Author: James A. Bacon
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The Cost of Family Breakdown in Richmond
Family breakdown and the absence of fathers in the household in the City of Richmond costs taxpayers at the federal, state and local levels a mind-boggling $205 million a year, according to a new report issued by the Richmond Family & Fatherhood Initiative. The study bases that figure on the assumption that a “minimum” of…
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Now You See It, Now You Don’t
by James A. Bacon Henrico County government officials, who have campaigned in support of a 4% meals tax referendum in every way conceivable short of actually saying, “Vote for the meals tax,” have released a list of “expenditure cuts, absorptions and efficiency savings” to document their claim that the county has “cut $115 million and…
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Questions of the Day
Now that Ken Cuccinelli has agreed to donate $18,000 to charity, expunging the intolerable stain of having accepted lodging, dinner and transportation from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams Sr., will the drum beat begin for other elected officials to return their gifts? Have we set a new standard that applies to all? Will cries now…
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The Black Hole of College Finances: Athletics
by James A. Bacon Of the 269 sports programs at Virginia’s 15 public colleges and universities, only four pay their own way — the Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia football and basketball programs. The rest lose money and are subsidized by mandatory student fees equivalent to 12% of tuition and fees in 2011-2012,…
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Athletics and Debt Driving up Virginia College Costs
There are two broad conclusions worth noting from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s meaty new report on higher education costs: Spending increases at public Virginia colleges and universities have been led by auxiliary enterprises, primarily athletic programs, not the academic programs funded by the state. Athletic programs consume on average 12% of tuition…
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Stressed Out: Storm Water
by James A. Bacon Two years ago Clyde Cristman made a presentation to the Senate Finance Committee estimating how much it would cost to meet Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay watershed clean-up goals. Some of the costs were reasonably solid but others, he recalls, “were little better than a wild guess.” The total tab for state government,…
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Stressed Out: Pensions
by James A. Bacon Governor Bob McDonnell and the General Assembly made a big splash in the spring of 2012 when they crafted a long-term fix for the $55 billion Virginia Retirement System. While the commonwealth did shore up pension funding for state and local employees, it also created big headaches for local governments. Just…
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School Systems: The Loveliest and the Ugliest
Here we go, round three on the performance of Virginia school systems. In round one, we ranked the school systems based on the percentage of students who passed the Standard of Learning exams in all grades. In round two, we looked at the performance adjusted for the percentage of poor kids. Now, in round three,…
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Educational Over-Achievers and Under-Performers
Two days ago I published a data series ranking the performance of Virginia’s school systems based upon a composite score for the Standards of Learning pass rates in all grades. While interesting, the list did not lend itself to any policy conclusions. Under-performing school systems can always say, “It’s not our fault. So many of…
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University Coalition Bereft of New Thinking
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s higher ed lobby is brandishing a new economic-impact study as it pushes an agenda for more state spending on… higher education. The state’s $10.8 billion system of public colleges, universities and affiliated hospitals is an economic engine of the commonwealth, contends a new report issued by the Virginia Business Higher…
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The LADEE and the Minotaur
By James A. Bacon The world of space junkies can be divided into three camps: those who think the United States should pursue a Mars first policy, those who think it should pursue a Moon first policy, and the killjoys who think all that human exploration is a waste of money and time. I belong…
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Another Look at VA’s Best and Worst School Systems
How do different Virginia school systems rate across the board? School administrators will cherry pick the results that reflect the best on them, critics the results that look the worst. One reader, who asks to remain unidentified, decided to combine the Standards of Learning pass rates for all grades and subject categories, removing a handful,…
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Setting Priorities at DOT
This piece, written by Charles L. Marohn, president of Strong Towns, addresses many of the issues we discuss on Bacon’s Rebellion — how to prioritize transportation spending. Appearing originally in the Strong Towns blog, it is republished here with permission. — JAB Last week I was asked to privately comment on a priority ranking system…
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Report Lobbyist Activity, Not Compensation
by Stephen D. Haner “Code of Virginia §2.2-419. Definitions” includes the following: “Lobbying” means: 1. Influencing or attempting to influence executive or legislative action through oral or written communication with an executive or legislative official; or 2. Solicitation of others to influence an executive or legislative official. “Lobbying” does not mean: 1. Requests for appointments,…
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Yikes! Driverless Cars in Blacksburg.
As usual, technology is evolving more rapidly than the ability of pundits, bureaucrats and politicians to absorb the implications — especially in the realm of transportation. Two more cases in point: Googleburg. Google is now testing its self-driving car on the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Smart Road in Blacksburg. Reports the Roanoke Times: The technology…