And Then There Was the Election ...
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... The results of which were pretty succinctly written in a headline in the Richmond Times Dispatch: “McAuliffe’s blunder on education helped tee up his defeat to Youngkin.” The pundits have of course come up with many, many other reasons for explaining the election results but I’ll stick with this one. As almost an afterthought for the election — though it was top of my mind — was the switch of the majority party in the House of Delegates from the Democrats to the Republicans. A lot of issues are now off the table, none more so than the effort to possibly end Virginia’s Right to Work law — which was massively concerning to the business community.
As the Democrats for the past couple of years introduced a wide range of pent up demand for social agenda issues, Youngkin and the Republican leadership are vowing to “change the direction” of Virginia, possibly ignoring a minor detail that the Senate is still controlled by the Democrats, which will provide a moderating influence to any new initiatives.
I for one will be looking forward to an “in-person” legislative session, which I believe we’re now in a safer position to do as long as vaccinated/non-vaccinated protocols are adhered to. At this writing, we are expecting the Bureau of Insurance’s legislative initiatives bureau package to be released shortly. We’ll comment on those along with reviewing a number of other initiatives. The General Assembly will start the second Wednesday in January and again, IIAV will be there 24/7. If we send out a Legislative Alert, please act on it. We promise not to cry wolf. We will update you on the progress and the impact legislation has on our profession and our industry. Moreover, please try to make time to attend the IIAV Day on the Hill — scheduled in conjunction with the Young Agent Conference — at the Richmond Downtown Hilton for February 9.
It’s a brave new world.
Robert N Bradshaw, Jr., MAM
IIAV President & CEO
