U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland discusses housing policy in Henrico, Virginia on July 10, 2026. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Charlotte Rene Woods
In 2017, U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, touted voting to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act 60 times. Nearly a decade later, he was one of just 17 Republicans nationwide to vote to extend expired ACA subsidies, before Congress ultimately let them lapse.
The expired subsidies have spurred 94,000 Virginians to drop their insurance so far and is the latest healthcare issue congressional candidates in Virginia and elsewhere must contend with on the campaign trail.
“Every House Republican in a competitive race is having to walk a tightrope on healthcare affordability,” said Erin Covey, a Cook Political Report analyst.
A group of high school graduates. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
By Nathaniel Cline
The Virginia Board of Education has approved updates to its list of approved courses, clarifying expanded graduation requirements for schools.
The measure spells out graduation rules that schools must understand and follow, building on legislative efforts to expand how students can earn a standard or advanced studies diploma by meeting graduation requirements in math, science, history and social studies, economics and personal finance.
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, seen here Nov. 6, 2024, sent a letter to state regulators about key considerations in the proposed NextEra-Dominion Energy merger. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Shannon Heckt
In an official filing in the State Corporation Commission’s review of the proposed $67 billion NextEra-Dominion Energy merger, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, on Wednesday aired his concerns and advice about the deal in a letter to SCC Chair Kelsey Bagot.
“If this merger is not built around affordability for Virginians then it should not go through. That is my starting point, and it should frame every question this Commission asks over the coming months,” Scott wrote in the Sept. 2 missive. The House leader has received nearly $4 million in campaign donations from Dominion over the years.
ICYMI
Federal judge blocks new Virginia limits on existing local ICE agreements | By Markus Schmidt
Data shows 94,000 Virginians have dropped their ACA insurance since last year | By Charlotte Rene Woods
COMMENTARY: The day Virginia took down Confederate statues, a Black church remembered a lynching victim| By Jeff Bennett
COMMENTARY: Public utilities shouldn’t be funding the campaigns of the people who govern them | By Ivy Main
Thanks for reading The Mercury’s Best of the Week. Did you know our daily morning newsletter is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.