Category: Governance
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No PAC for Disaster Preparedness and Response
by James C. Sherlock Virginia’s responses to COVID were a continuing national embarrassment. Individual Virginia department and agencies had no operational pandemic response plans. They ignored specific and prescient directions to build and exercise such plans in the dormant Virginia Pandemic Emergency Plan. VDEM then attempted a coverup. No PPE stockpiles. Last in testing. Last in…
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What? No Amendments Permitted to a $4.3 Billion Budget Bill?
by James C. Sherlock Del. Luke Torian, D-Woodbridge, the Chair of the Appropriations Committee in the House of Delegates, has announced that there will be no member amendments allowed for the budget that the governor sends down during the upcoming special session. Three things about that: Torian is the king of budget amendments. Look at…
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Is DOJ’s Focus on Healthcare Monopolies Coming to Virginia?
by James C. Sherlock The Acting head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Richard A. Powers, yesterday delivered a speech that described the Justice Department’s new goals, strategies and resources for criminal antitrust enforcement. The clouds have darkened over Virginia’s healthcare monopolies. The Commonwealth. Virginia has failed in its duty to oversee its healthcare industry. The…
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Where Is a Parents’ Bill of Rights for Virginia?
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes, the simplest and certainly one of the best ways for a public official to serve the public is to inform them about things they care about. The Attorney General of Indiana, perhaps the best governed state in America, has just published a roadmap for parents and caregivers to “exercise their…
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Virginia Governance in the Finest of Hands: Robert Jeffrey
Roanoke City Councilman Robert Jeffrey, 52, has been indicted by a grand jury on two charges of felony embezzlement. The case arose from a complaint from the Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization, an affordable housing organizations, reports The Roanoke Times. The charges did not specify the amount of money or value of property involved, but noted…
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Will Clement Leave His Mark as UVa Rector?
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia Board of Visitors will have some fresh blood tomorrow. Whittington W. Clement will assume leadership as rector July 1, and he will be joined by three new members appointed by Governor Ralph Northam earlier this month on the 19-person board. The question is this: Will anything change?…
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How 15 Days to Slow the Spread Became 475
by Kerry Dougherty At last! Four hundred and seventy five days after Gov. Ralph Northam first declared a coronavirus state of emergency, his latest order is set to expire today. God willing. I can’t be the only one holding my breath, wondering if the hysteria that Team Apocalypse is ginning up over the Delta variant…
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Virginia Ratifies!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore On this date, 233 years ago, June 25, 1788, Virginia ratified the United States Constitution. The stakes could not have been higher. Ratification by nine states was required for the Constitution to go into effect. When the delegates to the ratifying convention began their deliberations on June 2, they knew that eight…
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Some Thoughts on Local Government Finance
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The recent posts and comments concerning the reversion of the city of Martinsville to town status (see here, here, and here) provide a good opportunity to discuss the complexity of local government finance and the limitations of using simplistic measures to compare governments. Jim Sherlock referred to the “wreckage” of Martinsville, which…
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The COVID Restrictions Have Been Lifted!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore We now have been a week without state-imposed COVID restrictions. No social distancing. No restrictions on venues opening. I can go to my grandson’s graduation tonight. Kerry can go to the beach without a mask on. We all can go to Flying Squirrels’ games. As of May 28, the Governor lifted all…
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Getting Electricity from Government
By Dick Hall-Sizemore More than 300,000 Virginia residents and numerous commercial enterprises are not subject to the monopolistic electric rates of Dominion, APCO, or the electric cooperatives. They get their electric service from their local governments. There are 16 municipalities in which electric service is provided by a governmental entity. Primarily, they are small towns…
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The One-Sided Decision in the Reversion of Martinsville – the Start of a Trend?
by James C. Sherlock The Martinsville Bulletin, perhaps the best remaining newspaper in the state for local coverage, published a must-read article on the reversion of Martinsville from city to town and joining Henry County. Overview Martinsville’s current city logo, above, was perhaps prescient. Martinsville has been hemorrhaging population, losing more than 18% in the…
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Should Northern Virginia Join D.C. in the 51st State?
By Don Rippert Taxation without representation. The Democratic Party’s control of Congress and the White House has reopened the question of statehood for Washington, DC. This is not a new issue. The question of statehood for D.C. has been actively debated since 1980. Since the 98th Congress, more than a dozen statehood bills have been…
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The Proper Role of Virginia’s Attorney General
by Jack White By now, Virginia voters have heard from many candidates running for Attorney General making sweeping promises about policy changes they will implement as AG or talking about being the chief prosecutor for Virginia. With due respect to the other candidates in the race, I feel compelled to reiterate what is and what…
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Virginia’s Updated “Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students” Has Temporarily Disappeared
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes you just need to go to the documents to see what the Virginia Department of Education is up to. This example will tell you everything you want to know. Each agency proposing a new or revised regulation is required by Virginia law to post a “Proposed Agency Background Document” on…