New Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin signed 11 executive orders and directives on his first day in office after being sworn-in over the weekend.
“No matter who you voted for, I pledge to be your advocate, your voice, your governor,” Youngkin said at his inauguration speech on Saturday. “We stand here on January 15, 2022 filled with hope and optimism for the years ahead. This hope and optimism springs from a shared vision for the future, and also from knowing what we have been through.”
Youngkin immediately went to work in trying to deliver on promises that he made on the campaign trail by signing a slew of executive orders and directives aimed at a variety of issues ranging from cutting regulations to banning critical race theory in schools.
The governor’s office released the following list of executive actions that he signed:
- Executive Order Number One delivers on his Day One promise to restore excellence in education by ending the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education.
- Executive Order Number Two delivers on his Day One promise to empower Virginia parents in their children’s education and upbringing by allowing parents to make decisions on whether their child wears a mask in school.
- Executive Order Number Three delivers on his Day One promise to restore integrity and confidence in the Parole Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- Executive Order Number Four delivers on his Day One promise to investigate wrongdoing in Loudoun County.
- Executive Order Number Five delivers on his Day One promise to make government work for Virginians by creating the Commonwealth Chief Transformation Officer.
- Executive Order Number Six delivers on his Day One promise to declare Virginia open for business.
- Executive Order Number Seven delivers on his Day One promise to combat and prevent human trafficking and provide support to survivors.
- Executive Order Number Eight delivers on his Day One promise to establish a commission to combat antisemitism.
- Executive Order Number Nine delivers on his Day One promise to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
- Executive Directive Number One delivers on his fulfilling his Day One promise to jumpstart our economy by cutting job killing regulations by 25 percent.
- Executive Directive Number Two delivers on his fulfilling his Day One promise to restore individual freedoms and personal privacy by rescinding the vaccine mandate for all state employees.
Youngkin’s win in last year’s election marked a turning point in Virginia politics as Republicans won races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and won back control of the state’s House of Delegates.
“Since Virginia went blue for Barack Obama in 2008, Republicans have been on a downhill slide, the pace of which quickened during President Donald Trump’s administration,” The Associated Press reported last year. “The GOP, which hasn’t won a statewide race in Virginia since 2009, saw its legislative majority melt away.”