Author: Steve Haner
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Governor Hints At Local Business Tax Reform
On Friday, after skirting the topic in a major address to a business conference in Williamsburg, Governor Ralph Northam told a reporter that “he’s planning to ask the General Assembly to tackle business tax reform,” adding it would be “comprehensive.” The reporter asked about it because of other comments made by Secretary of Finance Aubrey…
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IRP Rejection Part of a Pattern of Trouble
The State Corporation Commission’s decision Friday to reject the Dominion Energy Virginia integrated resource plan is just the latest sign the energy package sold by the utility to a compliant General Assembly in early 2018 still has an uncertain future. Two headline elements of the legislation – the promised massive renewable projects and a rebuild of…
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“Incomplete!” SCC Sends Back Dominion IRP
The State Corporation Commission today rejected the 2018 integrated resource plan (IRP) filed by Dominion Energy Virginia, stamping it “incomplete” and asking the utility for additional information in a supplemental submission. The IRP is only a planning document, and the one for 2017 was just approved by the Commission a few months ago. But in response…
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EITC, TANF and the Benefits Cliff
For low income families receiving assistance in Virginia, their cash benefit from the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is larger – often substantially larger – than the cash provided by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). A single mother with two small children who has a full-time minimum wage job ($7.25 per hour) qualified…
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To Get Useful Answers, Ask Correct Questions
It’s all in how you ask the question. The Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University has done a pre-General Assembly poll testing various issues that may dominate the 2019 session. The headlines are driven by the favorable and unfavorable rankings (ask me about President Tariff Man this morning as I survey…
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Updates: Deadly Road Diet? Rider T1 Case
The Powerful Law of Unintended Consequences A raging forest fire is hard to imagine in Northside Richmond, but there could be other emergencies where the city and its residents would come to regret the loss of vehicle travel lanes on Brook Road. A recent deadly fire in California we all watched on television may be…
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Bacon Bits: Taxaginia, SCC Approvals, Blue VA
The Taxaginia Total: $1.7 Billion in 2020 The four taxes I wrote about in “Taxaginia” last month could reach a combined fiscal impact of $1.7 billion by about 2020. In preparation for a talk (which I will not get to give today after all), I did a bit more digging and some additional information has…
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The Push for EITC Cash Grants Accelerates
With the 2019 General Assembly now a handful of weeks away, the main advocacy group for a new cash welfare entitlement in Virginia is ramping up its efforts with various appeals, perhaps testing themes for later use. On Wednesday on its website the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis was arguing that the state Earned Income…
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State Colleges Face New Financial Stress Test
The Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts has applied a nationally-recognized strategic financial analysis tool to Virginia’s fourteen public colleges and universities, revealing that only one – the University of Virginia – has a strong financial foundation and several are vulnerable to stress. The work done by Eric Sandridge, Director of Higher Education Programs at the…
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Dominion Grid Plan Battered in Testimony
Two witnesses told the State Corporation Commission Tuesday that Dominion Energy Virginia’s proposed grid transformation program will not bring the utility’s customers into the modern energy economy. Both Scott Norwood of Texas, an expert witness often used by the Office of the Attorney General, and Caroline Golin, an expert from Georgia hired by environmental groups,…
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Confusion, Silence Will Earn Business Higher Taxes
“I’m not going to get into it unless anybody wants me to.” So said Kristin Collins, policy development director for the Virginia Department of Taxation, as she neared the end of her November 19 slide presentation on federal tax conformity and its impact on Virginia state taxes. The final handful of slides focused on the business…
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SCC Staff: Convert A Dominion RAC Into A PPA
“Facts are facts, and the SCC does a really good job of compiling them.” Former State Senator John Watkins of Chesterfield. After demonstrating that two solar energy facilities Dominion Energy Virginia has proposed in a deal with Facebook leave ratepayers holding all risks, reported already in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the State Corporation Commission staff suggested…
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Do They Want a Low Tariff? Or A Higher One?
Unlike most we met, the wine salesman in the shop in St. Emilion did not speak English well, but as he poured samples it began to matter less. When he heard we were from Virginia, though, his response was quick: “Oh, good wines!” We had to agree, but the case we shipped home was pure…
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Delayed, ACP Price Tag Reaches $7 Billion
Delays mainly caused by continuing regulatory battles have added another half a billion dollars to the price tag for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project now crossing Virginia. Dominion Resources CEO Thomas Farrell used a new top figure of $7 billion in a discussion of the project with investors and analysts on November 1. Back in…
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Medicaid Is The Story With State Budget
The General Assembly’s key money committees gathered in their annual end-of-year financial retreats last week to talk about Medicaid. Sure, the state’s multi-billion-dollar budget delves into plenty of other areas that were mentioned, and the Amazon location announcement grabbed headlines, but the meetings were about Medicaid. The explosive and uncontrolled growth of Medicaid is all…