July 23, 2020
Before the pandemic, new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate passed an ambitious $135 billion budget loaded with new spending priorities. Then the economy crashed, and Gov. Ralph Northam hit the pause button, unalloting $2.2 billion of new budget line items.
Stories this photo appears in:
At the Crossroads
Lawmakers to slash the state budget and consider criminal-justice reforms.
The threadbare Franklin and Armfield office on Duke Street stands at the crossroads between racial injustice and economic crisis. It’s a ramshackle building now, but it was once the headquarters for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the United States, present at the creation of the systemic racism that plagues Virginia cops and courts. It’s also the city’s latest acquisition, and the state budget was to include $2.5 million to help transform it into the Freedom House Museum. But then the pandemic hit, and the governor hit the pause button on that line item as well as all the other spending priorities of the new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID