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Yesterday — March 28th 2024Your RSS feeds

West Virginia bill adding work search to unemployment, freezing benefits made law without signature

A new law requires unemployed people in West Virginia to do more to show they are looking for jobs in order to collect benefits; went into law Thursday without Republican Gov. Jim Justice's signature.

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Youngkin Stands Firm as Virginia Democrats Prefer to Give Millions to Pot Instead of Opportunity

Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly insist that Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, illegally appointed the director of the state’s renamed Office of Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion.  And they say they’re willing to give over $2 million more to commercial marijuana sellers to dramatize that point.

Created in 2020 under Youngkin’s predecessor, Democrat Ralph Northam, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion sprang from a concept popularized by the Left and commonly known as DEI.

However, in his second week as governor, Youngkin signed an executive order Jan. 19, 2022, removing the term “equity” from the office’s name and replacing it with “opportunity.“ 

In November 2022, the Republican governor appointed Martin Brown, who is black, as Virginia’s chief diversity, opportunity, and inclusion officer—as well as director of the renamed Office of Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion.

In response to Youngkin’s name change for the diversity office, Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, successfully offered an amendment to the state’s budget bill requiring that the office revert to its original name. 

Youngkin has criticized the budget passed March 9 by the Virginia General Assembly, and the spending plan awaits the Republican governor’s signature. Democrats hold a 21-19 majority in the state Senate and a 51-49 majority in the House of Delegates.

In a statement emailed Monday to The Daily Signal, Surovell said he “introduced the amendment because the governor has refused to hire a chief DEI officer which is a position created and titled in state law.”  

“If the governor is going to violate state law, the money needs to be directed,” the Senate majority leader added, apparently meaning “redirected.” 

Surovell’s budget amendment requires Youngkin to change “Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion” back to “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” by June 1, or the diversity office’s $2.3 million funding would go to the Virginia Cannabis Equity Business Loan Fund, a program to help licensed marijuana sellers. 

“Governor Youngkin has been clear that he doesn’t have any interest in a retail market for marijuana; instead, we should be working to fix a backward budget written by Democrats that has $2.6 billion in new taxes on Virginia families,” Youngkin press secretary Christian Martinez said Monday in a written statement to The Daily Signal.  

“Since the beginning of the administration, the governor has challenged the groupthink of the progressive Democrats’ pursuit of equity at any cost, instead focusing on advancing equal opportunities, not equal outcomes for all.”  

Surovell didn’t respond before publication to The Daily Signal’s request for comment on why his amendment tied the sale of marijuana to the diversity office’s name change. 

Last year, Surovell and Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, wrote to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, inquiring whether Youngkin’s name change for the office violated state law. 

In the letter, the two Democrats argued that Youngkin illegally renamed the office, saying the action violated the 2020 law that established the office in the executive branch with a director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Here is the letter that @DonScott757 and I sent to @JasonMiyaresVA seeking an opinion regarding the Governor DEI actions – our first question is whether the Governor is bound by Virginia Law because apparently he doesn't think he is@FairfaxNAACP @charlottewords @LVozzella pic.twitter.com/E2PzbTvGL6

— Senator Scott Surovell (@ssurovell) May 2, 2023

The Senate and House leaders argued in their letter to the attorney general that Youngkin illegally named Brown as director since the governor didn’t appoint him to the office named in state law.  

In his written statement to The Daily Signal, Surovell said Youngkin had “hired someone for that office [and] renamed the person a diversity, opportunity, and inclusion officer who then made offensive comments regarding equity.”  

DEI is dead,” Brown said last April in a speech at Virginia Military Institute referencing the office’s name change. 

“We’re not going to bring that cow up anymore. It’s dead,” Brown said. “It was mandated by the General Assembly, but this governor has a different philosophy of civil discourse.”

The move caused an uproar in the General Assembly as many Democrats, joined by the Virginia chapter of the NAACP, demanded Brown’s resignation. 

The governor’s office defended Brown at the time, saying that Youngkin would “continue to advance equal opportunities—not equal outcomes—for all Virginians.”  

“This is too important of an issue to succumb to those seeking to cancel Chief Brown for challenging the groupthink of the progressive Left’s pursuit of equity at any cost,” the statement said. 

Ken McIntyre contributed to this report, which was modified with additional details within 24 hours of publication.

The post Youngkin Stands Firm as Virginia Democrats Prefer to Give Millions to Pot Instead of Opportunity appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Virginia mother killed, body found in trash truck: police

Police in Virginia said that a 30-year-old mother was found dead in a trash truck after authorities began searching for her when she failed to pick up her child from daycare.

NRA Endorses Patrick Morrisey's West Virginia Gubernatorial Bid

The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League (CDL) on Friday endorsed Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's bid for governor.

Teen dead after shooting in Fairfax County, gunman still at large: police

A teenager was shot and killed in Herndon, Virginia, Wednesday afternoon that caused a nearby school to go on an alert, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

Exclusive: Trump Considers Campaign Stop at Mothballed Virginia Factory to Highlight Biden’s ‘Made in America’ Screwups

Former President Donald Trump told Breitbart News exclusively he is considering taking up an offer for a tour from the CEO of a Virginia factory that is not producing anything right now because Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration screwed up Trump’s “Made in America” initiatives.

Exclusive -- 'We're More Dependent on China': Biden Lets Virginia Manufacturer of PPE Languish

President Joe Biden bragged during the State of the Union address about making more goods in America, but he has not only allowed for China to become the top main supplier of rubber medical gloves for the United States -- he has refused to finish building a government-contracted factory in rural southwest Virginia begun under former President Donald Trump.

Exclusive--O'Donnell: 'I am Mosby,' The Perfect Special Operation

John Singleton Mosby, one of the main characters of this story, 161 years ago this week conducted what is considered the perfect special operation.

Virginia man arrested after attempted carjacking with stolen chainsaw, hammer

After nearly three-hour search, officials in Virginia were able to apprehend a man who was suspected of an attempted carjacking with a chainsaw and a hammer early Monday morning.

Donald Trump Trounces Nikki Haley in Virginia Republican Primary

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday defeated former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) in Old Dominion’s Republican primary.

Joe Biden Wins Virginia, Vermont Democrat Primaries

President Joe Biden on Tuesday won Virginia and Vermont's Democrat presidential primaries, according to media outlet projections.

Watch Live: Donald Trump Speaks in Richmond, Virginia

Former President Donald Trump will speak at a rally in Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday, March 2.

Virginia County Penalizes Pro-Amnesty Group CASA for Misusing Federal COVID-19 Funds 

A county in Northern Virginia has declined to hand over almost $2 million in federal COVID-19 relief to a liberal immigration activist group that calls itself a “national powerhouse.”  

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted Feb. 20 to deny the proposed reimbursement of about $1 million in federal funds to the organization, called CASA, after a county audit discovered over $200,000 worth of misallocated funds. 

The pro-amnesty group was supposed to use the federal COVID-19 aid to build a “training lab” and cover “programming start-up costs” for a new welcome center to be built in Prince William County.  

According to the audit obtained by local news site InsideNOVA, however, CASA used the funds to offset infrastructure costs at a separate location and to pay for an employee’s English language classes. 

Prince William found that CASA also used “thousands of dollars” to create merchandise, including lip balm, hoodies, and “fidget fun blocks,” InsideNOVA reported. 

The Daily Signal sought comment from the pro-amnesty organization and will update this article if it responds.

The immigration group CASA is not the same as the organization Court Appointed Special Advocates, also known as CASA, which operates on behalf of children in court systems across the nation. 

CASA made waves in June 2020 when it disrupted another board of supervisors meeting in Prince William. Members of the group joined Black Lives Matter demonstrators in protesting the county’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency known as ICE, as well as calling on county officials to defund the police. 

During that meeting, a CASA representative made harsh remarks about a Republican supervisor, Yesli Vega.  

The CASA rep told Vega she “is the devil” and should “zip your mouth,” according to several news reports. 

The CASA rep apparently condemned Vega for her support of a federal program in Prince William to identify illegal aliens who had committed crimes. Vega is also the first Hispanic member of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.  

CASA considers itself a “national powerhouse” that is dedicated to “building power and improving the quality of life in working-class: Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descent, Indigenous, and Immigrant Communities,” according to its website.  

The website says the group aims “to create paths to citizenship” for illegal aliens.  

In one such effort, CASA partnered with Baltimore’s Office of Immigrant Affairs to help over 1,000 immigrant families “access federal, state, and local aid.” 

The organization often uses the phrase “Latinx,” a phrase for gender-nonconforming Hispanics who won’t use Latino or Latina to describe themselves.  

The group focuses on what it calls “LGBTQIA+” initiatives. It participates regularly in the District of Columbia’s Pride Parade, chanting “Si Se Puede” (meaning “Yes, We Can”), a common phrase for activists started by labor leader Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers of America. 

CASA also recently hosted “Café Con CASA,” a presentation dedicated to “addressing the imperialist roots of the gender binary, anti-LGBT legislative trends, and more.” 

The group also touts its political initiatives to achieve “climate justice.” On its website, CASA says the “climate emergency humanity faces today is fueled by capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism.” 

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email?letters@DailySignal.com?and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. 

The post Virginia County Penalizes Pro-Amnesty Group CASA for Misusing Federal COVID-19 Funds  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Hamas-linked CAIR sues Virginia prison for denying Ramadan accommodations to newly converted inmate

Hamas-linked CAIR sues Virginia prison for denying Ramadan accommodations to newly converted inmate
The Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is yet again fighting for the expansion of the Islamic presence in a prison. It has just “sued the Virginia Department of Corrections and officials at a correctional facility for their refusal to provide Ramadan accommodations to a Muslim inmate.” The prison already provides special accommodations to Muslims […]

Congresswoman demands answers over DC children’s hospital Youth Pride Clinic’s ‘life-altering gender procedures’

Congresswoman demands answers over DC children’s hospital Youth Pride Clinic’s ‘life-altering gender procedures’
It’s about time. There’s much work to do to start protecting children from a dangerous element of the trans community that has mutated into a cult, and is now inflicting grooming and mutilation upon children, allegedly without parental consent. 🚨BREAKING EXCLUSIVE REPORT🚨 .@ChildrensNatl admits in damning audio recording that they do “gender affirming” hysterectomies on […]

Who Needs To Major In English or History or Philosophy, When All Things Digital Are Available?

Who Needs To Major In English or History or Philosophy, When All Things Digital Are Available?
Marymount University is a Catholic institution in Virginia that has always focused on the liberal arts: English, History, Philosophy, Art. But Marymount’s trustees are keenly aware that we have entered a brave new world, where vocational training, and not liberal education, in the traditional sense, must take precedence, because what counts now is not the […]
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