State and National Government
As some states prepare to reopen, a former Virginia Governor says all Governors should look at COVID-19 data before making that decision. WFIR’s Clark Palmer has that story.
Rep. Morgan Griffith
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a second-round stimulus package today. One of the region’s Republican congressman says as that occurs, Governor Northam needs to speed up the process of ending the shutdowns. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Plans to convert three convention centers across Virginia into field hospitals as part of the state’s coronavirus response have been put on hold, according to Gov. Ralph Northam’s office.
Current trends suggest Virginia has sufficient hospital bed capacity to deal with the pandemic in the short term, Northam’s spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said in an email.
Work has not begun to build the alternative care sites, which Northam announced in early April would be put in place within about six weeks at convention centers in Richmond, Hampton and Fairfax County. The sites were intended to free up capacity in the existing health care system, and Yarmosky said they remain a possibility if things change.
The Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked with state officials and health care providers on the design of the sites, said spokesman Patrick Bloodgood
“From the Corps’ perspective, we are ready to go as soon as the state says execute,” he said.
Dr. Danny Avula, who as director of the Richmond and Henrico County health districts was involved in planning conversations about the Richmond alternative care site, said the health systems he’d heard from didn’t think it was necessary to pursue such a huge overhaul. Instead, a projected surge in patients can likely be handled by overflow the systems can create on their own, he said.
In New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., an alternative care site set up at the Javits Center has had fewer patients than expected.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Virginia surpassed 9,600 on Tuesday, with 324 deaths, according to the latest information available from the Department of Health.
Nearly 5,500 hospital beds were available, according to a report published online by the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, which reported 1,331 hospitalized patients who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or who have test results pending.
Northam directed Virginia’s hospitals in late March to postpone elective surgeries, a move aimed at freeing up bed space and preserving personal protective equipment that’s in short supply.
Deaths and infections are still rising around the world. The virus has killed more than 175,000 people globally, including more than 43,000 in the United States, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University.
___
One of Virginia’s Democratic US Senators weighs in on a recent report that discusses Russian involvement in the 2016 Presidential election. WFIR’s Clark Palmer has that story.
Photo: Public Domain
Congressman Morgan Griffith says he and his colleagues should vote in person on all matters before the House of Representatives — and not do so by proxy with just a few House members present in Washington. The House is considering a rules change that would permit this practice, but Griffith, ever the history buff, says his colleagues should emulate Caesar Rodney, who overcame several serious challenges to cast a key vote for the Declaration of Independence:
Griffith joined us for a live telephone conversation on the Roanoke Valley’s Morning News ahead of Thursday’s expected vote on a second stimulus package that totals close to a half trillion dollars. Here is the full conversation:
Gov. Ralph Northam
RICHMOND (from Governor’s office release) —Governor Ralph Northam has signed the Virginia Clean Economy Act and amended the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act that requires Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. It requires new measures to promote energy efficiency, sets a schedule for closing old fossil fuel power plants, and requires electricity to come from 100 percent renewable sources such as solar or wind. Energy companies must pay penalties for not meeting their targets, and part of that revenue would fund job training and renewable energy programs in historically disadvantaged communities.
Governor Northam has also signed nearly two dozen new laws to support working Virginians, including legislation to combat worker misclassification and wage theft, ban workplace discrimination, and prohibit non-compete covenants for low-wage workers. The Governor proposes to increase the minimum wage starting May 1, 2021, and to advance prevailing wage, collective bargaining, and project labor agreement legislation then as well.
House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert commented on the minimum wage hike and the clean energy bill: the following statement: The actions taken by the Governor fail to provide long-term certainty for Virginia’s businesses and their employees. A thirty-one percent increase to operating costs — plus a 25 percent hike in power bills — would be tough in a great economy, they will be potentially devastating as Virginia looks to rebuild.”
Northam also signed new laws to repeal Virginia’s voter ID law, make Election Day a state holiday in Virginia, and expand access to early voting. Also signed: criminal justice reform legislation includes measures raising the felony larceny threshold; permanently eliminating driver’s license suspensions for unpaid fines, fees, and court costs; raising the age of juvenile transfer to adult court; and reforming parole. It includes decriminalizing simple possession of marijuana and sealing the records of prior convictions. The Governor proposed that a study be completed by to assess the impact of fully legalizing marijuana in the Commonwealth.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has signed several new gun restrictions he championed during this year’s legislative session, cementing gains by gun control advocates they hope will serve as a “blueprint” for states around the country.
The Old Dominion has been the epicenter of the nation’s gun debate after Democrats took full control of the General Assembly last year on an aggressive gun control platform. Tens of thousands of gun owners from around the country rallied against new gun restrictions at the state Capitol in January while lawmakers ultimately approved 7 out of 8 of Northam’s gun-control package.
“This is an exciting day for me,” Northam said on a conference call with gun-control advocates.
Virginia was once a socially conservative state where lawmakers in both parties viewed gun rights as sacrosanct and the National Rifle Association held great sway.
But as the state has grown more urban and suburban, the gun lobby’s influence has waned. A mass shooting last year in Virginia Beach made gun control a front-burning issue in Virginia and heavy spending by groups backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg helped Democrats flip control of the legislature in November.
Gun-control advocates said Friday they’re planning to replicate their success in Virginia in other states. John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said his group plans to spend heavily in key battleground states this year like Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania to elect lawmakers who support new gun restrictions.
Feinblatt said polling shows a gun-control agenda is popular in those states and that Virginia is a “bellwether” of what’s to come.
The gun lobby was not totally shut out of Virginia’s legislative session and were able to water down many bills backed by Northam.
“While we still don’t like them, they’re not as bad as they once were,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Moderate Democrats also balked at passing one of the most high-profile gun measures debated this year: banning assault weapons like the popular AR-15-style rifles.
The governor acknowledged that he “came up short” on that legislation but said he will try again next year.
“I will not stop,” he said.
Van Cleave said his group is readying several lawsuits against the new gun laws and predicted gun owners will elect more gun-friendly lawmakers next year in state House elections
“Nothing (Northam’s) doing today is necessarily permanent,” Van Cleave said.
Gov. Ralph Northam
Governor Northam wants Virginia’s May municipal elections postponed until November – and he has delayed June’s congressional primaries by two weeks. The governor said Wednesday there are no easy options trying to balance the importance of elections with the current COVID-19 health crisis. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Governor Northam wants the May municipal elections delayed until November. Many cities and towns, including Salem and Vinton, are scheduled to hold their elections next month, but Northam says delaying them is the best way to proceed under current circumstances.
It is up to General Assembly to enact that proposal. As for the June Republican Congressional primaries, Northam has the authority to postpone them for up to two weeks, and he is doing so. They are now scheduled for June 23rd.
NEWS RELEASE: RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today requested the General Assembly move the May General Election and all special elections scheduled for May 5, 2020 to the November 3, 2020 General Election date to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The Governor is also exercising his statutory authority (§ 24.2-603.1 of the Code of Virginia) to move the June primary elections from June 9, 2020 to June 23, 2020.
- There will be one ballot in November.
- Voters who are qualified in November will be able to vote in November. An individual who was not qualified in May but is qualified in November will be able to vote.
- All absentee ballots already cast will be discarded. Virginians will have an opportunity to vote for local elected officials in November.
- Those officials whose terms are to expire as of June 30, 2020 will continue in office until their successors have been elected on the November 3, 2020 and have been qualified to serve.