{"id":2574933,"date":"2026-03-01T14:49:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/typical-virginia-democrats-are-addressing-affordability-issues-by-nearly-tripling-their-own-pay\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T14:52:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:52:48","slug":"typical-virginia-democrats-are-addressing-affordability-issues-by-nearly-tripling-their-own-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/typical-virginia-democrats-are-addressing-affordability-issues-by-nearly-tripling-their-own-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Typical: Virginia Democrats Are Addressing Affordability Issues by Nearly Tripling Their Own Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftypical-virginia-democrats-are-addressing-affordability-issues-by-nearly-tripling-their-own-pay%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2574933&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article examines Virginia\u2019s new state budget, pushed through by Democrats, which includes a near-300 percent pay raise for lawmakers\u2014from about $17,600\u2013$18,000 for delegates and senators to roughly $45,000\u2014plus stipends for per diem, meeting attendance, and office maintenance. by contrast, teachers would receive only a 3 percent pay raise. The piece argues that, although the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >actual salary numbers aren\u2019<\/a>t astronomical, the overall package still represents a substantial increase when combined with the various benefits, especially given the legislature\u2019s short, part-time 60-day session. It notes the political optics: democrats have championed affordability as their core issue,but a large self-pay increase for lawmakers undermines that message and public trust. The article ties this to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-donald-trump-is-backing-jim-jordan-for-speaker-over-steve-scalise\/\" title=\"Donald Trump supports Jim Jordan for Speaker instead of Steve Scalise.\">broader political dynamics<\/a>, including Virginia and national discourse on affordability, and suggests that self-enrichment at the expense of ordinary costs weakens the credibility of fiscal empathy claims. It concludes by urging restraint and pointing out that voters are likely to notice the contrast between lawmakers\u2019 pay raises and the modest gains for educators.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, if there&rsquo;s one thing you can set your watch to, it&rsquo;s the political elite lining their own pockets.<\/p>\n<p>While this is undoubtedly an issue infesting a chunk of American politics, it does seem to be an issue that&rsquo;s a little more closely intertwined with the Democratic Party (See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-calls-nancy-pelosi-investigated-became-rich-inside-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pelosi, Nancy<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>That ugly reputation resurfaced again this week when Virginia&rsquo;s Democrat-controlled Senate and House of Delegates passed the former&rsquo;s version of the state budget on Thursday, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/wjla.com\/news\/local\/virginia-senate-democrats-pass-state-budget-add-nearly-300-percent-pay-increase-for-legislators-money-taxes-richmond-republicans-amendments-affordability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WJLA-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Included in this budget? A tidy, near-300 percent pay raise for the state&rsquo;s lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>Now, to be completely fair, the actual numbers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-nevada-a-corrupt-cash-for-votes-scheme-is-hiding-in-plain-sight\/\" title=\"In Nevada, A Corrupt Cash-For-Votes Scheme Is Hiding In Plain Sight\">aren&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t eye-watering. Nobody is suddenly making six figures, or even coming close to it.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Delegates will now go from making $17,640 to $45,000 annually, while senators will go from making $18,000 to also $45,000 annually, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvtf.org\/news\/2026-02-23\/virginia-legislature-balances-budget-on-new-data-center-tax-new-gambling-revenue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WTVF-FM<\/a>, a public radio station in Roanoke.<\/p>\n<p>Still, that will obviously add up once you start adding up the total number of lawmakers. And considering the official session of the legislature is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stateregstoday.com\/politics\/election-and-voting\/state-legislative-sessions-in-virginia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">only 60 days<\/a> (though lawmakers obviously do work outside the session, too), it&rsquo;s not bad pay for a supposedly part-time job.<\/p>\n<p>Legislators will also receive $237 per diem, $300 to attend a meeting &mdash; $400 for two meetings in a day &mdash; and $1,250 per month to maintain their offices. So, yeah, it&rsquo;ll add up.<\/p>\n<p>The optics of this already aren&rsquo;t great given the general squeeze many Americans are feeling, especially around tax season. But those optics got exponentially worse when that same budget allotted a whopping 3 percent pay raise for teachers. Is it even an argument as to what&rsquo;s more important: America&rsquo;s educators or bureaucratic fat cats?<\/p>\n<p>Now, while this budget will have to be signed by the Old Dominion&rsquo;s hyper-progressive Democratic governor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/incoming-dem-virginia-governor-appoints-dei-director-cheered-destroying-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abigail Spanberger<\/a>, it seems all but assured that she will go along, given the way the budget passed along party lines.<\/p>\n<p>And that&rsquo;s really the rub here. Democrats &mdash; in Virginia and nationally &mdash; have made &ldquo;affordability&rdquo; their North Star message, warning about grocery bills, housing costs and the everyday squeeze on working families.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Spanberger delivered the official Democratic response to President Donald Trump&rsquo;s State of the Union address on Tuesday &mdash; made the &ldquo;affordability&rdquo; theme a dominant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox5dc.com\/news\/spanbergers-response-trumps-state-union-full-transcript\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">part of it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet when handed the pen, the Virginia Democratic Party&rsquo;s first instinct wasn&rsquo;t to meaningfully boost the people shaping the next generation, but to triple their own salaries in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n<p>You can dress it up as modernization or argue that lawmakers deserve competitive pay to attract &ldquo;qualified&rdquo; candidates. Fine. Have that debate.<\/p>\n<p>But don&rsquo;t expect voters to ignore the glaring contrast between a near-300 percent raise for politicians and a 3 percent nod to teachers who are actually in the trenches every day.<\/p>\n<p>When politicians award themselves a windfall while preaching fiscal empathy to everyone else, it reinforces every cynical suspicion Americans already harbor about government.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We feel your pain&rdquo; rings hollow when the relief seems to start at the Capitol and trickle down in pennies.<\/p>\n<p>If Democrats truly want to own the affordability mantle, they might consider leading with restraint instead of self-reward.<\/p>\n<p>Because nothing undercuts a cost-of-living crusade faster than voting to pad your own paycheck &mdash; and expecting voters not to notice.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a paraphrase of the passage you provided:<\/p>\n<p>The piece argues that a persistent stereotype about political elites padding their own wallets is evident in Virginia this week. Democrats in the state\u2019s legislature passed the budget, which includes a sizable pay raise for lawmakers\u2014roughly tripling their base salaries. Delegates would rise from about $17,600 to around $45,000 a year, and senators from about $18,000 to $45,000. In addition to base pay, lawmakers would receive $237 per diem, $300 for a meeting (or $400 if two meetings occur in one day), and $1,250 per month for office expenses. Although the General Assembly\u2019s official session is only 60 days, lawmakers work beyond that, so the overall compensation isn\u2019t negligible for what is essentially a part-time job.<\/p>\n<p>The budget also gives teachers a 3% pay raise, which the piece notes makes the contrast with the lawmakers\u2019 raise even starker\u2014especially at a time when many Americans are feeling stretched by cost-of-living pressures. The bill now heads to Governor Abigail Spanberger, who is a Democrat; given that it passed along party lines, she is expected to sign it. The article contends that Democrats\u2019 affordability messaging\u2014focusing on things like groceries, housing, and working-family squeezes\u2014rings hollow when they publicly push for tax relief for households while approving a near-300% pay bump for politicians. It argues that if Democrats want to own the affordability mantle, they should lead with restraint rather than self-reward, because such self-enrichment undermines public trust and makes their affordable-cost narrative harder to take seriously<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2574934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/spanberger-trump-for-march-1-2026.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[18297,3685,3673,74834,5468],"class_list":["post-2574933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-affordability","tag-democrats","tag-lawmakers","tag-payraise","tag-virginia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/spanberger-trump-for-march-1-2026.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2574933"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2574937,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574933\/revisions\/2574937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2574934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2574933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2574933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2574933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}