Author: Dick Hall-Sizemore
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Tell Me Again. Why Are Virginia Taxes So Bad?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore I have taxes on my mind. It is sort of hard not to be thinking a lot about taxes these days. I just finished compiling my tax returns (yes, I realize that I am a procrastinator). The Governor is telling me that the state taxes me too much and he wants to…
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Not the Normal Governor Means Not the Normal Ethics
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Glenn Youngkin recently declared, “I guess I’m maybe not the normal governor. I think one of the differences is that I am an outsider and I come in with ideas on how we communicate.” We are beginning to find out how true that is. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that one of the…
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A Knee-jerk Reaction and Changes in the Wind
by Dick Hall-Sizemore There has been a kerfuffle over another one of Governor Youngkin’s appointments. Late last week, the Governor named Susan Beals to be Commissioner of the Department of Elections. In contrast to Chris Piper, whom she will replace and who had never worked on a campaign nor donated to a political candidate, Beals…
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The General Assembly Punts
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The 2022 General Assembly left town on March 12 with a great deal of public business still pending. Most importantly, it adjourned without adopting a budget. That is not uncommon, however. Since 2000, the legislature has adjourned six times without adopting a budget, having to come back in special session to deal…
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Transformation Has a Long Way to Go
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Eric Moeller, Governor Youngkin’s Chief Transformation Officer, has his work cut out for him. In Executive Order No. 5, the Governor said that the chief responsiblities of the position would be to “to help build a culture of transparency, accountability, and constructive challenge across our government.” As for building a “culture of…
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NCAA Champions!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Commonwealth is home to another NCAA basketball champion. The Randolph-Macon (Ashland) Yellow Jackets won the Division III championship yesterday. Most sports fans in the state will be unaware of this accomplishment. Of the major media outlets, only the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Roanoke Times covered it.
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Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom of Night…
by Dick Hall-Sizemore One of the best services provided by the federal government that began before the United States was an independent country is the postal service. Americans have depended on it and taken it for granted for centuries. Until recently. In recent years, service has deteriorated markedly. For example, I put out bill payments…
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Governing by Edict
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Although the issue of school mask mandates is now behind us, it is instructive to examine the legal arguments advanced by Attorney General Jason Miyares in a court case seeking to overturn the mask mandates instituted by the Loudoun County School Board (“school board”). Not only does Miyares advocate judicial activism and…
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Cutting Off One’s Nose To Spite One’s Face
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Virginia Senate Democrats have acted irrationally. They have refused to confirm four of the five appointments made by Governor Youngkin to the Parole Board. This action was in retaliation for the House refusing to confirm 11 appointments made by then-Governor Northam last year, including those to the Board of Education and…
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What? The General Assembly Is Still Meeting?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Jeff Shapiro has a nice column in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch praising the work of the Bob Brown, the long-time news photographer who is retiring, after 42 years at the RTD, at the end of this month. His photographs have captured many moments in the legislature over the years and he is a…
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More Burdens on Teachers
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The General Assembly has passed legislation (SB 656, Dunnavant, R-Henrico) that would require schools to notify parents of “any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content” and permit parents to review such instructional material. Furthermore, the instructor would be required to “provide, as an alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities…
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We Need to Help That Poor Billionaire Out
by Dick Hall-Sizemore With all the huffing and puffing about CRT, face masks, and “wokeism” at UVa, Bacon’s Rebellion has ignored what could be the biggest scam in the General Assembly: the subsidization of an ultrarich guy and his plan to build a football stadium and surrounding “mini-city” in Northern Virginia. The General Assembly is…
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“But, It’s Not a Perfect Bill. I Can’t Support That”
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Once again, the General Assembly has killed legislation that would prohibit politicians from using campaign donations to cover personal expenses. It is easy to express outrage at this almost annual occurrence, but, in doing some background research on the subject, I encountered some details that, on the one hand, provide a fuller…
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Youngkin Largely Opts for Stability in State Government Management
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia has a tradition of continuity in state government. Generally, incumbent agency heads are reappointed, even if the new governor is of a different party than the outgoing governor and new Cabinet members are put in place. There have been many agency heads who have served multiple governors, of both parties, over…
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The State Budget: The House Reductions to Cover Tax Cuts
Budget is policy. A budget reflects what an organization chooses to spend its money on. The differences between the versions of the 2022-2024 biennial budget passed by the House and Senate this year are starker than they have been in recent memory. There are major philosophical and policy differences that the conferees will need to…