Jennifer McClellan in 2021 VA Governor's race
On Tax Reform:
Eliminating state income tax would blow huge hole in budget
Youngkin has stated that he would consider eliminating the state's income tax, which accounts for 72% of the general-fund portion of the budget that the governor and Legislature can control.That sort of massive cut could cripple funding for
everything from education to infrastructure to behavioral health funding, according to McClellan. "His proposal would just blow a huge hole in our budget that would make it impossible for us to meet the needs that our constituents expect," she said.
Source: Virginia Dogwood on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial race
Jul 29, 2021
On Abortion:
Led fight for Reproductive Health Protection Act
As the first member of the House of Delegates to be pregnant while in office, she has been a fierce advocate for protecting access to reproductive
care and led the fight in the Senate to pass the Reproductive Health Protection Act.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Civil Rights:
Led fight to get Virginia to ratify Equal Rights Amendment
Jennifer McClellan believes that all Virginians should be treated with respect and dignity. No one should be discriminated against because of who they are, who they love, or what they believe. As a legislator, Jenn has been a leader in the
fight for civil rights for all. She led the fight in the Senate to make Virginia the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and the 28th state to extend protections against discrimination for pregnant workers and new mothers.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Civil Rights:
Led on Virginia Values Act, banning LGBTQ discrimination
She was a key leader on the Virginia Values Act, making Virginia the first state in the South to prohibit discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity, and also on legislation repealing Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Crime:
System focuses on punishment rather than rehabilitation
Virginia and the nation must reform a criminal justice system that too often disproportionately impacts communities of color, focuses more on punishment and incarceration than prevention and rehabilitation, and doles out punishments that
are disproportionate to crimes. Virginia must also provide transparency and accountability for police misconduct and civilian oversight of law enforcement and criminal justice.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Education:
Invest in early childhood educators: compensation, training
As governor, Jennifer McClellan will deliver universal childcare by 2025: ensuring that every Virginia child has access to affordable childcare. Her plan will provide increased access to affordable childcare for more than 500,000 Virginia children.
Under McClellan's plan, every family with a child from birth through 4 years old will have access to affordable quality childcare. Families that make up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Limit ("FPL") will receive free childcare.
Early childhood educators need support to enable them to do their jobs effectively and safely with compensation and benefits that reflect the value of their work. McClellan's plan will invest in early childhood educators' vocational and career
advancement to ensure equity and accessibility in recruitment, career development, and compensation. This will include statewide streamlined processes and funds for equitable post secondary levels of credentialing and degree programs.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Education:
Led the fight to fully fund Virginia public schools
As a legislator, Jenn has led the fight to fully fund Virginia public schools and address inequities in the education system. A recipient of numerous Virginia Education Association Legislative Champion Awards, Jenn has been a leader in fighting for
teacher pay raises and to provide more support-personnel--social workers, counselors, and nurses--in schools so that students get the help and guidance they need and teachers are free to do what they do best: teach.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Energy & Oil:
Ensure environmental justice policies underlie decisions
We are at a critical point in the fight against climate change and addressing environmental justice. We must transition from fossil fuels and pollutants that harm the planet while championing industries in a way that does not leave workers behind.
And we must ensure environmental justice policies underlie all decisions that impact our environment and communities.
She led the fight in the Senate to pass the landmark Virginia Clean Economy Act--the most significant climate bill in Virginia history--to make Virginia the first Southern state with a 100% Clean Energy Standard and create tens of thousands of jobs.
She also passed the Solar Freedom Act, which democratizes solar energy and removes barriers on local governments, residents, and businesses to harness solar power for their own use.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Energy & Oil:
Worked to pass the Virginia Clean Economy Act
In the legislature, Jenn has worked to grow Virginia jobs and foster new industries, including: creating benefit corporations to make Virginia a hub of social entrepreneurship, removing red tape for local craft breweries to enable them to create jobs,
and passing the Virginia Clean Economy Act to make Virginia a national leader in the clean energy sector by creating thousands of clean energy jobs across the Commonwealth.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Families & Children:
Fought to establish paid family and medical leave
She fought to extend worker protections through measures such as the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act,
the Virginia Values Act, raising the minimum wage, expanding unemployment insurance, and establishing paid family and medical leave.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Gun Control:
For universal background checks, red flag laws
As a legislator, Jennifer McClellan has taken on the NRA and fought for common sense measures to reduce gun violence. Jenn led the fight in the Senate to require the reporting of lost or stolen firearms and co-patroned new laws to reinstate
Virginia's one-gun-a-month rule and to implement universal background checks. She also fought for measures to require individuals subject to protective orders or "red flag" orders to relinquish firearms during the pendency of the order.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Health Care:
Helped expand Medicaid coverage to over 400,000 Virginians
She led the fight to create a Virginia Health Benefit Exchange when the Affordable Care Act first passed and finally achieved success this year. She fought to expand Medicaid coverage to over 400,000 Virginians; she fought to expand access
to and lower the cost of prescription drugs; and she has fought to expand access to preventative, reproductive, behavioral, and long-term care for all Virginians and to make the system easier to understand and navigate.
Source: 2021 Virginia governor campaign website JennMcClellanVA.com
Feb 18, 2021
On Abortion:
Fight to protect, strengthen reproductive health continues
On the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Virginia Senate passed my bill to remove the ban on abortion coverage for plans on the health exchange. We have made tremendous progress and I am proud of what we have accomplished together.
But the fight to protect and strengthen reproductive health continues. 48 years after Roe v. Wade, I am proud to stand with so many advocates to protect these essential freedoms.
Source: August Free Press on 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race
Jan 22, 2021
On Government Reform:
Led successful fight to restore voting rights in Virginia
Marcia Price and Jennifer McClelland worked to pass the state's voting rights act to restore the protections to Virginians that were lost when the federal act was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. Governor Northam signed the bill into law earlier
this month. For Senator McClellan, this fight is personal. "I remember when the first Voter ID law made it to the House floor [in 2013]," McClellan said. "I told the story of my grandfather who had to take a literacy test to register to vote."
Source: Black Wall Street Times on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial race
Apr 28, 2021
On Energy & Oil:
Supported Virginia Clean Economy Act; promote efficiency
The Virginia Clean Economy Act institutes new measures to promote energy efficiency, sets a schedule for closing old fossil fuel power plants, and requires electricity to come from 100% renewable sources. "This is the most significant clean energy law
in Virginia's history," McClellan said. "The Act will create thousands of clean energy jobs, make major progress on fighting climate change, and break Virginia's reliance on fossil fuels."
Source: Daily Energy Insider on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial race
Apr 15, 2020
On Budget & Economy:
Extend time for people to pay mortgage & avoid foreclosure
[On pandemic economy rules]: "The more we can do to help people pay their mortgage and avoid being put out on the street, the better that is for everybody," McClellan said. "That's why you see a bill with no opposition." Under current state law, a
mortgage company must give 14 days' notice before it plans to auction off someone's home. McClellan's measure would extend that period to 60 days while also requiring lenders to notify the borrowers about financial and legal resources available.
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch on 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race
Feb 2, 2021
On Drugs:
Marijuana legalization coming, end prohibition and penalties
With marijuana legalization on the horizon, a broad coalition of Democrats say it would be wrong to continue penalizing Virginians for possessing small amounts of the drug. McClellan said ending the disparate enforcement can't wait for a legal
market. "If we've already made the moral decision that possession shouldn't be a crime, then it's more equitable to say we're not going to continue punishing people for it," said McClellan. "We should go ahead and end prohibition."
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch on 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race
Feb 1, 2021
On Civil Rights:
Racial justice is about more than criminal justice reform
McClellan said the state needs to do more on comprehensive criminal justice reform, particularly scaling back the approach to low-level offenses like passing counterfeit bills, the offense she said led to a "death sentence" for Floyd. "Racial justice
is about more than criminal justice reform. It is embedded in every system we have in government," McClellan said. "And I did not need George Floyd's murder or the Unite the Right rally to teach me that."
Source: Virginia Mercury on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial debate
Apr 6, 2021
On Gun Control:
Opposed allowing concealed carry permits from other states
McClellan pointed out legislators have given local officials more control over guns. The legislature could have "gone farther" by having Virginia stop recognizing concealed carry permits issued by other states with looser rules. "Our attorney general
was on the right track to put us there and Gov. McAuliffe made a deal that gave that away," McClellan said. That legislation overturned Attorney General Mark Herring's decision to stop recognizing concealed carry permits from 25 other states.
Source: Virginia Mercury on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial debate
Apr 6, 2021
On Government Reform:
Worked to create Virginia Voting Rights Act
McClellan emphasized her 16 years in the state legislature, noting that she has more experience in Richmond "than all other candidates on this stage combined." Invoking her legislative achievements--including carrying a bill to create a
Virginia Voting Rights Act and sponsoring the Senate's marijuana legalization package--McClellan wielded her r‚sum‚ more than fiery rhetoric to make her case.
Source: Washington Post on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial debate
Apr 6, 2021
On Budget & Economy:
Food Access Investment grants will reduce food disparities
Governor Northam announced that the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund will provide grants between $5,000 to $50,000 to support food retail projects that increase food access in underserved communities. Said McClellan, "Not only does the
Fund help position the Commonwealth as a leader in reducing food disparities, it also helps to build community assets, pride, and power by and with historically marginalized communities."
Source: WTKR Coastal Virginia CBS-3 on 2021 Virginia Governor race
Feb 1, 2021
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2023