Unfortunately, our victory of securing $5 million in the budget was short-lived. In an unprecedented move, Governor Youngkin made more than 200 amendments this week to the budget and cut a significant amount of funding to many important programs and services. Sadly, that included eliminating the $5 million the legislature allocated to out-of-school time (OST) programs. However, the budget negotiations are far from over, and it’s not too late to try and save this funding!

Like you did before, we need your help advocating for these programs and letting legislators know it is critical they REJECT the Governor’s amendment to remove this funding from the budget. The General Assembly will reconvene on Wednesday, April 17th for “Veto Session.” This is when the legislature accepts or rejects Governor Youngkin’s amendments and vetoes. They will have the opportunity to vote on every individual amendment to the budget, including the specific amendment to remove the $5 million for OST programs. It is critical that your legislators hear from you ASAP that you want them to reject this amendment. Please take a few minutes to e-mail both your Delegate and Senator and ask them to support this funding and reject the Governor’s amendment.