Category: General Assembly
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Pass Me the Napkin, Please. I Need to Write an Appeal.
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Youngkin administration has come up with a new way to deal with the backlog of appeals filed with the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC): reduce the amount of time claimants and employers have to file an appeal to the agency’s decision. As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a House subcommittee has acted…
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Parents’ Rights Under Assault in Richmond
by Kerry Dougherty HB2091 – SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Parental access to minor’s medical records; consent by certain minors to treatment of mental or emotional disorder. Adds an exception to the right of parental access to a minor child’s health records if the furnishing to or review by the requesting parent of such health records would…
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After Federal Threat to Gas Stoves, Virginia Republicans Try Again on Right to Gas
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Legislation to enshrine the right to use natural gas and propane in Virginia law, a repeat of a failed effort from 2022, cleared a House of Delegates committee Tuesday. The ultimate showdown will come not in the Republican-controlled House but…
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Right Help, Right Now
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Probably the most important set of budget proposals made by Governor Youngkin for the upcoming General Assembly has been in the area of mental health. It has already been discussed generally on this blog. (See here and here.) It might be helpful to examine the details of the proposal. The Governor, and…
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Miyares Reminds Republicans the Difference a Year Makes
by Shaun Kenney If Virginia Republicans needed a sizzle reel, this was it. With news that leftist Commonwealth Attorneys are openly refusing to enforce the law in some cases, the threat to the rule of law and the problem of selective enforcement is greater now than ever before. Which is why a long list of…
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Consumers Be Wary When Energy Elephants Dance
By Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The Virginia House of Delegates is expected to vote this week to exempt certain Virginia manufacturers, which ones to be determined later, from the coming wave of energy costs created by Virginia’s rapid transition to unreliable forms of power generation.
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General Assembly Democrat Bill Supports Gender Transition at 16 Without Parental Consent
by James C. Sherlock I note that House Bill No. 2091, with Patrons Munden-King, Clark, Hope, Maldonado, Rasoul and Simon does two things: It modifies Code of Virginia § 20-124.6. Access to minor’s records to permit health care providers to deny a minor patient’s records to parents if, in the provider’s judgment, providing those records would be “reasonably…
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Virginia Medically Underserved Areas for General Assembly Consideration
by James C. Sherlock We have a new General Assembly session. With that comes lots of healthcare bills. I will not examine each one, but I have a suggestion for criteria to be applied by the Senate and House committees that do. Ask yourselves how, if at all, each bill helps the federally designated medically…
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Virginia Democrats’ Rent Control Bills Would Make Housing Scarcer
by Hans Bader In Virginia’s legislature, rent-control legislation has been introduced by five Democratic delegates and a Democratic state senator. Economists oppose rent control because it makes it more difficult for people to find decent housing in the long run. In a 1992 poll, 93% of those surveyed said rent control reduces the quantity and…
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The Alumni Rebellion Spreads to JMU
by James A. Bacon A group of James Madison University alumni has organized a new group, the Madison Cabinet for Free Speech and Accountability, to promote “freedom of expression, intellectual diversity, and academic freedom on campus.” The JMU group marks the fourth university in Virginia to organize in protest of the takeover of an institution…
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UVa Student Council Peddles Its Character Assassination to the General Assembly
by James A. Bacon The executive board of the University of Virginia Student Council has asked the Virginia General Assembly to reject Governor Glenn Youngkin’s appointment of Bert Ellis to the Board of Visitors. The letter was addressed to Democratic Party leaders of the state Senate. The Senate is comprised of 22 Democrats and 18…
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A Subsidy and Benefit for the Few
by Dick Hall-Sizemore With the advent of another General Assembly session comes the annual school voucher bill. This version is HB 1508, introduced by Delegate Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach). Touted as a way to enhance “the right of parents to decide the educational opportunity for their child,” the legislation has a tweak that makes it…
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Dominion Wants To Rewrite Its Own Rules Again
by Steve Haner First published today by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The headlines in the coming General Assembly may be captured by fights over abortion and taxes, but the deepest reach into your pockets will involve your energy bills. The state’s dominant electric utility appears to once again be seeking to amend…
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As TJHSST is Investigated, an Email from 2020 Reveals a ‘Pattern and Practice’ of Hiding Awards
by Asra Q. Nomani This week, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares walked through the glass doors of the Korean Community Center off Little River Turnpike, the dome of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology visible through the window, and with him stood five parents of current and former students at TJ, as the…