Youngkin cuts $900 million from Virginia budget
MCLEAN, VA - FEBRUARY 24, 2025: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks during a special announcement where he unveiled a new support resource package for federal workers and promoted Virginia's over 250,000 open jobs, reaffirming that Virginia is op
RICHMOND, Va. - Governor Glenn Youngkin is slashing almost a billion dollars from Virginia's budget, including cuts impacting child care and state universities.
What we know:
On Friday, Governor Youngkin signed legislation that creates some tax relief for residents, but also cuts $900 million from next year's budget.
Youngkin says he did this to give the state some cushion for rainy day spending. But the decision comes as a major surprise to some state leaders who say they had no idea the governor was going to do this.
A majority of these cuts – almost $700 million – are to capital projects for a number of Virginia's universities including Virginia Tech, George Mason, and the Virginia Community College System, which includes Northern Virginia Community College. The projects would have been construction on the universities' infrastructure.
Some of the cuts also impact child care in the state.
What they're saying:
"I am optimistic about Virginia’s longer-term prospects for FY27-28, but there are some short-term risks as President Trump resets both fiscal spending in Washington and trade policies that require us to be prudent and not spend all of the projected surplus before we get it," said Youngkin in a statement.
Virginia State Senator Danica Roem says the state already has a significant amount of money set aside for the unexpected – so this action from Youngkin comes as a surprise.
"We manage our money very well in Virginia and cutting 900 million dollars out of nowhere for this – reckless – but it can only be supported if you support the federal government laying off Virginia workers in the first place and knocking over the dominoes that caused federal contractors to be fired as well. That’s the problem," said Roem. "I don’t think the governor, in his totality dealing with the budget, really did this with anything other than trying to please someone and I’m not sure who that is beyond the president of the United States at this point."
With those cuts, Roem says Virginia jobs are on the line – especially for construction workers – who would’ve been on those capital projects.
Dig deeper:
Read Youngkin's fact sheet on the cuts below.
The Source: This story includes information from Governor Youngkin as well as State Senator Roem.