www.youtube.com – NBC4 Washington – 2025-02-24 05:51:07

SUMMARY: Elon Musk’s ultimatum to federal employees requires them to justify their work by submitting five job accomplishments by midnight, leading to widespread confusion among workers. Many received conflicting guidance from their departments, with some, like the FBI and State Department, advising against responding. Musk’s directive is part of an effort to reduce the federal workforce, suggesting non-responsiveness could be interpreted as resignation. The president of the American Federation of Government Employees has called for the email to be rescinded and for an apology, highlighting the chaos this mandate has created for federal workers.

Federal workers are facing a deadline by 11:59 p.m. Monday to justify their work or resign after Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency sent out an email over the weekend. Workers are confused after some agencies tell them not to respond. News4’s Joseph Olmo gives the latest.
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virginiamercury.com – Nathaniel Cline – 2025-02-24 04:30:00

General Assembly passes bill giving schools more say on classroom phone rules

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury
February 24, 2025

Virginia school boards may soon have more control over how cell phones and smart devices are governed in classrooms. Legislation granting local districts the authority to craft their own policies cleared the General Assembly on Friday and now heads to Gov. Glenn Youngkin for consideration.

House Bill 1961, introduced by Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and it’s companion measure, Senate Bill 738 by Sen. Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax, comes amid growing concerns over the impact of smartphones on children’s health. While research has linked excessive phone use to adverse effects on students’ well-being, advocates also recognize the role devices play in providing educational resources and communication tools.

Last year, a similar measure aimed at allowing school boards to ban phones and other “handheld communication devices” during school hours failed to pass. However, many schools had already implemented their own restrictions.

Unlike Yougkin’s existing guidelines, Rasoul emphasized that his proposal provides more local flexibility and ensures age-appropriate policies across different schools. It also includes critical exceptions for students with disabilities who rely on electronic devices for communication.

Importantly, Rasoul said the legislation prevents harsh disciplinary measures, ensuring that violating a school’s phone policy alone wouldn’t lead to suspension or expulsion.

“We just wanted to ensure that this new cell phone policy wasn’t weaponized against the students and that would lead to suspension and expulsion,” Rasoul said. “While the student can be pulled from the classroom, of course, if they’re acting up, we want to ensure that we are not utilizing this new policy in a way that, in and of itself, just by violating the policy would lead to expelling a student.”

Last summer, Youngkin signed Executive Order 33, directing his administration to implement cell phone-free policies amid rising concerns over children’s mental health and declining academic performance.

Citing research by the American Psychological Association, the order highlights that adolescents who spend more than three hours daily on social media daily are twice as likely to experience poor mental health. It also references studies showing that children spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media and that students who use their phones during class learn less and earn lower grades. 

Under the guidelines, which took effect on Jan. 1, elementary, middle, and high school students are required to be phone-free during the entire school day, with middle and high schoolers permitted to use their phones only before or after school. 

Local school divisions have the flexibility to tailor specific rules to their district’s needs. The policy also includes exemptions for students with disabilities and English Learner students with documented language barriers.

During a Senate Education and Health subcommittee hearing last month, Pekarsky said that the response to Youngkin’s order was “successful” and “positive.” However, she stressed the need to formally establish these policies in state law to ensure consistency and local control.

“We just need to codify this to make sure that everyone knows that you have to have a policy, you have to talk with your community [and] discuss what policy works for you,” Pekarsky said.

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virginiamercury.com – Charlotte Rene Woods – 2025-02-22 17:19:00

As Trump cuts federal jobs, Virginia lawmakers race to respond

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury
February 22, 2025

With federal government slashing jobs and freezing billions in funding, Virginia lawmakers are scrambling to assess the impact and prepare for what’s next. On Saturday morning, a bipartisan emergency committee, assembled by House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, convened to hear from state agencies and economic experts about the looming challenges ahead.

Clark Mercer, representing the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, kicked off the discussion by emphasizing the scale of Virginia’s federal workforce. The state is home to over 144,000 federal employees, according to a December 2024 congressional report — but factoring in commuters working in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, the number rises to over 300,000. 

So far, about 295,000 federal employees nationwide have already been affected by the new presidential administration’s jobs cuts, Mercer said. That includes 220,000 probationary employees and 75,000 workers who accepted buyout offers.

Probationary employees typically have less than a year on the job, but Mercer noted that the classification also applies to mid-career professionals who recently received promotions. Once promoted, employees enter a probationary period — meaning some long-time workers are also vulnerable to these cuts.

Mercer acknowledged that the ratio of newer hires versus mid-career professionals affected remains unclear. A lack of specific data on layoffs and funding reductions was a recurring concern among both presenters and lawmakers throughout the meeting.

While Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are home to the largest concentrations of federal workers, Mercer emphasized that federal job losses will ripple across the entire state. 

For those seeking unemployment benefits, Mitch Melis with the Virginia Employment Commission explained that displaced workers can receive up to $9,800 over six months, amounting to  $378 per week while they search for new jobs.

Earlier this week, Gov. Glenn Youngkin acknowledged the impact of President Donald Trump’s job cuts but defended the moves as necessary to eliminate “inefficiency and bloat” in the federal workforce. However, he also promised that Virginia is working on an aid package to assist those losing their jobs.

The Washington Post has reported that affected workers range from the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency employees to workers like mapmakers and cancer researchers. 

While Youngkin has promised an aid package for affected workers, he has yet to provide specifics.  “I want to communicate it in a package,” he said. “We’ll have a good one for you.”

By Saturday, however, the state’s website included a page with resources for federal workers. 

As laid-off federal employees search for new jobs, localities could see a migration of workers and their families — taking household incomes, local tax contributions and additional wage earners with them. 

“The loss of one employee has a multiplier effect,” Joe Flores, fiscal policy director at the Virginia Municipal League, told lawmakers Saturday. 

Local governments are already bracing for revenue losses, which could impact public school funding, police departments and infrastructure projects. 

Federal dollars make up one third of Virginia’s total state budget, largely supporting  Medicaid, public education, SNAP benefits, and transportation.

Additionally, local governments receive $1.4 billion in direct federal funding, with some Southwest and Southside localities relying on federal money for 20-30% of their revenues, according to House Appropriations Committee analysts. 

“There is a palpable sense of anxiety of what local impacts are,” Flores said. “We don’t know what we’re shooting at in terms of trying to set our budgets.” 

Virginia’s capital city, Richmond, is already feeling the effects. Federal funding cuts hit a Youngkin-backed lab school initiative, and a Virginia Commonwealth University program designed to place teachers in hard-to-staff schools lost critical funding. 

Adding to the uncertainty, last month, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget temporarily froze the distribution of federal funds, forcing states to scramble for potential budget solutions. A federal judge has since blocked the administration from enforcing the policy, but for now, the situation remains unsolved. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to halt funding tied to climate and energy laws passed under former President Joe Biden — a move that could put billions of dollars in legally designated funding on hold and set the stage for new legal battles. 

As uncertainty looms, Virginia lawmakers are looking for ways to prepare their constituents for potential economic fallout. The emergency committee plans to hold a series of meetings across the state to hear from local officials and impacted communities.

Committee chair David Bulova, D-Fairfax, said tentative future meeting locations include Arlington, Hampton Roads, western Virginia, and a final session back in Richmond. 

The committee plans to examine key economic concerns, including the rising cost of housing, the impact on transportation, and lessons learned from Virginia’s recovery after the 2008 Great Recession.

Following a few of the meetings on the horizon, Scott suspects lawmakers will reconvene to take up legislation to address issues as needed.  He emphasized that Virginia lawmakers plan to “aim first and then shoot” when speaking with media Saturday evening.

“What these venture capitalists folks do sometimes they just come in and take over a company, and they fire everybody, and then they bring back people,” Scott said, noting Trump and top advisor Elon Musk’s entrepreneurial backgrounds.

“They said, oops, we need to bring back these essentials, and they try to fix it afterwards. So what we’re trying to do now is make sure that we’re doing this in smart, soulful and thoughtful way.”

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