RICHMOND, Va. — On Friday, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the final FY24 – FY26 budget, while line-item vetoing 37 items and causing economic harm to middle-class Virginians. The governor slashed funding for a slew of key housing measures, including a first-time homebuyers’ grant program, the 5000 Families pilot program to help working parents with young children stay in the same home for a whole school year, and funding to support local governments’ investments in more affordable homes. Included in that veto was $1,000,000 to support affordable housing in the City of Emporia, where residents are already reeling from unexpected 550 layoffs from the closure of a Georgia-Pacific plant, which itself is closing because the high cost of housing is constraining construction of new homes.
“I appreciate the governor’s attempt to support Virginians by setting aside money that could keep programs like Medicaid afloat when the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans slash them, but hardworking families need direct relief now,” said Delegate Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg). “At a time when Virginia’s housing and rent costs are higher than ever and driving some from Northern Virginia entirely, my first-time homebuyers’ grant program would have provided targeted economic support for Virginia’s middle class. We should be the first line of defense against irresponsible federal cuts, and while the General Assembly chose to lower the cost of housing, Governor Youngkin chose to ignore the reality of our affordability crisis.”
Of the Freedom Virginia “Get Ahead” Agenda items included in the General Assembly budget in February, several policy items remain as part of the final budget that provide key support to hardworking Virginians, including: an increase to the state’s standard deduction, an increase in the refundability of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and expanded access to affordable child care.
“At a time when Virginia has the third-highest rent increases in the country and the cost of a new home in Virginia rose 40% between 2019 and 2024, the General Assembly this year chose to make renting and homebuying easier, while delivering direct economic relief. But Governor Youngkin chose to gut measures that would have made housing more affordable for tens of thousands of middle-class Virginians,” said Freedom Virginia co-Executive Director Ryan O’Toole. “He continues to put his head in the sand, standing by the Trump-Musk administration’s reckless tariffs, cuts to critical programs like veterans’ health care and Social Security, and mass firings of hardworking Virginians while ignoring Virginia’s very real housing crisis. Virginians need more than a rainy day fund; the rain is already here, and they need a governor willing to stand up against dangerous actions from the federal government.”
Read about the final FY24 – FY26 budget HERE.
