Category: Business and Economy
-
Dominion Seeks Return of RGGI Tax to Its Bills
by Steve Haner The on again, off again, direct tax on Dominion Energy Virginia bills to pay for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) may be on again. If you feel like you are watching a shell game and just cannot find the pea, that is intentional. In its sales pitch for its latest effort…
-
School Discipline in Virginia – Part 2 – Positive Options Trumped by a Race Card
by James C. Sherlock I have found both surprise and confusion among some readers when I use the term “valid studies” in discussing the avalanche of doctoral theses and studies produced annually by schools of education. The federal Institute for Educational Sciences established What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) in 2002 to sort the wheat from the…
-
RVA 5×5: State of The City – What The People Think
by Jon Baliles There is a little-known part of Richmond’s City Code that requires the City Auditor to produce a “Services, Efforts, and Accomplishments” (SEA) Report by conducting a thorough poll/survey of Richmond residents to see what they think about the level of service and performance and deliverability of City government. In other words, it’s…
-
Five Reasons the Assembly Should Cut Taxes
By Barbara Hollingsworth Last week, the Republican majority in the Virginia House of Delegates passed a $1 billion package of tax cuts for individuals and businesses, the centerpiece of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s economic agenda. But Democrats, who have a 22-18 majority in the state Senate, have a laundry list of policies and programs they would…
-
Naming Commission is Stripping History
by Donald Smith The week of January 16, 2023, was a big one for Virginia heritage issues in the Richmond area. Connor Williams, the chief historian for the Congressional Naming Commission (CNC) came to the American Civil War Museum to explain and defend the commission’s sweeping recommendations toward, and its disparagement of, Confederate memories on…
-
“Strong Words” In Bills Give SCC Power On Rates
By Steve Haner One sentence, if it is the right sentence, can upset the machinations of the powerful. Two bills pending in the 2023 Virginia General Assembly contain such a sentence, and it could upset the plans of Dominion Energy Virginia. Here is the sentence at the heart of both bills: …if the (State Corporation)…
-
Is Unnamed Partner on Wind Project Driving This New Dominion Regulation Rewrite?
By Steve Haner Without fanfare and without awakening the drowsy Capitol press corps, Dominion Energy Virginia dropped in legislation last week to set up a partnership on its most massive capital investment, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Just who that partner might be, what if any benefits that provides to Dominion’s 2.6 million Virginia…
-
The Naming Commission’s Diktats
by Donald Smith The Congressional Naming Commission (CNC) was authorized as part of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Its eight commissioners included two retired Army generals, a retired Navy admiral and a retired Marine Corps general. It also had academics with imposing credentials. One commissioner is a professor emeritus at United States Military Academy…
-
Pass Me the Napkin, Please. I Need to Write an Appeal.
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Youngkin administration has come up with a new way to deal with the backlog of appeals filed with the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC): reduce the amount of time claimants and employers have to file an appeal to the agency’s decision. As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a House subcommittee has acted…
-
Why Did Youngkin Spurn a $3.5 Billion Investment?
by James A. Bacon When you nix what might have been a $3.5 billion investment creating a reported 2,500 jobs in one of Virginia’s most depressed regions, you’d better have a good explanation. But when mammoth economic development deals are wrapped in secrecy backed by non-disclosure agreements, it’s difficult providing that explanation. That’s the pickle…
-
The Box and the Snowball
by Joe Fitzgerald There’s a box, and there’s a snowball. The box is the support of the Bluestone Town Center. It is a well-constructed but beautifully decorated box, built on strong buzzwords. Affordable Housing, and Climate Change, and Dense Development are the shiny wrapping on this gift. The snowball of opposition rolling toward City Hall…
-
Consumers Be Wary When Energy Elephants Dance
By Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The Virginia House of Delegates is expected to vote this week to exempt certain Virginia manufacturers, which ones to be determined later, from the coming wave of energy costs created by Virginia’s rapid transition to unreliable forms of power generation.
-
Virginia Democrats’ Rent Control Bills Would Make Housing Scarcer
by Hans Bader In Virginia’s legislature, rent-control legislation has been introduced by five Democratic delegates and a Democratic state senator. Economists oppose rent control because it makes it more difficult for people to find decent housing in the long run. In a 1992 poll, 93% of those surveyed said rent control reduces the quantity and…
-
McKinsey & Company Has You Covered
by James C. Sherlock Ever feel not only disconnected from, but ignored by central planners? Do you run a shoe store in Sterling or work for a hospital in Richmond? Use natural gas in your home or work? Teach in a public school in Wise County? Drive a gas-or diesel-powered vehicle? In other words, do…
-
Dominion Wants To Rewrite Its Own Rules Again
by Steve Haner First published today by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The headlines in the coming General Assembly may be captured by fights over abortion and taxes, but the deepest reach into your pockets will involve your energy bills. The state’s dominant electric utility appears to once again be seeking to amend…