Category: Governance
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Scandal in Plain Sight – Virginia’s Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners
by James C. Sherlock One of the most important and heart-wrenching decisions families make for their elderly loved ones is whether they are able to keep them in their homes as they get older and sicker. Sometimes that is not feasible for a long list of reasons in each case. More than 30,000 Virginians live…
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FIVE QUESTIONS: Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares
by Shaun Kenney Last week, TRS was able to sit down and talk with Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares (R-VA) about the challenges he is facing from opioid and fentanyl abuse to the FBI Richmond’s targeting of Catholics in the public square. Miyares — a longstanding conservative in the tradition of Ronald Reagan and a…
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Ah, So That’s What That Was All About!
Leighty, Bill. Capitol Secrets: Leadership Wisdom from a Lifetime of Public Service. Holon Publishing, 2023. A review by Dick Hall-Sizemore The public sees the result of policy development. What the public does not see is the sometimes- messy process that produced that policy nor, more broadly, what goes on behind the scenes to make government…
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The Song’s Not New Just Because You Haven’t Heard It Before
by Joe Fitzgerald When I was a younger man and indulged in that lowdown southern whiskey, I would sometimes sum up the next day by saying, “I don’t remember church bells.” Astute observers will immediately recognize literary allusions to Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken,” one of the great rock-and-roll story songs. Now, 41 years sober, I…
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Major Actions to Reduce Corporate Overhead Offer Lessons and Opportunities to Virginia Government
by James C. Sherlock The chart above shows that management and administrative overhead growth has been a trend not limited to government. The difference is that corporations are making quick and decisive strides in reversing the trend. It is axiomatic that government should minimize overhead to maximize efficiency in delivery of services. And to lower…
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Virginia Secedes from National Elections Organization
by Jim McCarthy A February 25 article in Bacon’s Rebellion, “Forget Waldo, Where’s ERIC?” by James Wyatt Whitehouse raised questions about the volunteer national election clearing house organization entitled Electronic Information Registration Center, or ERIC. The BR piece highlighted the experience of the Alabama Secretary of State: On February 15, 2023, Alabama Secretary of State…
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As U.S. Teeters On the Brink of Recession, Virginia Beach Hikes Taxes
by Kerry Dougherty Do you mind if I’m brutally honest for a minute? Good. Because there’s no stopping me today. Any member of the Virginia Beach City Council majority who voted Tuesday to approve an obscene $2.5 billion budget as the country teeters on the edge of a recession is a liar if they try…
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Increase Teacher Pay in Virginia to Meet Legislated Minimum Standard of National Average Compensation
by James C. Sherlock We have major teacher shortages in Virginia, and we need to address them to ensure not only quantity but quality. To do that we need to fund our legislated state goals of competitive teacher compensation. Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.1. Teacher compensation; biennial review required. It is a goal of the…
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Conservatives Actively Promoting Better Economic Future for Petersburg
by James C. Sherlock Bill Atkinson of The Progress-Index on May 3rd did his usual great job reporting news of Petersburg. The article is titled “PFP point man calls Petersburg ‘gold mine,’ encourages business to come or expand there.” The Richmond meeting featured the governor’s point man on the Partnership for Petersburg (PFP), Garrison Coward,…
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Why They Fought — and Deserve to be Remembered
by Donald Smith Soldiers go to war for many reasons — home, country, duty, glory, personal adventure. But, in the midst of battle, soldiers fight for their comrades — “the man to the left of me, the man to the right of me,” as the saying goes. Good soldiers are driven by an intense desire…
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Snow Day in April: Something in the Water
by Kerry Dougherty When the first Something in the Water Festival came to Virginia Beach in 2019, some lemon-sucking locals balked at allowing school buses to be used to transport revelers from satellite parking to the resort area. How will bus drivers be able to drive festival goers until 11 p.m. on Sunday and be…
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You Want to Teach? Wait in Line.
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Last September, Governor Youngkin issued an executive directive addressing teacher shortages in Virginia. That directive laid out numerous actions to be taken by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and other agency heads with regard to reducing the teacher shortage. In his remarks upon releasing the directive, he called the actions “transformational.” It…
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Public Corruption Transacted in Public
by James C. Sherlock Want that country club membership but don’t want to write the check for the initial membership fee? How about the down payment on a vacation home? Run for office in Virginia. Pay for it with campaign money. You don’t even have to win as long as you spend it during the…
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Move Over Covid: Sharks Are Back
by Kerry Dougherty Great news! Sharks are swarming off the coast of the Outer Banks. Nine great whites so far. One, named Breton, is a 13-foot adult male weighing over 1,400 pounds according to a story in Saturday’s Virginian-Pilot. Why is this good news? Because it’s a sign that Covid is truly over. The general…
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A More Appropriate Management Model for State Mental Health Facilities
by James C. Sherlock I always find it disturbing when state agencies operate institutions that they are also responsible for regulating and inspecting. It almost cannot work. I have brought this up with regards to the VDOE operation of a virtual learning program when that same agency oversees private providers of the exact same services.…