This comes after Governor Youngkin answered Governor Abbott’s request for assistance last year, deploying Virginia’s National Guard to the southern border to assist with Operation Lone Star.
“Given the intensive resource demands on Texas, the dangers posed by the fentanyl crisis, and impact of the border crisis on criminal activity to the Commonwealth, Virginia will do its part to assist the state of Texas’s efforts with the coordinated deployment of Virginia National Guard soldiers to assist in key aspects of their mission,” Youngkin said at the time.
Combating fentanyl trafficking in Virginia has been a particular focus of Governor Youngkin’s.
“Virginians suffer when we miss the opportunity to lead. There is no greater reminder of this than the stark fact that on average 5 Virginians die from fentanyl poisoning every single day. And because of weak drug laws, too many drug dealers are not prosecuted,” Youngkin said during his 2024 State of the Commonwealth Address.
Youngkin is pushing for legislation to deter fentanyl trafficking by increasing criminal penalties for dealers whose drugs lead to a death.
“Send me a bill that will raise the penalty to felony homicide when the manufacturer or distributor of illicit drugs or fentanyl causes a death,” Youngkin challenged the General Assembly during his speech.
Unfortunately, Senate Democrats defeated that commonsense legislation in committee recently. Governor Youngkin said addressing the fentanyl crisis must be a bipartisan issue and stressed the need for Virginia Democrats to act.
"We cannot continue to let makers and dealers get away with murder,” Youngkin told Fox News. "This should not be a Democrats versus Republicans issue. The fentanyl crisis affects us all. Holding fentanyl makers and dealers accountable is just common sense."
Youngkin also issued an executive order requiring school districts to notify parents within 24 hours of a student overdose after several student fentanyl overdoses in one school district went unreported for weeks. Now, Youngkin is pushing to codify that executive order into law.
