Category: Government Finance
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Voters Will Decide Virginia’s Future Direction
by Derrick Max In two weeks, the people of Virginia will decide on two competing visions for the future of Virginia. Will they elect a General Assembly favoring Governor Glenn Youngkin’s more freedom-oriented policy vision, or will they elect a General Assembly returning the Commonwealth to the statist policy vision of former governors Terry McAuliffe…
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How Pass Through Tax Rules Raid the U.S. Treasury
By Steve Haner When the General Assembly was briefed on the state’s financial status last week, the $412 million in unexpected revenue growth was dismissed as potentially misleading because of some new quirk in Virginia tax law called the Pass Through Entity Tax or PTET. PTET keeps coming up in these discussions. Approval of the…
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Youngkin Team Cautious Despite Revenue Surge
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Virginia’s state budget grew 90% in the past decade, far faster than in previous decades. After adjusting for inflation and population changes, spending still jumped 4% each year, a high rate of compound real growth. At the same time, the…
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Local Government Unions Raise Your Taxes
By Chris Braunlich Subscribers to Netflix will soon see rate increases because of the Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA Hollywood strikes. Buyers of new and used cars will, as a result of the United Auto Workers strike, see prices go up as supply dwindles and costs rise. The current spate of labor actions – involving more than…
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Cline, Good, Griffith Outvoted in Bid to Secure Border, Stop CR
by Scott Dreyer The federal government’s fiscal year ended September 30, and in what has become a frequent occurrence, the Congress had failed to present a budget for the president’s signature. In the weeks and days before September 30, many politicians, pundits, and average citizens were debating what would happen and what would be best…
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DOE Response to Average Teacher Salary Issues
by Dick Hall-Sizemore My article on average teacher salaries must have struck a nerve. This morning I received an answer to my inquiry from the Department of Education (DOE). In short, DOE disavows any responsibility for the accuracy of the data in the report it submitted to the General Assembly. The Office of Communications declares,…
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A Case Against Further Tax Cuts
by Dick Hall-Sizemore After more than a decade of state budget revenue shortfalls and concomitant budget cuts, one would think there would be smiles all round at the news of revenues coming in substantially above the projections, resulting in a healthy general fund surplus. Incongruously, that was not the case. Republicans seemed to be outraged…
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Transparency? Hah!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Maybe it was the weirdness of amending the biennial budget after Year 2 of the biennium had started. Maybe all the money they had to spend made them dizzy. Maybe they were in a hurry because many of them were in the middle of re-election campaigns. Whatever the reason, the General Assembly…
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Virginia’s “Runaway” Budget Negotiators
by Derrick A. Max (This column was first published by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy) Fear of commitment is a common theme in Hollywood — where romantic comedies are replete with characters that sidestep long-term commitment primarily out of fear that someone better may come along. Think of Runaway Bride, where Maggie, played…
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How They Spent That Money
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Steve Haner and I unofficially tag-team on the state budget. Fittingly, he covers the revenues (taxes) and I cover the spending. Regarding the revenues available for spending, it is notable what was missing from the presentations by the Governor and Secretary of Finance in their appearances before the money committees last month.…
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Youngkin’s Partial Tax Wins are Still Impressive
By Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) and the legislators of both parties who have given him at least some of the tax reforms he asked for need to stop being shy and take a real victory lap. He has been in office…
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The Virginia State Budget and the Rising Costs of Registered Nurses
by James C. Sherlock I was asked yesterday by a reader about the relationship between nursing homes, rising registered nurse salaries and the new Virginia budget agreement. Good questions. Virginia’s workforce includes nearly 70,000 registered nurses. The state pays its workers, but it also pays its Medicaid share for private sector nurses. Pay for private…
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Which Virginia Taxes Have Grown and How Much
By Steve Haner What a difference just four years has made in Virginia’s financial condition, with the state’s General Fund tax revenue having increased 31% during the period and its Commonwealth Transportation Fund revenue increasing by almost 36%. This is comparing the annual results for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2023, just released, and…
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Virginia’s Balance Sheet is Embarrassingly Strong
By Steve Haner “Our balance sheet couldn’t be stronger…this is our moment to soar.” So said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin Wednesday. Every year, our governors come to the legislature to report on the end of the fiscal year financial result, and often they say something like that. They always prefer to bring a happy message over one…
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Virginia’s Schools Really Do Need More Money
by Suzanne Munson Recent General Assembly debates about state budgets open a cornucopia of questions about the future of education in Virginia — charter schools, lab schools, vouchers, funding for religious schools? Now might be a good time to examine some background about public education in Virginia. Thomas Jefferson proposed the state’s first legislation in…