Abigail Spanberger, throughout her campaign, frequently referenced the “chaos out of Washington” to refer to an endlessly growing list of Bad Stuff by the Trump administration. Many actions harmed Virginia as a state; mass layoffs of federal workers, reckless and random tariff announcements disrupting businesses, and a government shutdown that endangered all Americans, but especially the impoverished depending on welfare programs. Now, as Spanberger assumes her role as the first female governor of Virginia, she is expected to make good on promises to help her constituents in a time when the federal government has not only been unreliable, but actively malicious.
It will be no small feat. The White House has repeatedly threatened federal funding for any institution that doesn’t give into its demands. Universities, school divisions, healthcare through Medicaid, and SNAP are all recipients of federal funds, and while President Trump has stated cutting funds is a just punishment for noncompliance with the law, it comes only at the expense of everyday, hardworking people.
Though, in spite of the obvious challenges ahead of Spanberger, she has already begun casting a wide net to produce change. She issued ten executive orders on the day of her inauguration, the last of which rescinded a previous executive order requiring state and local law enforcement to assist in federal immigration enforcement activity.
While right-leaning media and pundits would like you to believe that Spanberger is quickly going to transform Virginia into some socialist, communist, working-class-crushing hellscape, most of her policies pursue nonpartisan ends. For example, her first action, Executive Order 1 (EO-1) directs the state secretaries and agencies to generate a report recommending methods for reducing costs for Virginians in housing, healthcare, energy, education, childcare, and living expenses, due to the governor by April 17. EO-5 creates the Economic Resiliency Task Force, with the goal of addressing financial harms incurred by federal actions like the federal worker layoffs, cuts to support programs, tariffs, and restricted immigration. The task force will track the harm from 2025, and going forward in 2026. They will also submit a report by April 17. By June 1, the task force will have submitted an action plan with recommendations to address the identified harm to the governor.
It will be interesting to see what comes of these reports and others. If the evaluations conducted by the state executive agencies prove fruitful, a whole host of proposed legislation and internal state government improvements could change local infrastructure for the better, well past the expiration date of Trump and Spanberger’s terms.
Involvement and attention to state and local government is notoriously low, compared to the media coverage and advocacy federal actions receive, but in many ways, state and local government is more important to local communities.
State budgets can determine how much money school districts receive—this past year, approximately 20% of FCPS funding came from state aid and revenue. The state legislature can require or ban certain activities in school, like the cellphone ban. In Virginia, the governor appoints leaders of universities through the Board of Visitors, a power Spanberger has recently exercised to fill ten positions at UVA. All of this impacts high school students, and the opportunities they have available to them during their teenage years.
At the local level, it is up to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to allocate funds for FCPS—almost 70% of the district budget this past year. The county is why we have local libraries, and the Mount Vernon Rec Center. It is the county that controls my childhood park, Huntley Meadows, and which trains and employs firefighters to keep people safe.
If you didn’t know that it was the state or the county responsible for any of these things, I implore you to learn more about state and local government. The FCPS budget for the upcoming school year is being drafted. The Virginia General Assembly will be in session till mid-March, and is actively working towards constitutional amendments for abortion rights, and restoration of voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences.
As citizens of not just the U.S., but also of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and of Fairfax County, it is our responsibility to advocate for our needs, and push politicians towards positive change. I feel confident that Spanberger will make a meaningful effort as governor, but I am also prepared to exercise my right to petition for more.
