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Republicans Respond to Northam’s State of the Commonwealth Address

On the first day of the legislative session, Republican and Democratic leaders laid out dramatically different visions for Virginia, offering a glimpse into some of the highest-profile policy debates likely to dominate the agenda for the General Assembly, as it enters its 400th year.

During the annual State of the Commonwealth address, Democratic Governor Ralph Northam laid out a list of liberal priorities, urging lawmakers to back his proposals for higher spending, strict gun control, repealing Virginia’s voter ID law, and establishing what he called a “fundamental right” to abortion.

Republicans, however, took a different approach.

In a joint response from the House and Senate GOP, Delegate Bob Thomas (R-Stafford) and Senator Steve Newman (R-Bedford) emphasized tax relief, bringing down high health care costs, and implementing the recommendations of the House Select Committee on School Safety.

“We plan to reduce the cost of health care for Virginia families struggling to afford higher insurance premiums,” said Newman, who chairs the Senate’s committee on Education and Health. “Virginians have endured skyrocketing skyrocketing out-of-pocket expenses that have accompanied the Affordable Care Act passed during the Obama administration. Too many Virginians find they simply can’t afford the premiums today.”

Newman said Republicans planned to introduce legislation aimed at lowering health care costs, including legislation expanding affordable group coverage, as well as bills allowing patients to purchase catastrophic or short-term coverage with more affordable premiums.

A number of these measures passed the General Assembly last year, only to be vetoed by Governor Northam, an avowed supporter of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Undaunted, Newman said Republicans would continue the fight.

“Our health care initiatives will increase choice and lower the cost of available policies,” continued Newman. We plan to provide more Virginians with insurance coverage that their families can actually afford.“

Thomas, a freshman delegate, highlighted Republican proposals aimed at bolstering school safety and providing tax relief for 2.7 million Virginians, including the 600,000 middle class taxpayers impacted by Northam’s $1.2 billion tax hike.

“A few weeks ago the select committee presented a comprehensive set of recommendations to make our students and schools safer through threat prevention, improved mental health services, and increased training for school personnel and school security,” said Thomas. “Among the recommendations are proposals that would utilize the latest technology and school security and infrastructure equipment. Our goal is to employ every means available to keep dangerous individuals out of our schools.“

Following months of bipartisan work, the committee identified 24 priority recommendations in its 709 page report, many of which have already been introduced in the form of legislation.

Among the recommendations lawmakers will consider are improvements in mental health care, new threat assessment procedures, facilities improvements, and an expanded role for school resource and security officers.

Under the direction of Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), a retired teacher who spent 30 years in the classroom, the committee did not consider any new restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, preferring instead to focus on the root causes of school violence, as well as improving crisis response procedures to prevent another failure like that seen in Parkland, Florida, where a school shooter known to authorities killed 17 while deputies waited outside.

Thomas also highlighted Republican plans for tax relief.

“Republicans are committed to stopping Governor Northam’s tax hike on the middle class,” continued Thomas. “Our tax reform plan will return the tax windfall resulting from the federal tax cuts along to taxpayers while providing targeted tax relief to middle and low income Virginians and protecting our coveted triple-A bond rating.“

Lawmakers will consider these proposals and others in the 45 day session, scheduled to continue through mid-February.

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After Trump’s National Address, Democratic Rebuttal, U.S. Government Enters Longest Ever Shutdown

In his first address to the nation from the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump remarked on the “growing humanitarian and security crisis” at the southern border, which is just a smaller part of the contention between both parties and both houses of Congress on immigration reform. Although the address – followed by a Democratic rebuttal from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) – marked a few moments of semi-civility in a Washington filled with political volatility, the partial government shutdown continues into its record-setting length of 21 days tomorrow as a deal is yet to be had between Republicans and the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

Federal funding ran out at midnight on Friday, December 21, closing nine departments within the U.S. government.

Last night, the president cited examples of recent violent acts committed by undocumented immigrants, including an instance last month when a Stanislaus County, California, police officer was and killed by a man who was in the country illegally. He attempted to bolster his argument through other negative effects stemming from the border crisis like the ongoing opioid epidemic.

“The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year. Vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress,” the president said. He also added that the border wall would “very quickly pay for itself.”

Reiterating a notion from the days of his presidential campaign, Trump again explained the “wall will always be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico,” referring to the newly-cemented U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“Some have suggested a barrier is immoral,” President Trump continued in his address, but asked, “then why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences, and gates around their homes?”

“They don’t build walls because they hate the people on the outside, but because they love the people on the inside. The only thing that is immoral is for the politicians to do nothing and continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized,” he said.

In the opposition party’s rebuttal, Schumer and Pelosi said the president has “chosen fear” to govern what they call the “Trump shutdown,” adding that the rhetoric from the White House “has been full of misinformation and even malice.”

Speaker Pelosi then charged President Trump to “stop holding the American people hostage…stop manufacturing a crisis,” and to “re-open the government.”

On Wednesday afternoon, President Trump reportedly “slammed the table” and stormed out of a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House after Speaker Pelosi reiterated that the U.S.-Mexico border wall will not be funded in any legislation coming from the new majority party in the House. Following Senator Schumer’s comments during the rebuttal of the Oval Office address, he repeated that Trump has thrown another “temper tantrum” during the government shutdown.

Trump’s most ardent supporters and political allies were quick to come to his defense after the prime time address and this afternoon’s meeting, reprimanding Democrats and accusing them of failing to negotiate a deal for the American people. The president also aired out his response on Twitter shortly after the meeting went south.

“Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO.” President Trump said.

“I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”

According to a report from Business Insider, both House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (LA-1) and Vice President Mike Pence rejected the claim that Trump acted erratic during the meeting with congressional leaders, adding that the president “came into the room and ‘passed out candy.’”

The commander in chief has shown little room to budge off of his request for $5.7 billion in funding for the proposed southern border wall. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), ready to battle a Democratic lower chamber, said that the GOP majority will not deliberate anything the president will not sign.

Regardless of having a clear strategy towards re-opening the federal government, the president said the Trump Administration and Republicans are “totally unified” and are in “solidarity.”

During an exchange with reporters outside the White House, Speaker Pelosi accosted Trump for continuing the government shutdown, which has affected at least 800,000 federal workers who risk falling behind on paychecks. She said he was “out of touch” with those whom furloughs are affecting, although Trump has stated that government workers are “telling him” to “hold out” to “get the wall built.”

“He thinks maybe they could just ask their father for more money. But they can’t,” Pelosi added.

On the opening day of the 116th Congress, Democrats introduced a package of bills that would fund eight of the currently-closed federal departments through September 30, with the Department of Homeland Security funded through February 8, contingent on a few specific immigration reforms.

Last Friday, during a White House press conference in the Rose Garden, President Trump said to reporters that he told Democratic congressional leaders that he would keep the government partially closed for “months, or even years,” or “as long as it takes” to get the funding necessary to construct his campaign promise of a southern border wall to stave off illegal immigration.

As Trump is just hours away from breaking the record for the longest ever government shutdown – set by then-President Bill Clinton, from December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996, at 21 days – he must begin to contend with waning support for the closure as more and more Americans feel the brunt of a closed federal government.