This Week In The Commonwealth

Jan 06, 2024
In December, Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled his tax relief proposal to lower income taxes across the board for hardworking Virginians. Since then, his plan has received plaudits across the board from experts who recognize Youngkin’s proposal will help grow the economy, make the Commonwealth more competitive, and help Virginians keep more of their hard-earned money.

Record Approval for Governor Youngkin

Governor Youngkin’s efforts to make our Commonwealth the best place to live, work, and raise a family continue to receive widespread support from Virginians. New polling from the Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy shows Governor Glenn Youngkin with a 58% approval rating among Virginians. That is higher than it was even a year ago, when the same poll found Governor Youngkin with a 56% approval rating in January 2023. Youngkin also has a positive approval rating across every region in the Commonwealth! This poll continues the trend of high approval ratings for Governor Youngkin as he continues to focus on the issues that matter most to Virginia families – growing jobs, lowering the cost of living, improving education, and transforming our behavioral health system.

Jobs for Rural Virginia

Following Christmas, Governor Youngkin announced new jobs and economic investments in rural Virginia. For Prince Edward County, Governor Youngkin announced that 5 Pillar Meats will create 12 new jobs and invest more than $1.7 million to build a new meat processing facility.

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And in Russell County, Governor Youngkin announced that Bates Family Farm will create 12 new jobs and invest nearly $1 million to relocate its manufacturing facility to a 40,000-square-foot Russell County building.

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These announcements reflect the job growth and economic prosperity that remains strong across Virginia. More Virginians are working today than ever before in the history of the Commonwealth!

The first Lady's Feature

Rounding out 2023, First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin returned to Carver Elementary School for a holiday visit with students.  In line with Governor Youngkin’s ALL IN VA education plan, Mrs. Youngkin joined with both the Kiwanis Club and the Friends of Suzanne Youngkin volunteers to foster a love of learning and reading in Virginia’s youngest students.  This most recent visit marked the First Lady’s fifth visit to the school.  The First Lady read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and brought festive cookies to share.

December’s Girls with Pearls meeting focused on communication, confidence, bullying, and self-care. The First Lady spoke at the top about poise, preparation, and presentation.  Girls with Pearls is a first-of-its-kind joint effort between Petersburg’s Blandford Academy, Communities in Schools, the Petersburg Women’s Club, and Friends of Suzanne Youngkin volunteers, with the purpose of pairing women mentors and sixth-grade girls to engage on health and wellbeing.

The First Lady is actively engaged in many important Virginia organizations tied to her Women + girls initiative and looks forward to more volunteering opportunities this year.