Category: Business and Economy
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“Frozen” Property Taxes
by James C. Sherlock I admit my fascination with how newspapers present various issues. It is an important window into the information their readers are getting. City manager and county executive proclamations that property tax rates are “frozen” are meant to sound like fiscal constraint. Consider this headline from The Washington Post: “Fairfax County executive…
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Headline – The Richmond Times-Dispatch Needs Help
by James C. Sherlock Finally some good news about the dumpster fire that has been the Virginia Unemployment Commission (VEC). Governor Glenn Youngkin has reported definitive progress — real numbers in reductions of backlogs. Here is the full Richmond Times Dispatch (RTD) headline on the story reporting those improvements. Youngkin claims progress in reducing backlog…
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The Real and Present Threat of Flooding in Virginia Requires Coordinated Action
by James C. Sherlock An editorial in The Virginian-Pilot this morning is titled, “A worrisome, watery future,” and is built around an update on flooding from NOAA. It is a grave situation. NOAA projects one foot of combined sea level rise and subsidence here in Hampton Roads by 2050. The adjacent map has not been…
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Christie Decries “Mother of All Legal Weapons”
by Steve Haner Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission changed the rules on pending and future natural gas pipelines and related projects, citing the threat of catastrophic climate change and injecting environmental justice concerns. Now with a 3-2 Democratic majority under President Joe Biden, the vote followed party lines. One of the nay votes…
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House GOP Repeals VCEA, EV Green Mandates
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Virginia’s House of Delegates Republicans have passed a series of bills retreating from Virginia’s rush toward a fossil-fuel-free future, but they were party-line votes and Democrats in the Virginia Senate, who hold a majority on that side, may promptly kill…
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Climate Suit Against Virginia Would Lose at Trial
by Steve Haner Less than one month after taking office, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) and other state officials are being sued by thirteen school-age defendants who claim the state’s long history of permitting the use of fossil fuels for various purposes is causing a climate crisis and harms them directly. The petition in the…
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Senate: “Trust Us This Time on Tax Reform”
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Virginia government is flooded with cash — tax revenues far in excess of what is needed to maintain its current level of services and a fair reserve. Key votes have now been taken and the House of Delegates is poised…
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End the Subminimum Wage for Disabled Virginians
Virginia is top ranked as a business-friendly state. How we treat employees with disabilities in the workplace matters. by Shaun Kenney What are the hallmarks of a business-friendly environment? Competitive wages, opportunities to build wealth, support for entrepreneurial endeavors, freedom to create and innovate, dignity of work, and economic independence and sustainability – to name…
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COPN’s Regional Monopolies Helped Boost Virginia Hospitals’ Operating Margins to more than 3x National Median in 2020
by James C. Sherlock Virginians have been assured forever by the hospital lobby that the non-profit regional monopolies established and protected by COPN nearly everywhere but Richmond: are benign public servants with a charitable mission; certainly don’t drive up costs; that competition does not matter; that the State Medical Facilities Plan on which COPN is…
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Virginia is Facing a Citizen Revolt on Inflation-Driven Tax Increases
by James C. Sherlock Virginians must fund their local governments. It is not wise to chip away at local government revenue without an integrated plan to ensure they are funded to carry out the things we need them to do. However, two key ways in which we raise local revenue, property taxes and sales taxes,…
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First Bill to Amend VCEA Buried by Committee
by Steve Haner The first of several pending bills to slow Virginia’s rush to an expensive energy future based on unreliable electricity just failed in a Republican-controlled committee. There is every reason to expect the same fate for two other pending measures with similar goals. In past years energy bills have gone to a subcommittee,…
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Youngkin, Northam Tax Cuts Combine to $5 Billion
by Steve Haner In his final budget bill, departing Governor Ralph Northam (D) proposed a one-time rebate of just over $1 billion to Virginia income-tax payers, and additional policy proposals that would cut another $1.1 billion in state revenue for the remainder of this fiscal year and the next two. New Governor Glenn Youngkin (R)…
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Energy Reliability, Cost Concern Some Democrats?
by Steve Haner First published by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality, shall analyze the life cycle of renewable energy facilities, including solar, wind, and battery storage components. The analysis shall assess the (i) feasibility, costs, recycling and salvage opportunities, waste strategies,…
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The Road to Hell in Virginia Telemedicine
by James C. Sherlock The road to hell really is paved with good intentions. The current Virginia State Telehealth Plan was published just less than a year ago. The purpose of the Plan is to promote an integrated approach to the introduction and use of telehealth services in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2020, the…
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Help Wanted
by Dick Hall-Sizemore I had heard about the problem with restaurant staffing, but had not experienced it. During the pandemic, my wife and I have relied on two local Italian restaurants for both takeout and eating out. Both restaurants reopened as soon as they could, and both retained the same staff they have had for…