Category: Government workers and pensions
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McAuliffe’s Ethics End Run
By Peter Galuszka Kudos to Terry McAuliffe. Virginia’s new governor has taken strong and important steps to force the state into much needed ethics reform by issuing an executive order setting a gift acceptance cap of $100 for himself, his staff and members of state agencies. He’s also allocating $100,000 to set up a state…
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A Toothless Ethics Proposal (No Surprise)
By Peter Galuszka Virginia finally seems on a path toward toughening its ethics rules after the Giftgate scandal involving Gov. Robert F. McDonnell. but — predictably — the deal reached by the two parties is toothless. The arrangement proposed by a bipartisan group within the General Assembly would cap gifts to officials and their families…
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The McDonnell Track Record: Incremental Improvement
by James A. Bacon Governor Bob McDonnell’s four-year term in office is drawing to a close. Sadly, it appears that the governor will be remembered mainly for his atrocious judgment in accepting more than $150,000 in gifts and loans from a Richmond businessman. While the Giftgate scandal deservedly dominated the headlines in his last year…
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Virginia’s Pension Picture: Among Most Improved
Here’s the good news: Virginia ranks among the seven “most improved” states in the union measured by the reduction of unfunded pension liabilities between 2009 and 2012, according to data published by the Institute for Truth in Accounting. Here’s the bad news: The commonwealth still has billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. Have fun…
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IG of the Day: Federal Contract Jobs
More than one in ten Virginians working in the Commonwealth is a private sector employee working under federal contract, according to data published by the Mercatus Center. That’s the highest percentage of any state in the country… by far. The comparable figure for Maryland is only 7.7%. Add government jobs to federally funded private jobs,…
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Thank God It’s Over: Seven Election Takeaways
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, LGBQT, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Science & Technology, Social Services and EntitlementsBy Peter Galuszka The awful Virginia gubernatorial contest is over. Utter disaster has been averted with the defeat of strident rightwinger Kenneth Cuccinelli. Here are seven takeaways from Election Day: 1. Winner Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, now gets to deal with a contentious General Assembly where the GOP maintains firm control on the House of…
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Sunday Morning Coming Down
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Planning, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka With apologies to Kris Kristofferson, this Sunday morning presents a grab bag of interesting morning newspaper stories and positions. To wit: GiftGate Update, Getting the Stories Straight: According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, Star Scientific boss Jonnie R. Williams Sr. told federal prosecutors he insisted on meeting personally with his then-buddy Gov.…
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The Madness of Virginia Republicans
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and EntitlementsBy Peter Galuszka Virginia’s Republicans are posed to take big hits because of the infuriating deadlock in Congress over the budget and debt ceiling. The ones looking the worst are U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, and gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Cuccinelli. Both have played too hard to Tea Party anarchists whose scheme seems…
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The Ironies of Tom Clancy
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in Business and Economy, Children and Families, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Science & Technology, Social Services and EntitlementsBy Peter Galuszka The timing is extremely odd, but the death of techno-thriller author Tom Clancy came this week just when federal workers were being furloughed by the hundreds of thousands through Capitol Hill gridlock. Clancy, who died in Baltimore at 66, did much in the 1980s to makes heroes of the men and women…
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Now You See It, Now You Don’t
by James A. Bacon Henrico County government officials, who have campaigned in support of a 4% meals tax referendum in every way conceivable short of actually saying, “Vote for the meals tax,” have released a list of “expenditure cuts, absorptions and efficiency savings” to document their claim that the county has “cut $115 million and…
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Stressed Out: Pensions
by James A. Bacon Governor Bob McDonnell and the General Assembly made a big splash in the spring of 2012 when they crafted a long-term fix for the $55 billion Virginia Retirement System. While the commonwealth did shore up pension funding for state and local employees, it also created big headaches for local governments. Just…
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VRS Portfolio Up 12%
The Virginia Retirement System (VRS) achieved an 11.8% return on its investment portfolio in fiscal year 2013, ending the year with $58.3 billion in assets, the VRS reports. The news is not exactly unexpected. The the stock market reached record highs over the past year, allowing the VRS to generate an 18.6% return on its…
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What Happens in Detroit, Does Not Stay in Detroit
Detroit seems a long way from the Old Dominion, and its bankruptcy woes seem largely irrelevant to a state and its local governments which, whatever else their flaws, have among the strongest bond ratings in the country. But it would be a mistake for Virginians to ignore events in the Wolverine State. It looks like…
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IG of the Day: Local Gov’t Payrolls
Virginia cities rank among the highest in the nation for the number of local government employees expressed as a ratio of the population, according to data compiled by the Washington Examiner. Richmond ranked 5th with one city worker for every 39 residents. Norfolk scored in the top quintile with one worker for every 44 residents,…
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Another Tired Defense of the Henrico Status Quo
Addressing the Henrico Business Council, County Manager John Vithoulkas made a familiar case for a 4% meals tax yesterday. The county, which has already cut to the bone, faces another $100 million revenue shortfall over the next five years, due in great part to the recent recognition of its massive pension obligations. A meals tax…