Freedom Virginia Messaging Guidance

Apr 4, 2024 | Talking Points

Freedom Virginia Messaging Guidance – Freedom Virginia is a nonpartisan 501(c)4 organization committed to building a Commonwealth where all Virginia families have the 

freedom to thrive. Freedom Virginia advances economic security policies through grassroots activism, voter engagement and legislative advocacy. Our efforts began in 2020 and since then we’ve pushed for a more economically secure Virginia by sharing real stories about Virginians’ lack of access to affordable healthcare, education, energy, and the need for policies that foster more safety for families. Visit our website at freedomva.org to learn more. 

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Youngkin Ignoring the Budget 

  • Youngkin is ignoring Virginia while courting donors out of state 
    • Virginia still does not have a budget 
    • Glenn Youngkin is making clear what we already knew: he cares much more about his political prospects and courting the national GOP than making Virginia a better place to live, work and raise a family
    • Virginians deserve a governor who puts them first. 
    • Instead of flying thousands of miles to wine and dine donors who live in mega-mansions in other states, Glenn Youngkin should be focused on how to lower housing and medicine costs right here in Virginia.

Pharma Companies Lower the Cost of Insulin 

  • We applaud the Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk Inc decisions to make insulin more affordable for more people, but let’s be clear: hardworking families shouldn’t have to be at the mercy of a drug company to access life-saving medicine at a cost they can afford.
  • This is a good step and will help those who need insulin, but it only resulted from all the public pressure that pharma has been feeling, and while the move builds on the Inflation Reduction Act, it’s still responsive to it.
  • Pharmaceutical companies are still jacking up prices on dozens of other drugs that cost Virginians billions of dollars a year. 
    • Some of those drugs include: 
      • Humira (CF) Pen which saw a 7% increase in price from 2021 to 2022
      • Stelara which saw a 5% increase 
      • Trulicity which saw a 5% increase
      • Jardiance which saw a 6% increase 
      • Enbrel which saw a 3% increase 
  • Those medicines deserve the same scrutiny as insulin
  • Our state lawmakers need to build on the Senate’s bipartisan momentum this legislative session to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to stop price-gouging in this industry once and for all

Overall Economic Policy Messaging Homebase 

Positive: Virginia Democrats believe you deserve the opportunity to pursue the education you need to get ahead, have your hard work respected and rewarded with pay you can live on, have good roads and infrastructure you can count on to get where you need to go quickly, and affordable healthcare so you can be healthy. 

  • Democrats want 
    • you to keep more of what you earn 
    • you to have the financial freedom to help your families thrive 
    • to create an economy that works for everyone
    • to lower your cost of living
    • to hold corporations accountable for price gouging
  • Democrats are committed to protecting and growing the middle class

Negative: Youngkin and Republicans prioritize corporations and their high-ranking executives every chance they get.

  • The Republican agenda is far too extreme, and now they’re trying to out-extreme each other in primaries across the state
  • Governor Youngkin will say whatever he needs to get ahead. He opposed tax cuts for working families and then took credit for it
  • Youngkin campaigned as a moderate, but he’s just dividing us by only listening to the extreme voices in his party.
  • Working families need help. But Glenn Youngkin is a Wall Street investor who only measures the economy by whether he and his rich friends get richer

Budget Talking Points

  • Overarching Message:
    • Budgets are about values, and Republicans have made their choices clear in this budget – they are not working to lower the costs of the things we all depend on – housing, medicine, or energy – because they used that money to give tax breaks to big corporations.
    • This is a bad deal for hardworking Virginians: under the Republican plan big corporations get over $350M in tax breaks, while the majority of Virginia households will get less than $50.
    • The Republican budget is a big gift for corporations and their high ranking executives.
    • Meanwhile Senate Democrats’ budget actually delivers on the things that Virginians want and need – more teachers and counselors to help your kids recover from learning loss; strong roads and public transit to help you get where you need to go faster; more affordable housing across the state; and pay raises for our hardworking mental health professionals, law enforcement, and state employees
  • Contrast Talking Points:
    • The proposed House Republican budget proved what we’ve always known: Republicans care more about currying favor with their corporate donors and their extremist base than about ensuring hardworking Virginians have the resources they need to get ahead. 
    • Thanks to Republicans’ corporate tax cuts, we have less money for vital services: our schools, healthcare, roads, and our law enforcement. This couldn’t come at a worse time. 
    • It is a giveaway to corporations – which will either mean tax hikes for families or deep cuts to services, like their attempt to defund schools. 
  • Positive talking points:
    • We’re going to fight tooth and nail for those values so that every Virginia family gets their fair share.
    • We believe that our tax system should be fair – and that it should reward hard work, with everyone paying their fair share.  
  • Extended Talking Points:
    • Child Tax Credit: The Republican budget does not include a Child Tax Credit, which would provide a leg up to all middle class working parents, and help lift thousands of Virginia children out of poverty. Republicans are not prioritizing parents who need relief.
    • Paid Family and Medical Leave: The Republican budget does not include Paid Family and Medical Leave, which would give families the opportunity to care for a child, themselves or a family member when they are facing a serious health condition – without sacrificing their paycheck.  
    • Earned Income Tax Credit: The Republican budget does not include an expansion of the earned income tax credit to those that need it most. Virginians should be able to keep more of what they earn.  
    • Housing Trust Fund: Everyone from realtors to home builders to local governments has said that to actually reduce the cost of rents or mortgages, the state needs to invest in housing.  Yet we see zero meaningful investment from the Republican budget in making housing affordable, including by making deposits into the Housing Trust Fund.  
    • Prescription Drug Costs: Even while 1 in 4 Virginians doesn’t take their medicine as prescribed solely due to how much it costs, Republicans have done nothing in their budget to lower the cost of prescription drugs.  
    • RGGI: Republicans have done nothing to support energy efficiency expansion, one of the most successful ways for working people to save money on their electric bill every month.   
    • K-12 education: Gov. Youngkin time and time again has shown that his priority is turning our children, our teachers, and our schools into a political culture battlefield. In the latest attack on schools, the administration misplaced more than $200 million for our schools, an action which also disproportionately hurts our small divisions – both urban and rural – by reducing aid by 20% more per pupil compared to suburban divisions.  

Taxes and Tax Policy Talking Points 

  • Values
    • Democrats are prioritizing families over large corporations, and we will lower the amount Virginia workers pay in taxes.  
    • We believe that our tax system should be fair – and that it should reward hard work, with everyone paying their fair share.  
    • Virginia’s budget should prioritize the things Virginians need, like excellent schools, quality and accessible child care, affordable housing and tax relief for families – not more tax breaks for out-of-state corporations.    
  • Solutions 
    • Democrats will fight to ensure future relief is fair and equitable so that the middle class, people with disabilities, and children are not left out. 
    • Democrats are delivering what hardworking Virginians want, like affordable housing, job training, college affordability, and safer schools.
  • Extremism
    • The Republican tax plan is too extreme
    • The Republican tax plan pays for corporate tax breaks by making cuts to roads and public transit, affordable housing, healthcare, and more. These are not policies that reward hard work by the middle class.  
    • Under the extremist Republican tax plan, Virginia families will pay more in taxes than the biggest corporations in the state, the richest Virginians get a tax cut that will benefit them more than the middle class, and small businesses won’t benefit from tax relief.
    • The Republican tax plan is out of step with Virginians’ values – that’s why by a 20 point margin, Virginians oppose cutting the corporate tax rate.   

Prescription Drug Affordability Board Talking Points 

  • Despite strong bipartisan support, Republicans put big drug companies’ profits above hardworking Virginians’ lives and killed the Prescription Drug Affordability Board. 
  • Medicine can’t do its job if you can’t afford it, and Virginians shouldn’t have to choose between prescriptions and other necessities like rent and groceries.
  • This shouldn’t be a Democrat or Republican issue, this is simply a Virginian issue. Skyrocketing prescription drug costs affect everybody: our seniors, our families, our children, and it’s up to us to solve this issue and rein in out of control costs. 
  • Hardworking Virginians are struggling to just get by and are looking to their legislators to help them keep more of what they earn. Virginia politicians have talked a big game about affordability, but Governor Youngkin and Republicans members failed to act on those promises. 
  • Rather than assist Virginians – including state and local governments – with the ballooning cost of prescription medicines, Governor Youngkin and Republicans chose pharmaceutical companies’ profits over the health of Virginians.
  • The bill had broad bipartisan support which shows yet again how out of touch Gov Youngkin and MAGA Republicans are with hardworking Virginians