Category: Regulations, Gov’t Oversight
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Your PIPP Tax Will Buy Heat Pumps For Poor
by Steve Haner Lower-income Virginians who are customers of the two largest electricity providers may begin to receive subsidies on their residential bills in March 2022 under legislation moving forward in the General Assembly. The money for the subsidies will come from their fellow customers.
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In Praise of Trailer Parks
by James A. Bacon Nobody knows for sure how many trailer parks there are in Virginia, and Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, wants to find answers. He has introduced a budget amendment to establish a Virginia Manufactured Home Park registry, to be funded with a $100 database maintenance fee from each mobile home park. Krizek regards…
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The Latest Lunacy: Face Masks for Fishermen
by Kerry Dougherty Ever wonder what would happen if feminists, man buns and smoked salmon socialists crafted federal policy? You’d get moronic rules like this one from the Biden administration: One of Joe’s latest executive orders requires all commercial fishermen to wear face masks – including while asleep in their cramped berths – and the…
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Dominion Electric Bus Scheme Back, With More
by Steve Haner First published this morning by Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The ultimate goal of the Transportation and Climate Initiative with its tax and rationing scheme is to eliminate fossil fuels for transportation and get us into electric vehicles. That is something advocates have admitted and critics have pointed out. While Virginia…
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All According to Plan – the Biggest Government Scandal in Virginia History
by James C. Sherlock The Virginia Mercury published an excellent article on the difficulties being encountered in Virginia in scheduling COVID shots. But who could have anticipated the need? Who indeed. This story is part of the single biggest government scandal in Virginia history and the press is either ignorant of the underlying issue or…
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Holding Richmond Public Schools Accountable — Part I
by James C. Sherlock We have discussed here the failures of the City of Richmond Public Schools (RPS) in educating its economically disadvantaged children, as well as the abysmal performance of Black children in its schools. I intend to help readers understand how it manages to fail repeatedly even with major federal funding as…
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Before There Was an Atlantic Gas Pipeline….
…There Was the Coal Slurry Pipeline. by James A. Bacon The early 1980s were a momentous time for the U.S. coal industry, and for Virginia economic history and politics as well. As the world turned to coal in the wake of the Arab oil embargo, coal exports through Hampton Roads were surging. Loading terminals literally…
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Basic Child Literacy Cannot Be too Much to Ask of Richmond City Public Schools
by James C. Sherlock Half of Black 4th graders in Richmond public schools couldn’t read in 2019. That is not OK. It is way past time to demand both better performance and accountability. Clearly neither the city of Richmond nor the Commonwealth has done that effectively. So I have filed formal complaints with the federal…
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Follow the Voodoo
by Kerry Dougherty Can we all agree that the halftime show at this year’s Super Bowl was a real stinker? Unless dancing men in sequined jackets with underwear on their heads is your thing, that is. (Yes, I know those were supposed to be bandages, but they looked like tighty whities headgear.) As my radio…
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Federal COVID Funding to Virginia K-12 Schools
by James C. Sherlock The federal government allocated a great deal of money in each of two different pieces of legislation in 2020 to provide COVID-related relief to K-12 schools. I will endeavor here to explain briefly what that means to Virginia. The two pieces of 2020 federal legislation that provide funding to K-12 schools…
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Dominion VCEA Plan Review Ends with Questions
by Steve Haner A near year-long review of Dominion Energy Virginia’s plans to meet service obligations while abandoning fossil-fueled energy has ended with a pile of data, a list of unanswered questions, no real decision and plenty of reason to fear future electricity cost increases. The review of Dominion’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) started March…
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One Third of House GOP Backs Stronger SCC
by Steve Haner Five interrelated bills that will strengthen the State Corporation Commission’s oversight during Dominion Energy Virginia’s next rate case advanced out of the House of Delegates Friday, with the two strongest receiving either 12 or 10 Republican aye votes. All received at least some Republican votes, and four of the five had Democrats…
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Consumer Reports Misleads on Virginia EV Bill
by James C. Sherlock Few media outlets are as influential with their readership as Consumer Reports or as active in soliciting direct contact of public officials on issues that management feels are important to that publication’s political values. That is their right, but false statements in support of their positions is a violation of public…
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Probably a Coincidence – COPN, the Monopolization of Health Care and the Marginalization of the Poor
by James C. Sherlock I have been asked many times about how freer markets in healthcare can coexist with our need to treat the poor. I will try to briefly cover some of the complexities of the answer to that question. And I will show that of all of the government healthcare control systems, COPN…
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COPN Scores a Kill
by James C. Sherlock More than eleven months ago I wrote an essay titled, “The Legal Corruption of (Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need) COPN.” That system needs overhaul, not adjustment, and the people of Hampton Roads need help. The Governor needs to lead in both efforts. Today I offer the third in a series (first…