Category: Business and Economy
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Virginia Will Mandate and Hold Retirement Savings
by Steve Haner Next week’s reconvened General Assembly session will decide whether only full time employees of Virginia’s small businesses will be pushed into a new state-sponsored retirement savings plan, or part-time workers will join them there.
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New Antitrust Laws Promise Scrutiny of Virginia’s Healthcare Monopolies
by James C. Sherlock I have written here extensively on the necessity to enforce federal antitrust laws against the anticompetitive activities of some of Virginia’s regional healthcare monopolies. I am happy to report federal legislative changes from the past year that will strengthen the enforcement of those laws. First, the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and…
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VEC Gets the Booby Prize
By Dick Hall-Sizemore There has been considerable discussion on this blog as to which agency has been the biggest failure in the face of the pandemic. Many have placed the heaviest blame on the Department of Health. I would award the prize for the being the biggest failure to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). The…
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Don’t Let “Scarring” Hinder Economic Recovery
by James A. Bacon Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, is optimistic overall about the nation’s economic recovery. The housing market is strong. Job creation has resumed. Disposable incomes are up. And families are saving more and paying down their credit cards. But he worries about “scarring” — a term that…
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Congress to Kill Right To Work, Since GA Didn’t?
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. One key goal for many of Virginia’s new progressive Democrats has been repeal of Virginia’s venerable Right To Work Law, and in 2020 they crossed one milestone by passing repeal in a key committee. But the Democratic leadership, perhaps wary of…
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Medicaid and Medicaid Rate Increases Boost Virginia Hospital Profitability
by James C. Sherlock Virginia in 2018 both expanded Medicaid and increased Medicaid reimbursement rates. Those changes orchestrated by Virginia hospitals took effect in 2019 and resulted in a major financial windfall to those same hospitals. I have compared the 2018 and 2019 Hospitals Operating and Total Margins spreadsheets published by the state through…
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Troubled Governance at Sentara
by James C. Sherlock I have been studying and writing about Sentara Healthcare for 15 years. Sentara has during that time both expanded significantly and been mired in seemingly endless controversies regarding such widely reported issues as: its death grip on the COPN process and business practices, which together have strangled their much weaker competitors…
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Podcast: How the General Assembly Has Changed
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in Agriculture & forestry, Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, General Assembly, Government Finance, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race RelationsBy Peter Galuszka I haven’t contributed much to BR lately since I am slammed with non-Virginia work. I did manage to help out on a Podcast about how the General Assembly has changed the state over the last two years as Democrats have gained power. This Podcast is produced by WTJU, the University of Virginia…
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Mark Herring: Friend of the Poor, Scourge of Lenders
by James A. Bacon Attorney General Mark Herring is at it again — acting to protect the poor by government fiat without regard to unintended consequences. In a press release release today, Herring claims credit for backing a law backed by Del. Hala Ayala, D-Woodbridge, that will ensure that federal COVID-relief payments don’t “get swept…
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Northam Gets an Earful on Marijuana Legalization Bill
by D.J. Rippert Slow burn. The General Assembly passed marijuana legislation and sent it to the governor to sign. However, almost nobody seems satisfied with the bill as it is written. Now Governor Ralph Northam must decide whether to sign the bill, veto the bill, or ask for the bill to be amended. As he…
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Will COVID Stimulus Help or Hurt Small Business?
by James A. Bacon The economic disruption engendered by the COVID-19 lockdowns has provided ample content for that journalistic staple, the hard-luck story. We see a couple of examples in today’s news. The Richmond Times-Dispatch tells the tale of Jessica Corbett, working mother of three kids, who lost her job as a meeting planner and…
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Surprise! State Underestimated Carbon Tax Cost
by Steve Haner Virginia has collected its first wave of carbon taxes from the state’s electricity generators, costs which will eventually show up on future bills. The $43.6 million take just about doubles the revenue estimates used when participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was being approved by the Virginia General Assembly last year.…
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COVID and the Workforce
by James A. Bacon Virginians with college degrees were far less likely to be laid off during the COVID-19 epidemic, and their occupations are in highest demand during the economic upturn, concludes an analysis written by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and distributed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). “In order…
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On the Road Again!
by James A, Bacon Congress just passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, but I’ll tell you who needs some stimulus after a year of COVID-19 shutdown — it’s the Bacon family. Laura and I recently got vaccination shots (one each), so we figure we’re at reduced risk of catching the virus and as long as…
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Centuries of Energy Already Sitting in Cans
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. If you are serious about making electricity without carbon emissions and also serious about making enough electricity to run a real economy 24-7-365, the discussion keeps coming back to nuclear energy. It is the obvious choice if you believe we…