Southside Virginia Community College will not increase tuition and fees for this academic year.

Students will have their tuition and fees stay the same for the 2022-2023 academic year after the decision was announced on July 21 by the Virginia State Board for Community Colleges.

“We are grateful for the decision by the State Board to keep tuition and fees flat for the upcoming academic year.  SVCC continues to be a high-quality and affordable higher education option for students and families in Southside Virginia.  As our tuition costs stay the same, this allows for more access to higher education, which is part of the college's mission,” said Dr. Quentin R. Johnson, SVCC President.

This marks the fifth year in a row that the board has voted to hold tuition and fees steady for in-state students who account for more than nine out of every ten students served by Virginia’s Community Colleges.

The State Board’s decision means SVCC’s in-state tuition and mandatory fees will remain at $156.50 per credit hour. The State Board also maintained the existing tuition rate for out-of-state students, which for SVCC is $356.50 per credit hour.  Community college tuition and fees are approximately one-third of the comparable costs of attending Virginia’s public four-year universities.

WASHINGTON – Today, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice for America’s 33 million small businesses and startups in President Biden’s Cabinet, announced the establishment of two new federal advisory committees, the Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (IIEAC) and the Investment Capital Advisory Committee (ICAC), to accelerate support for startups driving critical innovation across the U.S. and increase small businesses’ access to patient capital.

“The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that innovation and entrepreneurship are big driving forces of America’s historic economic boom and will play key roles in our nation’s transition to stable and steady economic growth and prosperity,” said Administrator Guzman. “These new advisory committees will help us gain valuable insights into not only how the SBA can improve programs and policies to strengthen the innovation ecosystem across the nation, but also how the agency can better serve our customers while accelerating the flow of patient private and public capital to innovative startups and small businesses."

The advisory committees will consist of members with a diverse set of perspectives, experiences, and occupational backgrounds to provide advice and recommendations to the SBA on policy and programs. The IIEAC will focus on innovation commercialization, lab-to-market translation, and constructing a more equitable, inclusive federal innovation ecosystem. The ICAC will be geared toward developing a more inclusive investment ecosystem for small businesses and domestic private funds committing capital to small businesses with an emphasis on access to patient investment capital and affordable private long-term loans.

“One of the SBA’s top priorities is to provide American main street small businesses and innovative startups with access to critical patient capital and R&D funds to advance innovation and support the small businesses located across communities in every corner of our country. The foundation of our support for innovation is the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program which, for 40 years, has served as America’s Seed Fund, providing startups with the R&D funding necessary to pursue big ideas. Since 1958, the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) works with private equity and private credit funds to accelerate the flow of patient capital and long-term loans to small businesses old and new across industries and geographies. The new federal advisory committees will foster dialogue and identification of opportunities to accelerate and diversify SBA’s support for innovative startups and small businesses,” said Bailey DeVries, Associate Administrator, SBA Office of Investment and Innovation. “The federal innovation ecosystem is what provides resources to innovators with the big ideas of today that will become the cutting-edge businesses of tomorrow.”

The SBA is seeking nominations from members of the public.

The requirements for nominations to the IIEAC include:

• Former or current small business owner;
• Community leader;
• Official from a small business trade association or academic institution;
• Member of the innovation community.

 The requirements for nominations to the ICAC include:

 Former or current small business owner;

• Community leader;
• Official from a trade association or investment institution;
• Member of the investment community.

Nominees should send a letter of self-nomination or a letter of nomination from a peer, professional organization, society, or member of Congress. The letter should highlight accomplishments and experience working with small businesses in relevant subject matter areas relating to innovation and investment. Along with the Nominee Information Form and resume, nominees should include the following:

 Full name of nominee

• Occupation
• Physical address
• Telephone number
• Email address

For issues or questions with either FAC application, please email IIEAC@sba.gov (for concerns regarding IIEAC) or ICAC@sba.gov (for concerns regarding ICAC).

Washington, D.C. – On Friday, Congressman A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) voted to help curb gun violence by passing H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2022, to restore and update the prior assault weapons ban.

“Assault weapons have become the weapon of choice for mass shooters. As a nation, we have seen the devastation these weapons of war can cause in instances like Uvalde, Buffalo, and more,” said Rep. McEachin (VA-04). “We cannot sit idly by and allow these tragedies to continue. These weapons have no place in our communities. I am proud to vote in support of the Assault Weapons Ban to reduce the prevalence of these weapons, protect our communities, and save lives.”

From 1994 to 2004, semiautomatic assault weapons were banned. During this period, researchers found that mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur. There are currently no federal laws that restrict the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons or large capacity ammunition feeding devices

Among its provisions, H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, would:

• Prohibit the sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices
• Require that semiautomatic assault weapons be securely stored so that they are not accessible to those who are prohibited from possessing them
• Allow states to use Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funds for voluntary buyback programs for semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity magazines
• Exempt the use of semiautomatic weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices for specific uses such as law enforcement, nuclear security, testing authorized by the Attorney General, and temporary transfers without a background check for target shooting at a licensed target facility or established range