Governor Update for June 16, 2020

Juneteenth becomes a State Holiday; Virginia is not entering Phase III

        On the same day as President Trump signs an executive order on policing reforms, Governor Northam held a press conference at the Patrick Henry building with another historic announcement about proposing to make June 19th a state holiday. This state holiday is known as Juneteenth, which marked the official end of slavery in the United States when in 1865 the word came to Galveston, Texas about the Emancipation Proclamation, which was spoken two years prior by President Abraham Lincoln.  Governor Northam had Grammy winner and Virginia native Pharrell Williams; first African American House Majority Leader Charniele Herring; Senator Mamie Locke, chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus; Rev. Kelvin Jones of First Baptist Church Capeville on the Eastern Shore; and Dr. Laurette Lee to speak on the Significance of the Governor's announcement, the importance of faith and to offer some remarks. Governor Northam also recognized the many leaders present at the Press Conference. Which include Attorney General Mark Herring, first woman Speaker of the House of Delegates Eileen Filler-Corn; Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw; from 757 Senator Louise Lucas, and Delegate Lamont Bagby, chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.  But before Governor Northam got to the announcement and questions, the business the Governor needed to get through was about the updated COVID Numbers, update on Virginia's economic recovery, and the unrest that continues in Richmond.  

        In his COVID portion, Governor Northam mentioned how the total case numbers, # of hospital beds with patients have been trending downward resulting in the number of positive tests dropping to only 7.4% as of June 12th. Then, the Governor dropped a bombshell saying that we won't be moving into Phase III this week but on Thursday the public will know what it may look like. Northam also said that the VDH was going to change how it will report it's data. (More on this can be found at the 26:22 part of the conference). Onto the Economic Recovery. Governor Northam mentioned two things. One about new corporate headquarters, which was announced on June 15, with 700 new jobs, and 16, with 332 new jobs. The other about the Grant Program with VMFA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. (More on this can be found at this part of the conference, 27:27) As part of this section, Northam said his reminders, which include continuing social distancing, continue wearing face coverings and continue to wash hands frequently. The next portion was on the unrest that continues in Richmond. This part of the conference may be found at this mark: 28:10. 

       The final portion of the conference was about the major announcement relating to Juneteenth. After giving some background and why it matters, Northam said that he will propose legislation to make Juneteenth a state holiday and a paid day off for executive branch state employees, making the commonwealth the second state to do so. The first state that made it a state holiday was Texas in 1979. Currently, 47 out of the 50 states recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday. This wasn't the only huge announcement the governor has made over the last several weeks. One was about not celebrating Lee-Jackson day anymore and putting Election Day in its place. The other was two weeks prior, about tearing down Confederate monuments. For more information please see the video below by ABC News on the history of Juneteenth and the press conference at the following mark: 29:44. 

      During the questioning period, Governor Northam commented for those who believe he is doing too much; Pharell Williams commented regarding the youth generation; and the Governor commented on the Richmond protests videos, the mask mandate, and the concern of any increase in COVID cases ending with a reminder on testing. This part of the conference may be found at the 1:02:04 mark. 

The next update will be on Thursday, June 18th at 2pm where the Governor is expected to talk more on Phase III and COVID.