembly prepares for potential September special session
General Assembly leadership has advised legislators that they could be called back to a special session the second week of September, lobbyists, delegates and state senators told VPM News. At the end of the 2025 session, legislators amended the rules for a still-active special session from 2024 to “address the impacts” of actions taken by the federal government. The special session would come after trillions of dollars in changes to the federal tax structure.
Youngkin appoints longtime power lobbyist to citizen board that regulates power plants
Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Ron Jefferson, a longtime lobbyist for Appalachian Power, to the State Air Pollution Control Board on Friday. Jefferson worked for Appalachian Power for at least 17 years, according to the lobbying records maintained by the Virginia Public Access Project. Appalachian Power provides electrical power to most of southwest Virginia. Power plants, particularly those powered by fossil fuels, make up a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions.
Va. governors make board appointments; legislators confirm them. How’s the process work?
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Democrats have brokered many deals during his soon-ending four-year term, but have also frequently been at odds on policy issues, reflected most recently in the legislature’s rejection of several of the governor’s appointments to Virginia’s governing boards and commissions. Virginia law gives governors the power to appoint and remove people to these groups. Like his predecessors, Youngkin has appointed hundreds of people to serve on roughly 300 public commissions and boards. Over the past year, Senate Democrats have rejected 30 of Youngkin’s appointments to boards and commissions . . .
Gov. Glenn Youngkin made his latest round of university board appointments on June 20, giving him complete control over the bodies that govern Virginia’s institutes of higher education. Democrats are making moves to block Youngkin — who ran on education issues and has focused on removing race and gender-related concepts from K-12 — as they fear he may try to further his legacy of reforming higher education during the last year of his term. The new appointments come as Senate Democrats wage a legal battle over the confirmation status of eight previous appointees they rejected in a Senate panel on June 9. Democratic lawmakers are considering blocking more appointees as they say Youngkin is wielding them like proxies and exerting more influence on universities than previous governors.
If you let someone drive your car without a license — and they cause an accident that injures or kills someone — you could now face up to a year behind bars. A new state law says if you knowingly authorize someone to drive a car when they have no legal right to do so, you’re guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor “if the offense results in a motor vehicle accident that causes injury or death.” That includes parents who let minors drive without a license or while breaking the state’s rules on learner’s permits. It’s the fourth state law that Tammy McGee has spearheaded to passage since her son, Conner, was killed in a York County car crash nearly six years ago.
Republican group dumps $2 million into Virginia attorney general race
The Republican Attorneys General Association is pouring $2 million into the Virginia Attorney General race between Republican incumbent Jason Miyares and Democrat Jay Jones. The RAGA says the investment is more than any GOP committee in a statewide Virginia race in 2025. The race between Miyares and Jones is one of the top ones to watch in Virginia as the state elects a new governor, Lt. governor, and members of the House of Delegates.
Virginia Lottery continues to embrace its gaming oversight role
In just the past decade, Virginia has become one of the nation’s top states for gaming and most of the state’s oversight is handled through the Virginia Lottery — an agency that has grown 20% larger to accommodate those responsibilities. Today the lottery oversees its traditional lottery ticket sales and drawings, online iLottery play, the state’s three casinos — with another in Norfolk now under construction — and a robust sports betting program with 14 licensed operators.
Virginia Democrat on possible shutdown: ‘It’s time to stand up for the American people’
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) said he supports Democrats’ threats to shut down the government if Republicans proceed with a planned rescissions package, saying his party should use all the leverage they can to prevent cuts to previously approved funding. “I say it’s time to stand up for the American people,” Subramanyam said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” when asked what he thinks about a potential shutdown. . . . Republicans are ramping up efforts to pass a rescissions package that President Trump requested last month, which includes more than $9 billion in funding cuts for foreign aid and public broadcasting programs.
Certain Aetna health insurance plans leaving the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year
Starting next year, Aetna clients in Virginia and other states will no longer be able to purchase individual or family health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The ACA is a 15-year-old federal law that allows people who don’t have employer-provided insurance to purchase their own through the ACA marketplace. Congress also created associated tax credits that have helped some offset those costs even further. Over 261,000 people in Virginia have Aetna healthcare, according to the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services.
University Of Virginia Faculty Vote No Confidence In Governing Board
The University of Virginia Faculty Senate has voted that it has no confidence in the school’s Board of Visitors. The resolution of no-confidence in the Board passed 46 to 6, with eight senators abstaining. The vote occurred on Friday, July 11, the same day that UVA President Jim Ryan officially stepped down from his post and released a video of farewell and gratitude to the campus community.
Formerly ousted U.Va. president has questions about Ryan’s departure
Teresa Sullivan first wants to make one thing clear: She doesn’t have any inside scoop on what took place behind the scenes with the unexpected resignation of University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, whose last day leading the university was Friday. “I’m 1,400 miles away,” she says, having moved to Texas following her retirement last year as a member of U.Va.’s faculty. “I don’t understand what happened. For starters, does the Justice Department have some evidence of wrongdoing? What is the evidence? Did the board play any role in this, or do they just stand by and accept the resignation? I don’t know. Did the governor play any role? I don’t know.” Other than questions about Ryan’s resignation in June, which he acknowledged was due to the federal government’s pressure to oust him from the university he led since 2018, what Sullivan has is experience and context.
Federal funding pause threatens Virginia after-school programs
The Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Virginia is facing a financial crisis after a $6 billion pause in Department of Education funds, initially set for release on July 1. This funding, which includes $108 million earmarked for Virginia schools, is crucial for the club, which relies on federal support for 60% of its budget. Rebekah Meadows, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Virginia, said, "It's complicated, we have 8 sites that use this funding, and so we are working through scenarios for each of those."
Virginia Intermont campus owners pay off Bristol taxes
The owners of the former Virginia Intermont College property, on Friday, paid off its current and delinquent Bristol, Virginia, tax bills — effectively negating a city lawsuit filed Thursday. John Kieffer, a local attorney representing U.S. Magis International Education Center, delivered cashier’s checks totaling $353,484 to city Treasurer Angel Britt’s office at noon Friday. ... The funds arrived at TACS on Thursday, the same day Bristol Virginia filed action in Circuit Court seeking control of the property due to non-payment of taxes under provisions of a new state law designed to address vacant, blighted properties.
Yancey: Nothern Virginia is ‘at a critical crossroads,’ which means rural Virginia is, too
An office complex in Fairfax County recently changed hands, and taxpayers across rural Virginia ought to be alarmed. Why should we care who owns Tysons International Plaza? We don’t. We should, though, care about what the new owners paid for it: 60% less than the previous owners had bought it for just eight years ago.
