Category: Business and Economy
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Why Is Northam Doling Out Public Cash at Partisan Events?
by Shaun Kenney Michael Martz with the Richmond Times-Dispatch writes on Governor Ralph Northam’s hamfisted attempt to use the public trust for partisan gain with a $350 million rescue package paid for by John and Jane Q. Taxpayer. The proposed package also includes the help requested by Virginia Tourism President Rita McClenny, who appeared before…
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Digging Beyond the #1 Ranking
by Steve Haner Virginia ranks #1 in the “Top States for Business 2021” ranking produced by the business network CNBC, but it is important to dig into the ten measurement categories. They are not weighted evenly. Changing the former “Quality of Life” measure to “Life, Health and Inclusion,” and adding more points to that category, sealed the…
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Mamma Mia! CNBC Says Virginia #1 for Business, but Chief Executive Mag says #13.
by Chris Saxman Beauty, the Greeks started saying back in 3rd century BC, is in the eyes of the beholder. CNBC announced today that Virginia is the Top State for Business in 2021. That’s great news! They rank their top 10 states: Virginia – North Carolina – Utah – Texas – Tennessee – Georgia – Minnesota…
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Virginia Wins No. 1 Top-State-for-Business Ranking
Congratulations are due the Northam administration. For the second straight year, Virginia ranks No. 1 in CNBC’s list of the top states for business. There are many best-business rankings, but CNBC’s is the most prestigious. Hopefully, the Old Dominion will see increased interest from corporate investors as a result. Some will say that the…
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From Farming Corn to Electrons
By Dick Hall-Sizemore In light of recent denials by local governing bodies, there has been some skepticism expressed on this blog as to whether the Commonwealth could meet its goals on solar energy. Going against recent trends, however, has been the city of Chesapeake. According to the Virginian-Pilot, the city council recently approved an application…
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With Defeat in Connecticut, Will Virginia Drop TCI?
By Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Why do Virginia’s leaders run away from the Transportation and Climate Initiative? Could it be because the first state legislature to consider it, in reliably Democratic Connecticut, just adjourned without even taking a vote on the proposed carbon tax compact, despite…
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To the Left of Karl Marx
An article in the today’s Wall Street Journal, “Innovationville, USA,” writes approvingly of universal incomes, citing no-strings-attached pilot programs in Stockton, Calif., Peterson, N.J., and… (drum roll)… Richmond, Va. The Richmond Resilience Initiative provides $500 per month to 18 working families who don’t qualify for other aid but who, in Mayor Levar Stoney’s estimation, don’t…
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Trees and the Chesapeake Bay
by Dick Hall-Sizemore There was a scuffle on this blog a few days ago over the production of more hardwood seedlings by the Department of Forestry. There were some who questioned the efficacy of planting more trees in the attempt to mitigate climate change. Others questioned why the state should be subsidizing the production of…
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Businesses Taxed For Somebody Else’s Layoffs?
by Steve Haner So many Virginia employers faltered or failed during 2020, the remaining companies may be charged a special tax of $95 on each of their own employees in 2022. It will cover the unemployment benefits paid to workers somebody else laid off, the highest so called “pool tax” ever imposed, more than double…
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VA Employers Stuck in COVID Time Warp
By Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Despite the stunning and rapid success of the vaccines in arresting the spread of COVID-19, if you enter a Virginia workplace you go back in time to the pre-vaccine era of doubt and fear. Virginia acted in haste in adopting…
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COVID-19 Killed the American Work Ethic
by Kerry Dougherty Sometimes nothing will lift a kid’s mood like a McDonald’s Happy Meal. On Tuesday I was running a raft of errands with a 5-year-old strapped into the back seat. As it crept past lunchtime and she was clearly starving, I saw the blessed Golden Arches. While we idled in a long ribbon…
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Sentara, Cone Health Call Off Merger
From Virginia Business: “Sentara Healthcare and Greensboro, North Carolina-based Cone Health mutually called off a merger Wednesday, according to a statement by the Norfolk-based health care system.” The Sentara Healthcare Board of Directors and the Cone Health Board of Trustees came to the mutual agreement to end affiliation plans late last week, according to the…
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School Closings Negatively Affect Female Employment
by D.J. Rippert Mom at home. An article from The Center Square summarizes a number of studies relating COVID-19, school policies during the pandemic, and the number of women in the workforce. A study by the journal “Gender & Society” characterized the matter as a “tidal wave of women” leaving the workforce in 2020. Center…
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Protect Taxpaying Virginians From Coming Inflation
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. One of big financial winners with the May 1 Virginia minimum wage increase is the state itself, because the entire raise is subject to a 5% state income tax. With its low standard deduction and personal exemption amounts, Virginia squeezes…