Category: General Assembly
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Can the Governor Veto RGGI?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore One of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s top priorities has been to extricate the Commonwealth from participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). One of the top priorities of the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has been ensuring that the Commonwealth participates in RGGI. For those readers unfamiliar with the purposes of RGGI and how…
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Jefferson Institute Lists Bills Youngkin Should Veto
By Derrick Max We have reached sine die of the 2024 General Assembly legislative session. During this session, over a thousand individual bills and a nearly 500-page biennial budget were sent to the Governor. All of this must be reviewed and acted upon by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) before the April 17 reconvened session. There may be hundreds…
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Governor’s Budget Transformed
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In my almost 50 years of working around, and following, the General Assembly, I do not think I have ever seen the legislature take apart a governor’s budget bill to the extent that this General Assembly just demolished Gov. Youngkin’s budget. The change that had the most impact was the jettisoning of…
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The Sausage Factory Taxes the Digital Economy
By Steve Haner The Virginia General Assembly has now jumped into the brave new world of taxing the digital economy, but the sales tax provisions it adopted in the budget conference report Saturday are not the same ones that appeared in earlier budget versions. The cabal of tax raisers in the secret final negotiation got…
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Is Dominion-Stonepeak Deal a Partnership Flip?
By Steve Haner Dominion Energy Virginia insists that its decision to sell a half-interest in the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project “won’t impact ratepayers.” The problem is, perhaps it should. Perhaps Dominion is creating additional value for its shareholders that instead should benefit ratepayers.
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Pot for Sale
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The 2024 General Assembly has taken care of a piece of unfinished business. It has passed a bill to set up a framework for the sale of marijuana. The 2021 General Assembly made it legal for individuals to possess a small amount of marijuana. However, there was not enough time to craft…
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Killing the Digital Goose for Its Golden Egg
By Steve Haner The last time the General Assembly made a similar mistake with the Virginia tax code was 20 years ago. It was 2004, and the complaints that business was not “paying its fair share” came from Republicans in the House. They introduced and quickly pushed through a bill that stripped sales tax exemptions…
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Youngkin and Confederate Heritage
by Donald Smith Does the Virginia GOP want the help and support of the Confederate heritage community? We should get a pretty good indicator this week. Three bills just passed by the General Assembly will soon land on Governor Youngkin’s desk, if they haven’t already. They will remove the tax exemptions of the United Daughters…
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Bait and Switch: Reform Reverts to Mo’ Money
By Chris Braunlich Some years back, I ran into a friend, a Virginia Education Association unit chair, outside the General Assembly building, there to lobby on behalf of a state-wide teacher salary increase.
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Virginia Dems Have Their Panties in a Twist
by Kerry Dougherty This is what triggers Virginia Democrats today: There was an exchange at the Virginia Capitol between Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, who presides over the State Senate, and Sen. Danica Roem of Prince William County. Roem identifies as a woman, although Roem was born a man. The politically correct crowd insists that failing…
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Democrats Proposal to Cut Sentences Would Undermine Public Safety, AG Says
by Hans Bader On February 27, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to Virginia state legislators about a Democratic proposal to allow some violent offenders to receive sentence reductions previously available only to non-violent offenders. Miyares asked legislators to prevent the proposal, passed by the House of Delegates on February 22, from going…
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Common Sense from Young Delegate Earley
by Gordon C. Morse Occasionally, a member of the House of Delegates will stand up, speak to a matter of public interest and do so coherently. Del. Mark L. Earley Jr., R-Chesterfield, achieved this feat on Friday afternoon, Feb. 23, 2024, when he offered his thoughts on state Sen. Bill 212 — legislation that would…
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The Camel in the Tent
In 2022, the General Assembly disregarded two long-standing principles of funding transportation projects in the Commonwealth. Republican Gov. Youngkin followed down that path this year. The General Assembly has dedicated sources of revenue to be used for transportation, with general government functions being financed by general income and sales taxes and other special funds. The…
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Governor May Get Two Different Nuclear Bills
By Steve Haner A Virginia Senate committee voted Monday to approve a House of Delegates bill designed to finance a small modular nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia, contradicting its own earlier vote for a much broader bill that had statewide application. Two different bills on the same topic might now pass the Virginia Senate. If…
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Virginia Budget Amendment Could Lead to Lawsuits Seeking Many Inmates’ Release
from Liberty Unyielding On February 22, Virginia’s progressive House of Delegates removed language from the state’s proposed budget that limited early releases of inmates who committed both violent and non-violent offenses. It removed that language in a 53-to-44 vote, then passed the House’s version of the state budget by a 75-to-24 vote. If the final…