Republican Amendments Damage Virginia’s Public Schools, Communities, and Environment

Richmond, VA – Today, House Democrats forcefully objected to budget amendments proposed by their Republican colleagues to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from Governor Northam’s introduced budget – attempting to roll back the progress Democrats have made in Virginia and continuing their attack on Virginia’s public schools and environment.

Republicans have put forward amendments to gut essential funding for K-12 schools and completely eliminate tens of millions in funding for pre-kindergarten programs from the governor’s budget. Studies consistently show that investments in early childhood education produce tremendous outcomes for students and provide a nearly 10-fold return on investment. Additionally, they’ve removed funding for much-needed school construction projects—showing a blatant disregard for Virginia students.

But, Republicans didn’t stop with education. They also put forward legislation and budget amendments to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a move that is wildly unpopular with Virginia voters, and would strip hundreds of millions in funding away from key initiatives to combat climate change and prove detrimental for Virginia’s environment. House Democrats today spoke vehemently against these efforts and urged the House to revert back to Governor Northam’s introduced budget.

“Republicans continue to put forward the same attacks that we’ve seen in the past: defunding our public schools and gutting environmental funding to combat climate change,” said DPVA Chair Susan Swecker. “While Republicans have been aiming at rolling back our progress, House Democrats have risen to object against these terrible budget amendments—proving once again that Democrats are ready to fight for our students, our communities, and our environment.”

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