Author: Steve Haner
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Doctors Without (State) Borders, Coast to Coast
If taken ill traveling in New York or Texas, or any other of the 50 states, odds are you would not question the basic competence of the medical professionals who treated you there. But consult that same doctor over Skype from within Virginia and state licensing laws might get in the way. A bill introduced…
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Tax Conformity Bills Buried in Rules Committee
The House Finance Committee will hold its first meeting of the 2019 General Assembly Monday morning, finally starting public discussion of Virginia’s response to a major federal tax overhaul from 13 months ago that will… No! Belay that! All House bills dealing with how Virginia conforms to that federal change, and what other policy changes…
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Dominion Withdraws Renewable Tariff Effort
In the wake of the State Corporation Commission’s recent approval of a renewable energy tariff for residential customers of Appalachian Power Company, Dominion Energy Virginia has given up the application for its own more expensive proposal for a similar service to its residential and smaller business customers.
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I’m Shocked, Shocked To See Corporate Checks In Here! (Your Donations, Sir.)
Interesting to see Governor Ralph Northam channeling Claude Rains Monday, choosing the first day of the annual two-day General Assembly campaign finance feeding frenzy to highlight his support for a series of campaign finance proposals. Campaign fundraising by state legislators and their pooled caucus accounts goes dark with the opening of the regular session today. …
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Are You In…The Hugo Zone?
Delegate Tim Hugo (R-Centreville) is the point person for a state income tax proposal centered on less-than-full conformity with the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It only helps a narrow subset of Virginia taxpayers, those in The Hugo Zone. We will now try to take you there. (If you want to imagine Rod Serling’s…
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Republicans Retreat From Trump Tax Successes
Virginia’s House Republicans on Friday rolled out proposed changes in the state income tax which backpedal from the signature accomplishment of President Donald Trump’s first year, his tax reform package which supercharged the economy. They would conform Virginia’s taxes to the new federal law only in part (more details here). One of the best policy…
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Higher Standard Deduction Popular With Voters
The Northam Administration’s plans to spend most of the additional revenue created by federal tax reform may not prove popular if the public understands the alternative plans for real tax relief under consideration. Three weeks ago, I complained that a poll from the Judy Wason Ford Center at Christopher Newport University didn’t ask the right…
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EITC Grants Do Nothing for Middle Class
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) proposal that Virginia Democrats are pushing for passage in the 2019 General Assembly is being sold as a major financial boon for the middle class, but is it? “Our working families making $54,000 a year or less are not going to see a big benefit from these federal tax…
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Bacon Bits: Rider U Screws U Know Who
Now that the State Corporation Commission has finally approved Dominion Energy Virginia’s Rider U, mandated by the General Assembly to force us all to pay for underground lines serving just a few customers, let me explain how perfectly this scheme put the company ahead of its customers. (For case details, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has this…
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Clean Virginia: A Powerful Swing That Misses
Clean Virginia’s recent report accusing Virginia’s two investor-owned electric utilities of annually “taxing” their customers $254 or $89 respectively has a strong basis in fact, and beautifully packages the information, but ultimately is flawed and unfair. Which is a shame, because the basic premise is correct. The utility regulation process in Virginia has been badly…
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Fools Rush In: Coal Ash Scene Setter
“I hate to give out directions without knowing what the cost is going to be. There’s far too much of that in government.” That was Senator Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach expressing his deep reservations about various proposals to deal with the 27 million cubic yards of coal ash that Dominion Energy Virginia has collected…
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Green Virtue, Certified By The Hour
Is it enough to be green and virtuous on a month by month basis, or must one be green and virtuous every hour of every day? That is a facetious version of a real question facing the State Corporation Commission as it considers the most recent effort by Dominion Energy Virginia to create a 100-percent…
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Will Yellow Jackets Come To Richmond?
I keep wondering when the new French fashion rage, the yellow safety vest or gilet jaune, finds its way across the Atlantic. The next few weeks may provide some motivation in Virginia, because the General Assembly returns with financial pressures high and consensus in short supply. Tuesday morning the 2019 General Assembly sees its opening…
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Read All About It: The Virginia Way
In his defense, you must realize that Bill Bolling is not a lawyer, so he couldn’t do what some lawyer-legislators do at the end of their careers and become a judge. With the Virginia Retirement System’s pensions based on the highest salary period, you must top out as governor or attorney general or a cabinet…
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JLARC: Discount Incentive Benefits By 90%
Virginia’s legislative audit agency started its most recent analysis of Virginia’s economic development incentive grant programs with an assumption boosters would quickly dispute – that 90 percent of the economic activity they produce would have happened anyway.