Category: Governance
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GMU Re-Koched
Republished with permission from VoxFairfax.com. There are several cognitive cautions that may sensitize a reader’s appreciation of important information. Among these is the elegant French caution that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Another is the guide that instructs the reader on the behaviors of public figures to “watch what they…
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More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About the Regulatory Process in Virginia
by Dick Hall-Sizemore There has been a fair amount of general discussion on this blog lately about promulgating or repealing regulations in Virginia. As a recent post of Steve Haner indicates, the regulatory process also figures prominently in bills being introduced in the current General Assembly. To help inform this and future discussions, the following…
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What Was More “Political”: Heaphy’s Firing or His Hiring?
by James A. Bacon The Richmond Times-Dispatch ramped up the mainstream media’s criticism of Attorney General Jason Miyares in a story published over the weekend. The headline: “Jason Miyares removed the head lawyer at 3 state colleges. Professors and Democrats say he’s wielding excessive influence.” The initial wave of Miyares-critical stories, most prominently in The…
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COPN’s Regional Monopolies Helped Boost Virginia Hospitals’ Operating Margins to more than 3x National Median in 2020
by James C. Sherlock Virginians have been assured forever by the hospital lobby that the non-profit regional monopolies established and protected by COPN nearly everywhere but Richmond: are benign public servants with a charitable mission; certainly don’t drive up costs; that competition does not matter; that the State Medical Facilities Plan on which COPN is…
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School Choice Can Help Poor Parents Quickly Improve the Education of their Kids
by James C. Sherlock The excellent education reporter Laura Meckler has written a terrific article in The Washington Post titled “Public education is facing a crisis of epic proportions“. Indeed. Test scores are down, and violence is up. Parents are screaming at school boards, and children are crying on the couches of social workers. Anger…
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Youngkin The Deficit Budgeteer
by Dick Hall-Sizemore As reported on this blog earlier by Steve Haner, Governor Youngkin has proposed new tax cuts totaling approximately $3.0 billion for the biennium. But the governor was not content with tax cuts. He also wants to spend more. His proposed amendments to the budget introduced by Governor Northam include more than half…
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Child Masking – Where is the Offramp?
by James C. Sherlock I have two important questions for my friends who insist on mandates for masks for children in schools. Is the child mask mandate permanent? If not, where is the offramp? I will cede for purposes of this inquiry that you are sincere in your concern for the vulnerability to COVID of…
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Day One
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Comments and ruminations on “Day One” actions: Executive Order 1—”Inherently divisive” concepts. The headlines will have gotten this one wrong. The Governor has not prohibited the teaching of critical race theory in public schools, not that anyone was actually doing that. He has directed the Superintendent of Public Instruction to purge the…
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A Price of COPN — Sentara Pleads COVID Capacity Shortages
by James C. Sherlock Sentara Health, once described by The Washington Post as “playing COPN like a violin,” yesterday went statewide with an acknowledgment that its system is out of capacity for many who seek its help. On a Zoom press conference yesterday, Sentara reported seeing a huge surge in hospital admissions. Hospitalizations have more…
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Emil Faber Weeps
by Walter Smith The statue of Emil Faber, founder of Faber College (of Animal House fame), bears a quote, “Knowledge is good.” The reigning philosophy at the University of Virginia, by contrast, seems to be, “Only some knowledge is good.” By way of introduction, let us note that the University of Virginia Alumni Association this…
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Protecting Stable Governance — Virginia vs. the Federal Government
by James C. Sherlock An opinion piece by Catherine Rampell in The Washington Post was headlined, “No one in their right mind would design a government that works like ours.” She meant that her preferred changes to American governance were stymied by Senate rules. The “no one in their right mind” was a tell. Anyone…
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Add Affordability to List of Higher-Ed Priorities
by James A. Bacon Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin has an opportunity to restore Virginia’s public universities as beacons of free speech, free inquiry and intellectual diversity by making strategic appointments to Boards of Visitors over the next four years. As he refines his vision for higher education, he should also prioritize making Virginia colleges and universities…
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What Higher-Ed Reformers Are Up Against
by James A. Bacon The incoming Youngkin administration didn’t campaign on reforming “woke” public colleges and universities in Virginia, but I am getting plenty of signals that pushing back against the leftist indoctrination and conformity on campus follows close behind fixing Virginia’s public schools as a priority. The first step will be appointing board members…
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Bacons Bits: Personnel Is Policy Edition
Is Charlottesville ungovernable? In the latest example of revolving-door leadership in the People’s Republic of Charlottesville, Marc Woolley has withdrawn from his appointment as interim city manager just a day prior to his start date. According to the Daily Progress, Woolley had faced questions from the newspaper about his resignation from two previous jobs and…
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What Criteria Are We Looking For In University Board Members?
by James A. Bacon As Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin selects cabinet members and other key members of his administration, he has more pressing concerns to occupy his attention at this moment than replacing members on Virginia’s public university boards whose terms don’t expire until June 30. But as soon as he has the opportunity to do…