Economic Opportunity

One in eight Virginians is an immigrant to the United States. New Virginians often come seeking a better life for themselves and their families. And Virginians – whether born-heres or come-heres – value that Virginia is a good place to raise a family. The good news is that there is a general consensus among economists that immigration energizes the economy and expands opportunity for U.S.-born individuals as well. A new report provides critical new information on how. 

Virginia’s new budget finances multiple measures to help improve the lives of Virginians. The budget funds the extension of health care coverage to nearly 400,000 newly eligible Virginians, and it funds increased salaries for teachers, nurses, counselors, and other staff in Virginia’s public schools. However, lawmakers failed to continue the progress made over the past two years in increasing support for Virginia’s poorest families with children, despite the serious erosion in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits over the last two decades. 

Virginia’s new budget finances multiple measures to help improve the lives of Virginians. The budget funds the extension of health care coverage to nearly 400,000 newly eligible Virginians, and it funds increased salaries for teachers, nurses, counselors, and other staff in Virginia’s public schools. However, lawmakers failed to continue the progress made over the past two years in increasing support for Virginia’s poorest families with children, despite the serious erosion in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits over the last two decades. 

When Governor Northam signed a budget that included Medicaid expansion on June 7, it was the culmination of years of work by hundreds or even thousands of Virginians, and will mean real improvements in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Virginia workers and families. Medicaid expansion has been at the center of Virginia policy debate for six years, and The Commonwealth Institute has been highlighting the benefits of this policy all along. 

Voting along party lines, Congressional Republicans are proposing to decrease nutritional assistance for low-income families in the Farm Bill, creating a partisan fight over a bill that has long had bipartisan support. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the most effective anti-hunger program in the country, supports over 374,000 households (794,780 individuals) on average each month in Virginia. But the newest Farm Bill proposal – passed by the House Agriculture Committee on April 18 and could be voted on by the full House this month – will end or cut SNAP benefits for many people, while setting up costly bureaucratic hurdles to qualify that do more harm than good. 

Virginia’s 2018 regular legislative session has come to a close. While disappointing in some respects – legislators adjourned without having reached agreement on the 2018-2020 budget– it saw the birth of new, promising partnerships across regional and party differences. Legislators representing cities and rural communities found common ground in efforts to strengthen struggling communities and address the challenges of heightened poverty. 

We all want to believe that if we meet our obligations and if we work hard at the things we choose to do that we’ll be rewarded with opportunities to get ahead.

Most Virginians are doing better than they were a few years ago, according to data released today by the Census Bureau. The median household income rose 2 percent in 2015 to $66,262, after adjusting for inflation. And 44,000 fewer Virginians have incomes that are below the poverty line, which is less than $24,257 for a family of four. The improvement in incomes was slightly slower than those of the United States as a whole, which saw a 4 percent increase in median household incomes and, like Virginia, a 5 percent decline in the poverty rate. Virginia remains the 9th highest income state in the country.

Within the good news that Virginia’s unemployment rate is the lowest in eight years is the not-so-great news that one reason for the drop is that Virginia’s labor force has shrunk a bit.