Good afternoon, 

I was in Richmond yesterday where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin bragged about how great the economy is doing on his watch, much to the dismay of Democratic lawmakers who cited stories about their constituents’ struggles, along with a new report warning about Virginia’s economy. 

Speaking to reporters after his remarks, Youngkin complained about how people seem to hope that Virginia fails and blamed the media for spreading negative views of the economy. 

Whenever I ask people about how they’re doing, they always mention their struggles to pay for groceries, health care, housing, and to find a good job. Never do they cite something they read.

Today, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger introduced her affordability agenda to try and tackle some of the struggles facing Virginians. Below, I report on her proposals and consider where workers fit in. 

Plus, TIME magazine’s foolish but unsurprising pick for Person of the Year is a slap in the face to workers. 

Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger at a press conference in Richmond on Dec. 18, 2025. (Courtesy of Spanberger for Governor)

About a month out from the start of the upcoming 2026 General Assembly session, Spanberger stood alongside Democratic leaders in the statehouse on Thursday to roll out the legislative priorities they plan to work on together. 

Democrats campaigned hard on affordability, thus they dubbed their legislative goals the “Affordable Virginia Agenda.” It focuses on bringing down costs in three areas: health care, energy, and housing. 

Something that jumped out in the laundry list of proposals was the idea to establish a pilot program to help Virginians who get their health care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) manage rising premiums. 

Millions of Americans are bracing for higher health care bills or the loss of health care entirely after enhanced ACA subsidies expire at the end of this month. 

“Our mandate is to get things done,” Spanberger said in a press release. “Not to grandstand, not to gloat, but to come together for a stronger, safer, and — importantly — a more affordable Virginia.”

After Youngkin’s posturing on the state of Virginia’s economy yesterday, it’s hard not to read that quote as a subtle dig at his braggadocio.

On the energy front, one of the things Spanberger wants to do is require electric utilities to expand programs that help low-income customers improve the energy efficiency of their homes. And on housing, she wants to give tenants more time to respond to lease terminations and make it easier for local communities to build affordable dwelling units (ADUs) to create more affordable housing.

• Check out my coverage of yesterday’s debate between Gov. Glenn Youngkin and state Democrats over just how great—or not—Virginia’s economy is doing.                                                                                                                             

• Joanne Levine has a profile of a Northern Virginia USAID worker who lost her job after Trump slashed the agency’s funding, with photos by Lucian Perkins.

• Federal agents detained a Fredericksburg janitor after she showed up for an appointment with ICE, Adele Uphaus at FXBG Advance reports. 

A 1962 document certifying the affiliation of a local union with the American Federation of Government Employees as seen in a Richmond office on Dec. 17, 2025. (Michael O’Connor/Dogwood)

In thinking about Spanberger’s legislative priorities, she made good on her promise to focus on affordability. It got me wondering how her labor agenda will develop. 

While some Democrats support repealing Virginia’s anti-union “right to work” law, Spanberger has reportedly said she would veto a bill that would do so and it’s not clear to me there’s consensus around it in the statehouse. 

I did get the chance yesterday to ask state Del. Kathy Tran (D-Springfield) about her bill to expand public sector bargaining rights and she confirmed it was coming back for the upcoming session. That’s a labor policy that Spanberger has expressed support for. 

I’ll be interested to see how else Spanberger tries to protect workers’ rights and promote fairness in the workplace.  

(Screenshot/X)

Late last week, TIME announced its person of the year was…”the architects of AI,” along with a cover showing a dubious collection of men perched on a steel beam.

As the commentariat was quick to note: the image was a slap in the face to workers in the original photo who risked their lives to construct America’s skyscrapers. 

As Jeet Heer put it: “It’s fitting that the cover on AI mindlessly apes an earlier creation and also displaces workers while elevating Silicon Valley plutocrats.” 

But that’s unsurprising considering that Marc Benioff, co-founder and CEO of Salesforce and huge promoter of AI, owns TIME, as More Perfect Union noted. 

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