Category: General Assembly
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Cash On Hand Determining Outcomes in Virginia Senate Primaries
by Shaun Kenney On 20 June, Virginians in both political parties will be selecting their nominees for the November elections to the General Assembly. Virginia Democrats seem to be caught in a literal death spiral of trying to out-abortion one another, as flyers are going about accusing certain candidates of being “pro-life” while others proudly…
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A Supplement to James Sherlock’s Post
by Dick Hall-Sizemore James Sherlock has done yeoman’s work on this blog with his pointing out the failure of state government to adequately regulate the nursing homes in the Commonwealth. I commend him for his perseverance on this issue. In doing some research on the budget issues related to this topic, I encountered enough additional…
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No New Law or Regulation is Needed for VDH to Sanction Bad Nursing Homes
By James C. Sherlock This is Part 2 of this series. Part 1 is here. I will offer here a deeper sense of Virginia’s bad nursing homes. And of the historic lack of adequate regulation by the state. Start with the fact that even the worst of them are still open. Centers for Medicare &…
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Prediction: General Assembly Elections*
by D. J. McGuire Election Day is five months out; early voting begins in a little more than three months. Primary Day isn’t for another week and a half. Still, yours truly is ready to make my first asterisk-heavy prediction on who will win the General Assembly in November. The prediction is based on assumptions…
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Scandal in Plain Sight – Virginia’s Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners
by James C. Sherlock One of the most important and heart-wrenching decisions families make for their elderly loved ones is whether they are able to keep them in their homes as they get older and sicker. Sometimes that is not feasible for a long list of reasons in each case. More than 30,000 Virginians live…
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VPM Reporter Digs Into Power For Tomorrow
Ben Paviour at Virginia Public Media has fleshed out additional substantial details on the political activities of Power for Tomorrow, a utility advocacy group with major funding from Dominion Energy Virginia. Questions asked and issues hinted at by this report on Bacon’s Rebellion now have more clarity. Yes, Paviour found quite a few Virginia incumbent…
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Without Full $1B Tax Cut, Let July 1 Deadline Pass
by Steve Haner Because the federal government cannot operate without constantly borrowing money, members of Congress in both parties recently held their noses and voted for a compromise budget and borrowing deal. That need not and should not happen now in Virginia. There is no similar pressure in Virginia, even though the June 30 end…
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Fact Checking Bill Leighty
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In my review of Bill Leighty’s memoir, I quoted at length an incident that was supposed to illustrate Leighty’s deal-making skills, as well as how things are often accomplished in state government. One of this blog’s alert readers, “how_it_works,” pointed that the timing of the events related in the story just did…
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Virginia Democrats Have New Tourism Twist
by Olivia Gans Turner Recently North Carolina passed a bill to prevent abortions after 12 weeks. This new law may save many lives in North Carolina, but most abortions actually happen earlier, in the first weeks of pregnancy. Now Virginia Democrats are announcing their intention to make Virginia a destination state for abortions. In the…
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Ah, So That’s What That Was All About!
Leighty, Bill. Capitol Secrets: Leadership Wisdom from a Lifetime of Public Service. Holon Publishing, 2023. A review by Dick Hall-Sizemore The public sees the result of policy development. What the public does not see is the sometimes- messy process that produced that policy nor, more broadly, what goes on behind the scenes to make government…
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Martin Brown Is Absolutely Correct: To Achieve Real Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, “DEI” Must Die
by J. Kennerly Davis Martin Brown, a senior aide to Governor Glenn Youngkin, created quite a stir when he told an audience at the Virginia Military Institute that “DEI is dead.” Democrats in politics and the media jumped on the remark, and the Governor’s support of Brown, to assert that the Youngkin administration is hostile…
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An Utterly Inspiring Woman
By James C. Sherlock Cheri Shores died Saturday, May 13. She was simply one of the most gracious, generous, skilled and inspiring people I have ever met. Cheri and her husband Lance in 2006 opened their first Citrus restaurant in Virginia Beach a couple of blocks from where my late wife and I lived. Jo…
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Major Actions to Reduce Corporate Overhead Offer Lessons and Opportunities to Virginia Government
by James C. Sherlock The chart above shows that management and administrative overhead growth has been a trend not limited to government. The difference is that corporations are making quick and decisive strides in reversing the trend. It is axiomatic that government should minimize overhead to maximize efficiency in delivery of services. And to lower…
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Virginia Lacks Regulations for the Safe, Scientific and Effective Diagnosis and Treatment of Transgender Youth
by James C. Sherlock To get this out of the way, I personally support qualified diagnosis and psychological treatment for gender dysphoria in children and adolescents. I oppose puberty suppression, cross-gender hormonal treatments and transgender surgical procedures in minors. That said, transgender individuals, like everyone, deserve skilled, safe and standards-based medical care. Virginia laws and…
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Increase Teacher Pay in Virginia to Meet Legislated Minimum Standard of National Average Compensation
by James C. Sherlock We have major teacher shortages in Virginia, and we need to address them to ensure not only quantity but quality. To do that we need to fund our legislated state goals of competitive teacher compensation. Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.1. Teacher compensation; biennial review required. It is a goal of the…