Category: Governance
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Media reaction to Goodlatte’s 2018 Chesapeake Bay Amendment
Background: Republican Rep Bob Goodlatte (Va – 6th) has proposed an amendment to an appropriations package which would forbid the EPA from using federal funds to take action against bay states that fail to meet pollution-reduction targets set by the EPA and agreed-to by the states. The amendment is to the 2019 Interior, Environment, Financial…
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Saul Trumpinsky – Donald Trump and Saul Alinsky
Yes Virginia, there is a United States. Most posts published on this blog are dedicated to Virginia-specific issues. This post is an exception. It is an attempt to understand the unexpected popularity of Donald Trump. While all states are impacted by the federal government and national politics, Virginia is perhaps the most affected state. The proximity…
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Does the RPV have the guts to scuttle the GA?
Sink the Bismark. Folklore and decades of accepted history hold that the German battleship Bismark was sunk by the Royal Navy. However, recent underwater archeological research tells a slightly different story. At first the Bismark seemed invincible. She engaged HMS Hood, the pride of the British fleet, and sank her. The Bismark also damaged the…
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The Virginia529 Board Should Be Lauded, Not Criticized
State government, local government, universities and independent authorities in Virginia are larded with debt and unfunded liabilities. No one, to my knowledge, has compiled a total inventory of public institutions’ exposure to pension obligations, leases, maintenance backlogs, infrastructure debt, economic development loans, and other long-term obligations. Institutions’ exposure to the vagaries of the economy and…
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Supremes Reject “Compactness” Argument against 2011 Redistricting
Using the courts to reform Virginia’s politicians-pick-their-voters redistricting procedures got harder than ever, thanks to last week’s ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court. One Virginia 2021, a nonpartisan redistricting reform group, had challenged the 2011 gerrymandering of five House of Delegates districts and six Senate districts on the grounds that they violated the state constitutional…
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This Metro Deal Literally Smells
As the General Assembly debates the state’s contribution to the bailing out of the Washington Metro system, Virginians are continually reminded of the company’s history of dysfunctional management. The latest news from the Washington Post: An investigation by the agency’s Office of Inspector General has found that the grimey, orangey-brown, 1970s-era carpet installed in Metro…
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Transparency and Accountability for EDAs
How transparent and accountable should Economic Development Authorities be to the public? That’s the fundamental issue raised by Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, who submitted a bill that would require local government approval for all EDA grants and budgets. That bill was defeated by one vote in the Senate’s local government committee, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch,…
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Safeguard Privacy of Student Contact Info
Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, has submitted a bill that would exempt college student cellphone numbers and private email addresses from publicly available data. Del. Chris Hurst, D-Blacksburg, and Del. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, have submitted similar bills. Reports the Roanoke Times: The bills address concerns raised during the 2017 election when NextGen Virginia, a progressive political group,…
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The Case for Public Comments at University Board Meetings
The following position paper was published by Partners for College Affordability and Public Trust, a sponsor of the Bacon’s Rebellion blog. ISSUE: Public Comment for Virginia’s Colleges and Universities PROBLEM: Currently, the decision to raise tuition and fees on students of Virginia colleges and universities is done without any required public input. Yet rate-setting is…
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Make College Trustees More Accountable to Students, Taxpayers
James V. Koch In a competition to woo students, public universities are increasingly offering lavish amenities that have nothing to do with education. The latest trend is lazy rivers, which have been installed at several big institutions, including the Universities of Alabama, Iowa and Missouri. Last year, Louisiana State University topped them all with a 536-foot-long “leisure” river in…
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Snuff Out the Smart-Scale Revolt before it Grows
Smart Scale prioritizes road and highway projects in Virginia by collecting metrics for congestion, safety, the environment, economic development and other indicators. Ideally, the scores ensure that scarce road construction dollars will be allocated on the basis of merit, not political pull. But Smart Scale isn’t working for the Fredericksburg area, argues a Free Lance-Star…
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Virginia’s Top 10 Stories (Told and Untold) of the Year
Phew! I finally made it through the all-consuming Christmas season, and I’m still alive to tell the tale. Christmas is a wonderful but grueling time of year for the Bacon family, marked by numerous feasts, expanding waistlines, excessive gift giving, shrinking bank accounts, and considerable out-of-town travel to distant relatives. But I’m back in the…
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Appointing Lawmakers to Executive Boards Violates the State Constitution
The boards of 21 state entities are exempt from the state law prohibiting legislators from serving on boards, commissions and councils within the executive branch. They include: Branch Pilots Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Southern Virginia Higher Education Center New College Institute Teacher Education and Licensure Virginia Interagency Coordinating Council Board of Veterans Services Roanoke…
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What the Numbers Tell Us
How do Virginia’s public higher-ed institutions rate on the goals established in the 2005 Restructuring Act and embedded in state code? The data is incomplete. This is the fourth of four articles exploring higher-education accountability in Virginia since enactment of the 2005 “Restructuring Higher Education Financial and Administrative Services Act.” The 2005 Restructuring Act created…
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What Virginia Needs Is a Good Local-Government Report Card
Speaking of government report cards for states (see previous post), Virginia could use a good system for rating its local governments. As it happens, the Virginia Tea Party Federation is mobilizing to grade Virginia local governments on the basis of 20 to 30 key performance indicators on fiscal health and quality of government services. The…