Governor Abigail Spanberger has recently signed new laws to enforce lower costs throughout Virginia. Spanberger aims to lower the costs of not only house prices, utilities, and healthcare, but also signed additional laws to protect contraception, making maternal healthcare more affordable and accessible.
The legislation that Spanberger signed is meant to help families deal with the rising cost of living in Virginia. The new laws focus on lowering healthcare and housing costs, while also making maternal healthcare easier to access. These changes are supposed to give Virginians more financial support and improve important healthcare services across the state.
“I am signing this legislation into law to help deliver relief for families in communities across the Commonwealth. Virginians deserve results when it comes to contending with the high cost of living,” Spanberger said in a press release from the Governor’s office.
Just as Spanberger signed the legislation, gas prices began to rise due to the conflict in Iran, creating an alternative conflict. Gas prices have gone up around one dollar locally, but nearly four dollars internationally. This is a growing problem for everyday students who pay for their own gas and staff who commute to work, sometimes longer distances.
“It has been really tough on me because I commute to work, so like 20 minutes there and back every day, and that, you know, definitely uses up a lot of gas,” biology and AP biology teacher Hanna Kornell said.
Increasing gas prices have affected numerous students as well. Driving to a part-time job and going to school, some students are finding that the cost of paying for gas has limited further travel.
“I try not to go as many places because the more places I go, the more I use my gas,” said sophomore Charlotte Akers.
Although it impacts many in our local community, this problem isn’t exclusive to one area. Spanberger attributes this problem to President Trump’s involvement of troops in Iran.
According to BBC Newshour, Spanberger said in a hearing with the press, “Gas is about to hit $4 a gallon because the President of the United States unilaterally, without approval from Congress, without any real engagement with the American people let alone congressional oversight, has decided to launch a war with Iran that has now spread to the broader Middle East.”
While the statewide efforts to steady the increasing cost of living is something many Virginia voters have been looking for, it’s difficult to feel the full impact of those legislative efforts when any saved money is spent at the pump instead.
