With roughly just six months before he leaves office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., is blazing forward with no signs of stopping. Youngkin announced on July 8 his team had approved reforms that streamline nearly 27% of the regulatory requirements in the Code of Virginia.
In other words, Youngkin cut more than a quarter of the state government’s red tape. This tape often makes life—from building a home to opening a business—worse rather than better.
The governor’s team projects these reforms will save Virginia citizens more than $1.2 billion per year. That’s a lot of time and money given back to We the People. As a proud Virginia resident, homeowner, and former volunteer for Youngkin’s campaign, this is what I voted for. Youngkin is cementing his legacy as a powerful force benefiting my fellow Virginians.
In a pleasantly shocking turn of government accountability, Youngkin also announced that Virginia agencies have also eliminated more than 11.5 million words from their guidance documents, which amounts to a 47.9% cut overall.
In the era of “No Kings” protests against conservative politicians, what kind of would-be king guts nearly half his bureaucracy’s proclamations? One who puts his people’s needs first.
This regulatory miracle didn’t happen overnight or by accident. On June 30, 2022, Youngkin issued Executive Order 19, creating the Office of Regulatory Management, which he tasked with streamlining the regulatory process as well as increasing transparency, reviewing existing regulations, and reducing Virginia’s general regulatory burden.
The executive order created a goal of achieving a 25% cut in regulations—a goal which has now been surpassed. Youngkin said the state is on track to reach a 33% reduction in regulatory requirements, which means even greater savings for Virginians.
Youngkin announced hitting this regulatory goal during an event at 84 Lumber, a company that sells building supplies, manufactured components, and services for single and multifamily residences and commercial buildings. Fittingly for the venue, Youngkin noted that reforms to the building code cut construction costs for new houses by more than $24,000, returning significant money back into the pockets of Virginia homebuyers.
These savings came through red tape cuts by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, which will now reduce the final home sales price by approximately 5.7% and save Virginia homebuyers over $700 million annually. As the dream of home ownership slips away, especially from younger Americans, Youngkin is putting the American dream back within reach.
Led by Reeve Bull, director of the Office of Regulatory Management, the “Virginia Model” is now the gold standard and national blueprint for regulatory reform nationwide. Bull and his team created a first-of-its-kind online dashboard for tracking permit applications and leveraging artificial intelligence technology to supercharge regulatory streamlining work.
Youngkin shows that good government doesn’t mean big government. It means smart, limited, and accountable government. It’s no wonder that Virginia spent six years atop CNBC’s ”Top States for Business” list. It dropped to number four this year due to federal job cuts, which affected the local economy but were out of Youngkin’s control and will mitigate our national debt.
To soften the effects of the federal cuts, Youngkin and his team are diligently providing job fairs and other resources for Virginians to recover from federal job losses and move into private sector work. Virginia’s unemployment rate is just 3.4%, lower than the national 4.1% rate.
The question is whether voters will preserve and build upon this legacy come November or let it slip away into the hands of extremist Democratic party nominee Abigail Spanberger, who will drag Virginia back where we don’t belong.
Youngkin burnished a strong track record of leading in Virginia on issues of importance to President Donald Trump and MAGA conservatives, from immigration to school choice and “no tax on tips.” He’s laying a foundation for Old Dominion and conservatives nationwide to follow.
Carrie Sheffield is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Voice and leads the Northern Virginia chapter of the Independent Women’s Network.
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