As the new administration in Washington plans to slash the federal workforce and freeze federal funding, members of the General Assembly are trying to figure out how to respond. The Speaker of the House of Delegates is taking action.
It's called the Emergency Committee on the Impacts of Federal Workforce and Funding Reductions, and it's led by Delegate David Bulova, a Democrat from Fairfax County where his constituents are extremely concerned about moves to slash the workforce and freeze spending.
"While they recognize that, yeah, we can't stop some of these things, they do have a full expectation that in Virginia we’re going to do the best in order to push back on some of these changes. Quite frankly, they seem arbitrary, they're all over the place, so we're trying to make some order out of chaos," Bulova says. "But there are things they want us to be able to do to ensure that we’re protecting workers here in Virginia and protecting our economy."
Speaker Don Scott created the committee as a reaction to all the news out of Washington, and he made a point of putting several Republicans on the panel – including Delegate Rob Bloxom of Accomack County, who serves as vice chairman of the committee.
"This should be a math equation. It should not be partisan at all. It shouldn't be grandstanding. It shouldn't be political theater. It should be a hard look at the numbers to say these are the scenarios," Bloxom says. "But it's an election year, and everything will have a little bit of nuances and grandstanding, I’m sure. But it won't be coming from me."
The committee is expected to report in December, but lawmakers might be returning to the Capitol before that for a special session to deal with cuts to health insurance for low-income people.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
