In Response to Trump’s Chaos, Community Members Reflect and Look Forward

Local advocacy group helps members learn how to take action in the face of uncertainty

Virginia Beach, VA - Affordable Virginia hosted a roundtable with local community leaders and activists to discuss Trump’s first month in office. Together, they addressed the chaos surrounding Trump’s plan to push massive tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy while slashing essential programs that Virginians rely on, such as SNAP, Medicaid, access to veteran affairs services, and childcare subsidies.

The Republican budget plan includes at least $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, benefiting the ultra-wealthy and corporations while cutting $2 trillion in funding for critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP. This comes after the Trump administration announced a federal funding freeze, causing widespread confusion across various programs leaving many Virginians worried about the stability of essential services. Speakers also addressed mass federal layoffs hurting the Hampton Roads region.

Attendees listen on to the panel. | Credit: Affordable Virginia

“In Hampton Roads, we have over 30,000 federal workers who are worried about losing their jobs, and over 100,000 Medicaid recipients who aren’t sure if they will continue to have access to their doctors,” said Emily Yeatts, Affordable Virginia Campaign Director. “We have spoken with people from across Virginia Beach and Suffolk and Chesapeake – everyone is worried about how quickly changes are being announced and the fallout. And, they want to know what Representative Jen Kiggans is doing about it. So far, their concerns seem to be falling on deaf ears with her recently suggesting that everyone just needs to ‘take a deep breath.’ That’s unacceptable from the person they elected to stand up for them. It’s not just federal jobs, it’s what that means for Virginia’s economy, and Jen Kiggans doesn’t seem concerned at all.”

From left to right: Amanda Pittman, Katie Baker, Kenda Sutton-El, Eddie Seay, Justin Burns, Georgia Allen, Bernita Richardson | Credit: Affordable Virginia

Here’s what our speakers had to say:

Justin Burns, Community Activist and Educator: “We all know that Trump wants to eliminate the Department of Education and turn funding back to the states. We know that’s going to take us back to the Jim Crow era when we look at how schools were segregated – today it may not be racially, but more socio-economic. As a SPED (Special Education) teacher, I know that with those cuts are going to come cuts to education, the arts, music, and special education. It’s so important that we have the funding, have the resources, have the support to be able to help educate all of our children in ways that provide individualized education to them so that they're able to succeed.”

Bernita Richardson, Community Activist and physician assistant: “The Constitution says we have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but so often I feel like the life part includes health. You can't control your health. These cuts will have devastating effects on our marginalized communities. Before the Medicaid expansion, we were constantly trying to find ways to help children of parents who were juggling multiple jobs. I remember a mom who worked for a jewelry store, and the dad worked in the school system as a janitor, but they still struggled to afford decent health care. They had a child with asthma – you know, it's disappointing when you see someone, and you can't help them, but you know the help is right there and available. To see that taken away is horrible. I can't even put it into words.”

Eddie Seay, Freedom Virginia: “The executive branch is sending out a different message, and the executive branch is saying that we're ready for all these cuts, we're ready for all these tax cuts, we're ready for all of these layoffs. We're not ready. There's no way a state budget can take over these responsibilities. There may be some ways that we can protect someone, but we have to say this. This is enough, and we have got to be out there every day, sending letters, sending messages out in the streets, whatever, saying, ‘No, this is not it.’ But the fact is, our administration and the Commonwealth are spreading misinformation, and we've got to stop it, and we've got to stand up and tell people who don't understand what's going on and how it's going to impact all of us, not just some of us.”

Katie Baker, Protect Our Care: “Medicaid is an extremely popular program, even among Republicans. People do not view Medicaid as a wasteful program, and if anything, people believe the government should be spending more on health care and not less. And just to give you a sense of who's on Medicaid, nationally, it's about 72 million people – that’s about one in five people, including 146,000 here in the Tidewater region. They are particularly vulnerable to losing their health care right now because Virginia is one of nine states that has what's called a trigger. And so if the federal government cuts funding for Medicaid expansion by any amount, even just 1%, everybody's going to be automatically disabled in that expansion population.”

Kenda Sutton-El, Birth in Color: “When I look at Medicaid, I can’t help but think about the disparities that already exist. One of the reasons Medicaid was expanded, and postpartum coverage was expanded, was because of the maternity mortality crisis. When we look at it from that lens, black women are three times more likely to die during childbirth than their white counterparts. We have to be able to think about how we are protecting pregnancy and the infants that are being born.”

Georgia Allen, Virginia Beach NAACP: “One of the actions we need to do is make sure we hold our elected officials to account. We need to start at the federal level. And we need to ask her (Rep. Jen Kiggans), ‘Where is the money coming from to fund the schools here in Virginia Beach?’ And we have to stay on message. We do a lot of things very broadly, but all politics is local. If we come together as a community and focus on local politics – it doesn’t matter what race, color, or socio-economic status you are – we need our children educated. Because if they are not educated, they have nothing to do and nowhere to go. Therefore, that becomes a problem for all of us.” 

Since our panel on Monday, Representative Kiggans and the House of Representatives have voted for at least $880 billion in spending cuts from the committee that houses Medicaid, which would lead to each of our fears. Hampton Roads families depend on Medicaid for access to quality healthcare, including extra support for seniors and those with disabilities. This isn’t something the Commonwealth can absorb. This is a partnership between the federal and state governments that requires both parties to do their part. With this vote, Kiggans is abandoning her constituents, and they are ready to take action and fight back.