RICHMOND, Va. (WSET) — Governor Glenn Youngkin laid out his final budget plan on Wednesday, making his case for where Virginia stands financially and where he said it should go next.

Speaking before the General Assembly, Youngkin said Virginia is strong both financially and economically, arguing his budget keeps that momentum going as his term comes to an end.

Addressing lawmakers, Youngkin presented what he described as a turnaround for the commonwealth. “It’s a story of transformation, a story of promises made and promises kept,” Youngkin said.

The governor credited his administration with record business investment, job growth, and strong revenue. He said Virginia is in a better position now than it was four years ago.

“The pace has been fast, and the progress has been significant,” Youngkin said.

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In his budget proposal, Youngkin calls for cutting taxes, not raising them, urging lawmakers and the next administration to stay the course.

“Revenue growth that is driven by record economic development, record job growth, strong consumer, and giving me great confidence in the future of Virginia,” he said.

Youngkin said his plan funds key priorities, including education, public safety, health care, tax relief, and child care, while keeping Virginia competitive for business.

“The net of it is a budget that is structurally sound. A budget that can take Virginia into the future and keep her soaring,” Youngkin said.

Youngkin is now asking lawmakers to adopt his budget framework as negotiations begin, with debate shifting to the General Assembly and the incoming governor’s administration.

“I think that leaves considerable upside for the next administration, and we’ve used that strong underpinning to provide for everything that the commonwealth needs to do,” Youngkin said.

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A $50 million statewide initiative is looking to reform Virginia’s child welfare system.

In a release shared by the governor’s office on Tuesday, Dec. 16, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the Safe Kids, Strong Families roadmap, which aims to strengthen child safety, expand permanency and support the Commonwealth’s child welfare workforce. The initiative is a collaboration between the governor’s office and a coalition of state, local and community partners.

The proposed $50 million investment from the governor’s budget would go toward several key objectives in the plan. The roadmap builds on several initiatives to strengthen child safety and permanency that were launched since 2022.

Per the release, $10 million would go toward increasing the minimum salary for local family services specialists to $55,000 to address high vacancy and turnover rates.

An allocation of $424,000 would go toward priority response within 24 hours for children ages 3 and younger. With 81% of last year’s child fatalities involving children under 3 years old, the age group is at the highest risk of maltreatment, per the release.

The initiative also calls for a $32.7 million investment and 132 positions to create a centralized intake system. The 24/7 hotline would handle reports of child abuse and neglect and connect them to local departments.

Youngkin said the initiative reflects years of efforts from the state to strengthen child welfare.

“This roadmap builds on the progress we’ve made and sets a clear direction for a system designed to protect children and support families for generations,” Youngkin said. “It reflects the Commonwealth’s enduring commitment to every child’s well-being and future.”

A posthumous memoir by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s best-known accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has sold 1m copies worldwide in just the two months after its release.

Publisher Alfred A Knopf announced on Tuesday that more than half the sales for Nobody’s Girl came out of North America; in the US, the book is now in its 10th printing after an initial run of 70,000 copies. Giuffre’s book, co-written by author-journalist Amy Wallace, was published in early October.

The memoir helped revive criticism of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly a British prince, whom Giuffre alleged had sex with her when she was 17. And it heightened demands that the Justice Department release its files on Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Giuffre died by suicide in April at age 41.

“This is a bittersweet moment for us,” Giuffre’s family, including siblings Sky Roberts and Danny Wilson, said in a statement. “We are enormously proud of our sister, and the impact she continues to have on the world. We’re also filled with so much sorrow that she couldn’t be here to witness the impact of her words. In her absence, our family remains committed to ensuring her voice is everlasting.”

Within weeks of Giuffre’s book being published, King Charles III stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his remaining titles and evicted him from his royal residence.

Mountbatten-Windsor has long denied Giuffre’s claims but stepped down from royal duties after a disastrous November 2019 BBC interview in which he attempted to rebut her allegations.

He paid millions in an out-of-court settlement in 2022 after Giuffre filed a civil suit against him in New York. While he didn’t admit wrongdoing, he acknowledged Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.

This week Giuffre’s family expressed their “deep disappointment” after the Metropolitan police announced Mountbatten-Windsor will not face a criminal investigation in the UK over allegations against him.

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org