Virginia Runs on Youngkin, David Weil Woes, 50K Podcast Downloads
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good evening,
Happy Inauguration Day to my fellow Virginians! It’s a new day in the Commonwealth.
Stay tuned for my upcoming report from the 21st Virginia Fly Fishing & Wine Festival slated to debut tomorrow afternoon/early evening.
For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.
If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder.
Virginia Now Runs on Youngkin
As Washington, D.C., imposes Draconian measures on its residents today, across the river in Virginia freedom is more alive and well with a new state government.
At noon today, Glenn Youngkin was sworn-in as the 74th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. His co-pilots, Winsome Sears, and Jason Miyares, were also sworn-in as Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, respectively.
During his remarks, Virginia’s 74th governor offered his vision for Old Dominion. Here’s a sampling of his speech:
We stand here today as the messengers of that movement. Entrusted to protect liberty create opportunity and build unity for the hard work ahead.
This celebration is about that movement and not the candidates or elected-office holders. It’s not about me, but rather about us.
And this movement continues to be fueled by the hopes and dreams and yes, the tenacity and grit of Virginians, of parents, students and teachers, of entrepreneurs and small business owners, of law enforcement and first responder heroes, of hard-working Virginians coming home from the midnight to 8am shift of active duty military, veterans and their families, of farmers, factory workers and healthcare heroes.
Today we stand together on behalf of Virginians who’ve never lost faith, even when they have suffered loss. Of Virginians who have not stopped dreaming of a better life, even in the midst of trials and tribulations.
My fellow Virginians, the spirit of Virginia is alive and well. And together we will strengthen it.
Watch his entire remarks below.
After inauguration ceremonies concluded, the new governor got right to business signing nine Executive Orders.
This is the email I received from his comms shop regarding the nine EOs:
And two executive directives issued today:
I look forward to covering the Youngkin administration these next four years and to hopefully sit down with the Governor, LG, AG, and various Cabinet secretaries for interviews in the coming months.
David Weil Would Imperil Worker Freedom at DOL Again
I appeared in National Review this week to discuss the implications of giving David Weil his old Department of Labor job back.
I’ve examined his record from 2014-2017 and come away troubled by what I read. His animus towards gig workers, entrepreneurs, franchise businesses, and free enterprise automatically disqualify him from confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
As I noted in their Capital Matters blog this week:
In July 2015, Weil issued a memo known as an Administrator’s Interpretation (AI), falsely stating that worker misclassification is common in the workplace. The AI claimed that “most workers are employees under the FLSA’s broad definitions” of employment.
If confirmed again, Weil would likely adopt an ABC test — a metric used by states to determine a worker’s status — on a national scale. This would create a presumption that all workers are employees. His aim, allegedly, would be to prevent worker “misclassification,” thereby undermining the IRS-20 factor and revised Trump-era “economic realities” tests used for determining worker status.
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Aside from tanking the gig economy, Weil would also seek to undermine franchise businesses further by expanding the definition of a “joint-employer” under the FLSA to include operations who have indirect control of their employees. He is expected to rely on his 2016 AI on joint-employers for guidance, making franchise companies liable for the actions of individual franchisee employees.
The effects of his 2016 rule change had devastating effects on franchises. Between 2016 and 2018, these businesses paid $33.3 billion a year in costs, lost 376,000 jobs, and witnessed a 93 percent increase in joint-employer lawsuits filed against them.
And I also joined my good friend, Alyte, on her Legal Bytes YouTube Channel to expand on my NR article, the benefits of the freelance economy, AB5 going national via the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and much more.
Watch our conversation below:
Transformative Bills to Watch in Va. General Assembly This Session
As “wounded healer” Ralph Northam moonwalks out of the Governor’s Mansion and “cheerful suburban dad” Glenn Youngkin settles in, the Commonwealth of Virginia is back and open for business.
The 74th governor, who enters office tomorrow, promises bold change starting on Day One. And the Left is openly seething with rage.
Similarly, a divided General Assembly (the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World) will garner attention — especially over cabinet appointment confirmations and Republicans pledging to undo extreme Democratic laws.
New House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore (R-Gate City) promised, “We’re setting an agenda that will make it easier for Virginians to put food on the table and gas in the tank, and we’re rolling back regulations that strain families, workers, and businesses.”
The state legislature convened on Wednesday and published pre-filed bills online. Here’s some transformative legislation being considered during this 60-day session.
Podcasts You May Have Missed
Here are the latest District of Conservation episodes you may have glossed over.
This week, my podcast hit 50,000 downloads/listens AND landed on the #170 spot on the Apple Podcast Wilderness Charts. A special thank you to everyone who follows and/or just discovered it.
Many more original interviews and discussions are planned for this year. Stay tuned for forthcoming SHOT Show 2022 content!
Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts and encourage your friends to subscribe to the newsletter too.
—Gabriella