Monday morning Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin delivered the State of the Commonwealth Address. Youngkin said,
“The State of our Commonwealth is …. Strong, very strong.
Let me be clear… this strength is because of the work that we have all done together.
And not just those gathered here today – Virginians, across this great Commonwealth, whether having just moved here or having been here for a lifetime, from all walks of life, are contributing to our success.
On behalf of our now 8.8 million bosses, I urge us to stay the course, and to press forward boldly- so Virginia keeps winning and Virginia keeps soaring.”
Being that the speech was delivered in the House chamber of Mr. Jefferson’s Capitol, Youngkin appropriately mentioned Jefferson in his opening and later said, “Safe communities also require protecting our houses of worship, college campuses, and the fundamental right to religious liberty enshrined in Mr. Jefferson’s statute for religious freedom engraved in marble on the wall of this very chamber.”
Youngkin won in 2021 largely because Democrats had dropped the ball on education. Youngkin’s campaign was smart to pick it up and run with it, directing their messaging to focus on education. Parents for Youngkin became a slogan synonymous with education reform. Youngkin’s win gave him a mandate to restructure education. He spoke on what he did with that mandate;
“I want to pause here to emphasize… our investments in education have been transformational.
18 percent raises for Virginia’s teachers…an over 50 percent increase in overall funding for public education… that’s $7 billion.
We have increased investment in K-12 public education more than any other General Assembly or Governor has ever.
The budget amendments I recently submitted continue that shared effort, with an incremental $517 million in direct aid bringing us to $22.1 billion for the biennium, and an additional $290 million for school construction, for a total investment of nearly $2 billion over the last three years.”
Wow, that’s a lot of spending. Jefferson would be shocked.
On illegal immigration, Youngkin said, “Virginia is not a sanctuary state. If localities have ‘sanctuary city’ policies and refuse to cooperate with ICE, they should lose state funding.” Right on. Localities do not have the discretion to pick and choose which laws to follow.
Youngkin’s full remarks can be read here or viewed here.
One thing that would make Virginia stronger would be a professional sports team. Ok, so the Redskins Commanders are headquartered in Virginia, but that doesn’t mean a thing when the team is from D.C. and they play their home games in Maryland. Youngkin tried to bring the Bullets Wizards and Capitals to Northern Virginia. The plan fell through. An alternative can be found.
Virginia had the ABA’s Squires, and we can be the new home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. California has turned into a terrible place to live and run a business. Virginia is more business friendly, we have a large enough population (Oklahoma City has a team), and a fan base whose loyalty is a jump-ball right now, yet once secured can be a substantial financial asset.
A major factor to consider here is that the transition for the Kings would be smooth as they won’t have to change their name. Virginia is nicknamed Old Dominion. We have a state university called Old Dominion whose teams are called the Monarchs. The Kings could play in Virginia Beach and be called the Virginia Beach Kings. It fits.
Governor Glenn Youngkin played Division-1 basketball in college. He appreciates the game and the exclusivity of having an NBA franchise. Virginia has a jock governor, not an audio/visual club governor, and the Kings are 9th in the West this year and they just fired their head coach (tough to move a winner), so right now is the right time for this. C’mon, Virginia Beach Kings.
