Homecare issues take center stage at public hearing on Youngkin’s budget proposal
During a virtual public hearing Wednesday, Hampton Roads residents called on state legislators to support homecare providers and individuals with mental and physical disabilities.
“Homecare providers help the elderly and people like myself live at home,” said Cecelia Simmons, a Virginia Beach resident with a spinal cord injury. “They work hard to keep people out of nursing homes and emergency rooms.”
Simmons was among more than a dozen speakers at the hearing, which gave citizens the chance to weigh in on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s two-year budget proposal. The proposal will serve as a starting point for negotiations when the General Assembly reconvenes next week. The cornerstone of Youngkin’s plan entails cutting income taxes by 12% while increasing sales tax from 4.3% to 5.2%. But most speakers Wednesday focused on the issue of home-based care.
Simmons and several others advocated for homecare workers to receive a $15 minimum hourly wage and paid family and medical leave.
“We support individuals and allow them to live with dignity,” said Athena Jones, a homecare provider who lives in Portsmouth. “However, homecare workers are treated insignificantly. We are paid by the state but we aren’t significant enough to be deemed state workers — we work two or three jobs because we aren’t significant enough to earn a living wage.”
Others pushed for help attracting new workers to the profession. They urged lawmakers to allot funding for scholarships, paid internships and student loan repayment programs.
“It is essential that we create a pipeline committed to this challenging work,” said Daphne Cunningham, deputy executive director for the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board. “We ask for ongoing funding to support our recruitment and retention efforts.”
Many speakers applauded a provision in Youngkin’s proposal that would provide $307 million to increase waivers that allow individuals with various disorders to receive support services without being in an institution. It would create 3,440 additional waivers, enough to eliminate the state’s current waitlist of top priority applicants.
Grey Persons, president of the board of directors for The Arc of Virginia, said it was crucial for legislators to support the waivers.
“Virginia has long maintained a lengthy waitlist currently standing at about 15,000 folks,” he said. “Keep those 3,400 (new) slots in the budget.”
A handful of speakers shared other concerns.
Carolyn Caywood said she was pleased the governor’s plan included $100 million for the Community Flood Preparedness Fund. But she said that money wouldn’t be a permanent fix for the fund, which is in need of a new source of reliable revenue.
Virginia previously participated in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which pushes a shift to renewable energy production by requiring energy producers to buy allowances for each metric ton of carbon they produce. Half of the money RGGI brought in for Virginia went toward the preparedness fund — but at the behest of the governor, the state withdrew at the end of 2023.
“What happens in the second year?” asked Caywood. “This is a continuing need that will only get worse.”
Meanwhile, Dianna Howard, chair of the Virginia Beach Tea Party, expressed dismay over the governor’s push to increase sales tax.
“We are taxed enough already,” she said.
Howard said the government should instead find ways to increase efficiency or cut government spending.
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
