Garrison Coward

Thank you, Virginia — it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve.

CHART OF THE DAY: Thank you to the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia for hiring me a little over four years ago to be your 74th governor. I’m proud of what we accomplished together.

CHART OF THE DAY: Virginia’s revenues are $1.2B ahead of forecast! The strong year-over-year increase is not noise, it’s real. It reflects strong job creation, rising incomes, healthy consumer activity, and disciplined fiscal stewardship.   Because of this performance, revenues could decline by 1.6 percent over the rest of the year, and we would still meet our forecast.   That is the strength of the Commonwealth’s financial position under our commonsense agenda — more jobs and lower tax burdens yield strong revenues.

Four years after launching our Partnership for Petersburg initiative, this community is safer, healthier, and financially stronger than ever before. By uniting local, state, and now federal partners — alongside leadership from our private sector — we’re delivering transformative results for Virginians. Suzanne and I were honored to welcome @SecretaryTurner, along with @HUDgov and @HHSGov leadership, to Petersburg as we joined Mayor Sam Parham for our final Partnership for Petersburg event to announce seven major initiatives that will continue transforming this great city. Together, we’re making Virginia homes healthy again and building a brighter future for every Petersburg resident.

Thank you, @SecretaryTurner! With federal, state, local, and private partners aligned, the Partnership for Petersburg is stronger than ever and ready to deliver lasting improvements in health, opportunity, and quality of life for this community.

Today we gathered in Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol to dedicate the Barbara Rose Johns statue, to honor her legacy as a trailblazer, and ensure her story of courage and conscience is a story for generations to come. You can’t tell the story of Virginia, or the story of how our nation overcame segregation, without telling the story of Barbara Rose Johns.

CHART OF THE DAY: Virginia’s Lab Schools are leading the way in expanding choice within public education! Since Day One, we’ve been committed to innovation in our public schools to meet the needs of every student and giving parents real options. Virginia’s Lab Schools are partnerships between local school divisions, colleges and universities, community leaders, and business partners that create dedicated pathways to the jobs of tomorrow. From training nurses and health care professionals in Southwest Virginia to preparing space technicians and engineers on the Eastern Shore or shipbuilders in Hampton Roads, Lab Schools are providing students with access to opportunities never before seen.

The dereliction of duty on the part of our federal Democrat Senators is creating a crisis for the most needy Virginians. The first-of-its-kind Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) effort will be very similar to SNAP, providing food benefits in 7-day increments throughout November, and will ensure our most vulnerable Virginians are not without basic nutrition. While Virginians await our Senators’ action, I refuse to let hungry Virginians be used as “leverage” by Congressional Democrats who put politics above people.

Suzanne and I wish a wonderful Diwali to all who are celebrating across the Commonwealth. During this joyous Festival of Lights, may we all be encouraged by light overcoming darkness, good triumphing over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Together we can illuminate goodness in the Commonwealth to ensure it shines even more brightly.

CHART OF THE DAY: Virginia’s life sciences manufacturing boom continues! With a new $3 BILLION investment from Merck that will bring 500 great jobs to Rockingham County, we’ve brought to Virginia’s life sciences sector over $13 billion in investment and nearly 3,000 jobs since 2022 — $12.5 billion this year alone — as President Trump and our federal partners have moved mountains to reinvigorate American pharmaceutical manufacturing.

CHART OF THE DAY: VIRGINIA BEATS FORECAST, again! Three months into this fiscal year, Virginia is in an incredibly strong financial position, with increased revenues from job growth and record capital investment. The financial strength of the Commonwealth underpins our ability to invest in key priorities like education, health care and law enforcement all while lowering costs for families and providing Virginians with historic tax relief like the rebate checks this month.

CHART OF THE DAY: Building Blocks for Virginia Families is the Gold Standard for Early Childhood Care and Education! We support working families with the most robust public-private choice marketplace in the nation and our youngest learners with the highest quality care. More Virginia children from working families have access to state-funded child care slots than ever before!

Governor Glenn Youngkin cuts the ribbon at the opening of the new Independence Hydrogen Plant in Petersburg. Virginia is the leader in energy innovation! xitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1MnxnPjLQ…

CHART OF THE DAY: Virginia is for ENTREPRENEURS! We have fostered the launch of over 18,000 high-growth, high-wage startups since 2022, blowing past our original goal of 10,000. Thanks to incredible teamwork across our agencies and our innovation ecosystems: Virginia is not only the best place in the nation to live, work, and raise a family – it’s the best place to launch, build, and grow your startup!

CHART OF THE DAY: Virginia has jobs! We have so many jobs people from other states around the country are coming to Virginia and getting to work right away. In 2023, we passed sweeping Universal License Recognition (ULR) reform. Over 1,300 new Virginians have transferred their professional license from other states and started their new chapter in Virginia - and the numbers keep going up!

CHART OF THE DAY: Since day one, we have focused on jumpstarting job growth by recruiting businesses to Virginia and helping those already here expand, securing a record $140 billion in business investments announced during our administration. Thank you to all the great businesses investing in Virginia!

Since 2022, through roaring job growth and record private business investment, we have delivered four straight years of surpluses totaling $10 billion – and returned $9 billion in tax relief to Virginians. Your next rebate, up to $400 for joint filers or $200 for individuals, will be on its way soon.