Category: General Assembly
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New Virginia Nursing Home Law Appears to Violate Federal Statute
by James C. Sherlock In addition to the General Assembly embarrassing themselves in the way they passed a law on nursing homes in this year’s session, they did it in an unseemly rush. There was no pre-filing, a near-immediate and disgraceful floor “debate” led by the nursing industry’s lobbyist, and a rushed vote in the…
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The Ongoing Tragedy of Virginia’s Nursing Homes
by James C. Sherlock Virginia’s Health Commissioners have a job that is broad and deep in its responsibilities and authorities.By statute, appointees must be physicians. Each is the chief executive of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH): a central office in Richmond and 35 local health districts. By Virginia statutes and regulations, they are also…
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Paid In Full, State Needs to Give Us Our Change
By Barbara Hollingsworth Imagine a merchant refusing to hand over the change when a customer paid with a $20 bill for a $17.50 item. Virginians would be irate if a restaurant, bar, grocery store, or other private establishment decided to keep the change because the business might “need” the extra money in the future. Yet…
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Dominion “Bill Relief” Disappears September 1
By Steve Haner Homeowners willing to cut back power usage when Dominion Energy Virginia asks them could earn rebates of up to $28 a year. So reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch, citing yet another final order from the State Corporation Commission. The Richmond paper is always bringing us such great news about the folks at the…
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The Virginia Board of Health and Nursing Homes – A Strange Appointment
by James C. Sherlock I am starting to lose my sense of humor about the whole Virginia nursing home thing. The Virginia Board of Health (VBOH) writes state regulations for every health facility and health services provider in Virginia, including nursing homes. There is a statutory seat on the VBOH for a nursing home representative.…
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Why Dominion Stays Calm in Wind Industry Storm
By Steve Haner First published by Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. There is some overlap with a post from last week by another author, but with a slightly different focus. With growing turmoil in the offshore wind industry finally being reported, it would be nice to turn the clock back a year and revisit…
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Restoring Sales Tax Holiday is Not Tax Relief
by Steve Haner Virginia’s Democratic legislators are convinced that citizens are happy to pay taxes for state services and will rebel at the polls if taxes are cut when there are “unmet vital needs.” That is why they have so far resisted any and all proposals from Governor Glenn Youngkin and Republican legislators to split…
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Senators Cry “Voodoo Estimating” In Tax Fight
By Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institue for Public Policy. Not only are the leading Virginia Senate budget negotiators adamantly opposed to providing Virginians with additional tax relief in this election year, but they are now hinting at partial roll back of one of the major individual tax reforms approved…
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Virginia’s Forced Technology Hits a Speed Bump
by Bill O’Keefe The Virginia General Assembly, as a result of past Democrat control, has mandated through the Clean Economy Act and a 2021 law a low-emission and zero-emission motor vehicle program for model year 2025 and beyond. In the process it has demonstrated the folly of using technology to force through large subsidies, as…
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Virginians Overtaxed as Youngkin Urges Budget Deal
by Shaun Kenney With state revenue projections north of $5 billion, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) renewed his call for a budget deal with Senate Democrats as negotiators with the Virginia General Assembly met for the first time since June. “Virginians remain overtaxed. Last year we provided $4 billion of tax relief for individuals, families,…
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Understaffed Nursing Homes and the False Claims Act
by James C. Sherlock Nursing home operators, paid by government insurance programs on a per diem basis for caring for their patients, make higher profits if they understaff than otherwise. The less staff they have, the higher their operating margins. The federal government, with much experience in such situations, tries to offset those incentives with…
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Miyares Loses in Court
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Our Attorney General has taken his lumps in court recently. First was a jury acquittal in a high-profile criminal case he engineered. Later, the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously ruled against an agency that had been administering a provision of the Code based on guidance from the Attorney General. The first case was…
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An Utter (and Videotaped) Disgrace of the Virginia General Assembly
by James C. Sherlock Whatever the Virginia Health Care Association (VHCA), the state’s nursing home lobbying organization, pays its General Counsel, Scott Johnson, it is not enough. He has been representing them for 20 years, and he owns the General Assembly. This is going to sound boring as I frame the background that is the…
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Youngkin Budget Leadership Faulted
by Dick Hall-Sizemore This blog gives ample exposure to conservative bloggers Kerry Dougherty and Shaun Kenney, but not to bloggers with other perspectives. David Toscano of Charlottesville, former Democratic floor leader in the House of Delegates and the author of a book on recent Virginia politics, regularly comments on Virginia politics, which is available to…
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Corruption, Ignorance Turn Deadly in the General Assembly
by James C. Sherlock Virginia Department of Health inspectors, on page 11 of 66 of a statement of deficiencies dated June 21, 2021, wrote of a gut-wrenching discovery. They found an incontinent patient at Autumn Care of Suffolk, a stroke victim unable to talk, tied to her bed by a staffer. She was terrified and…