Biden Day 13: Dems on Edge; Youngkin Signs Executive Order on Cell Phone Free Education; Feggans, Clark Events
➡️ 5 days until the RNC in Milwaukee on July 15
➡️ 40 days until the DNC in Chicago on Aug. 19
➡️ 23 days until the Virginia Black Business Expo on Aug. 2
➡️ 54 days until the Bobby Scott Labor Day Cookout on Sept. 2
🚩 72 days until the first day of early voting 🐎 in Virginia: Sept. 20
🚩 118 days until Election Day Nov. 5
Biden Day 13: Dems in Congress Continue to Struggle Over the Biden Question
WASHINGTON DC — Forty days before their national convention, congressional Democrats remain in low level simmering turmoil over the question of whether the party should attempt to switch out President Biden as the party’s presumptive nominee for President in 2024.
On day twelve of a crisis set quickly in to motion after a June 27 presidential debate performance in which President Biden appeared confused, lacking in memory and at times veering into the incoherent, many congressional Democrats remain privately conflicted. As the party remains conflicted former President Donald Trump held a rally in Florida last night five days before the GOP convention in Milwaukee.
Members of the Virginia congressional delegation who attended a Democratic Caucus meeting mass described as “conflicted” at the DNC headquarters included Reps. Bobby Scott, Don Beyer and Jennifer McClellan. Rep. Gerry Connolly has been on CNN over the last weekend saying the situation needed to be resolved this week. A second Congressional Black Caucus “war room” meeting took place last night at the DNC and the CBC has their weekly lunch at the U.S. Capitol today at noon.
As of July 9, no Black congressional lawmaker or Black elected official in Virginia has public spoken against President Biden’s candidacy for President.
That Biden is currently behind in the polls in all of the swing states (according to a polling average by the NYT) has Democrats in close districts quiet on the question of whether they support Biden for President. Democrat candidates in Virginia, Eugene Vindman and Missy Cotter Smasal are expected to have competitive races in Virginia’s 7th and 2nd districts as Vindman takes on Republican Derrick Anderson and Smasel challenges incumbent Congresswoman Jennifer Kiggans.
That Biden sits on top of the ballot for Democrats has many congressional incumbents increasingly worried. In 2021, many Virginia Democrats blamed Biden’s low approvals for Glenn Youngkin’s victory over Terry McAuliffe.
But Virginia’s junior U.S. Senator Tim Kaine spoke positively yesterday on Capitol Hill on President Biden as Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet became the first Democrat in the Senate to say “Biden can’t beat Trump” publicly. Democrats continue to criticize their presumptive nominee in public in interviews certain to be used against Biden by Trump’s team.
Could more congressional Democrats publicly break from Biden today? Of course. But the President has pushed back hard against his doubters and is dug deep against any notion of stepping aside during a week he is hosting foreign leaders for a NATO Summit in the nation’s capitol.
Biden Day 12
President Biden went on offense this week against an effort to convince him to step away from the 2024 presidential race. The latest on our podcast:
Youngkin Signs Executive Order on Cell Phone Free Education
By Nathaniel Cline of Virginia Mercury | Virginia will soon establish guidance to restrict or eliminate student cell phone use during instructional time at school.
On Tuesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 33, which directs his administration to “heed the call” of parents, public health professionals, educators and others by establishing cell phone-free policies and procedures for school divisions, in light of growing concerns over children’s health and declines in academic performance.
The Virginia Department of Education, in collaboration with the Departments of Health and Health and Human Services, must clearly define what “cell phone-free education” means, and publish model plans and draft guidance on implementing cell phone-free education in Virginia’s K-12 schools on its website by Aug. 15, according to the governor’s directive.
The directive will establish “the clear goal to protect the health and safety of our students by limiting the amount of time they are exposed to “addictive” cell phones and social media and eliminating “clear distractions” in the classroom, Youngkin said in a statement.
The governor added that $500,000 in existing funds allocated to the Departments of Education and Behavioral Health and Development Services will be made available to implement the initiative.
According to the governor’s office, the funds will support state and local efforts to facilitate family nights and community engagement events to combat youth mental health challenges, and provide microgrants for school divisions to help implement cell phone best practices in their communities.
As part of the policies’ development, the departments will be required to hold listening sessions seeking public input on “age-appropriate cell phone-free education policies and procedures, gather feedback on best practices currently underway in Virginia public schools, and receive input for the draft guidance,” the governor’s executive order reads.
The departments are slated to release the final guidance by Sept. 16 of this year. The order directs school boards to adopt the policies by Jan. 1, 2025, or before.
Youngkin’s order cites American Psychological Association research that suggests adolescents who spend over three hours on social media daily have double the risk of poor mental health. The order also references studies showing that children spend about 4.8 hours a day on social media, and that students who use their phones during class learn less and earn lower grades.
“Therefore, creating a cell phone-free education environment in public schools is not only a prudent measure but an essential one to promote a healthier and more focused educational environment where every child is free to learn,” Youngkin directive states.
Some of Virginia’s school boards have already begun banning or restricting cell phone use in schools. Legislation empowering local boards to institute such prohibitions on cellphones and other “handheld communication devices” during regular school hours died last session.
James Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association, said in a statement that the organization recognizes the mounting worries over how cell phones impact students in classrooms and thinks it’s “essential” to approach the issue with “a nuanced perspective that considers the real-world needs of our students and teachers.”
Fedderman, whose organization is the largest educator advocacy group in the state, went on to urge the Virginia Department of Education to engage with educators to develop balanced guidelines “that support effective teaching and learning while also addressing legitimate concerns about distractions.”
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