Virginia could receive $530M from $26B opioids settlement
Virginia is expected to receive about $530 million as part of a $26 billion settlement that the nation’s three primary drug distributors and pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson reached Wednesday with the states that would release the companies from legal liability in the opioid crisis. A majority of the roug[...]
Northam appoints members to newly created cannabis boards
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has appointed members to three newly created oversight boards for the legalization of recreational marijuana, his office announced today. On July 1, Virginia’s adult-use cannabis legislation changes began going into effect. This year, the General Assembly legalized possession of up to one ounce in p[...]
Virginia to spend $700M on universal broadband by 2024
Ahead of the General Assembly’s August special session, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday he wants to spend $700 million of Virginia’s federal relief funding on expanding broadband access to all of Virginia. Virginia received $4.3 billion in federal funds through the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed in March. Joi[...]
Virginia unemployment rate improves to 4.3% in June
Virginia’s unemployment rate dropped again in June, landing at 4.3%, 0.2 points below May’s jobless rate, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday. In June 2020, the unemployment rate was at 8.8%, 4.5% higher than June 2021. Virginia also continued to trend lower than the nation, which was at 5.9% unemployment last month, and the state had […]
Va. jobless claims continued decline last week
The state’s initial unemployment claims continued to decrease last week, dipping below 6,000 in the filing week ending July 10, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday. Continued claims also decreased last week. For last week, initial claims totaled 5,952, a decrease of 873 claims from the previous week, while[...]
Virginia finishes FY21 with record $2.6B surplus
Virginia reached the end of fiscal year 2021 with a $2.6 billion surplus, the largest in the commonwealth’s history, according to a statement released by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday. Total revenue collections grew 14.5% over fiscal year 2020, ahead of 2.7% growth projections. State collections reached $8.6 billion[...]
Biden will nominate SAIC senior VP as Army under secretary
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday his intent to nominate Gabe Camarillo, a senior vice president at Reston-based Fortune 500 federal contractor Science Applications International Corp., for under secretary of the U.S. Army. Camarillo is SAIC’s senior vice president of its army business unit and previously held other le[...]
Virginia ranked CNBC’s Top State for Business again
Virginia retained its place as CNBC’s Top State for Business this year, beating out North Carolina and Texas and becoming the first state to achieve the honor twice in a row and five times in all, the cable business news channel announced Tuesday morning. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam appeared live Tuesday morning on CNBC&[...]
Va. unemployment claims down slightly last week
Virginia saw a small decrease in initial claims for the filing week ending July 3, with 6,825 people making new jobless claims, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday. Continued claims also went down, totaling 37,790 last week, down by 2,435 from the previous week. Initial claims declined by 1,371 last week compare[...]
Va. sports bettors lay down $1B since Jan. legalization
Virginians have bet more than $1 billion on sports since it became legal in January, Virginia Lottery announced Thursday. The state was the fastest in the nation to reach that milestone, noted PlayVirginia, which tracks the gaming market. In May, the state reaped $226.9 million in sports-betting gross revenue, and bettors won a [...]
Va. new jobless claims up, while continued claims decline
Virginia’s new unemployment claims rose to 8,196 in the filing week ending June 26, but continued claims decreased, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday. Last week saw an increase of 1,291 initial jobless claims from the previous week, while continued claims totaled 40,225, a decrease of 2,653 claims from [...]
New ABC laws go into effect July 1
Starting July 1, the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) will begin enforcing new laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly during its 2021 session, including allowing localities to create special large outdoor entertainment districts where consumption of alcohol would be allowed. Other measures passed by the [...]