You heard it here first (unless you heard it from the same source I heard it from): The Kaine administration is putting the finishing touches on a monster bond offering to finance another round of higher education construction projects. If approved in a voter referendum, this bond initiative will be even bigger than the one…

Here is the summary conclusion of the 2007 Review of State Spending published by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission: Virginia’s operating budget doubled between fiscal years (FYs) 1998 and 2007, a result of increasing prosperity, population growth, and policy decisions. Adjusting for the effects of inflation and population growth, the budget increased by…

Arlington County Schools are engaging in “courageous conversations about race,” as part of the school district’s Cultural Competence Initiative. One of the main goals of that initiative, according to the Arlington County Citizen, is to create “a school climate where tolerance and respect are encouraged and modeled.” To help accomplish that goal, the schools brought…

The Commonwealth of Virginia has entered into a contract with EnergyConnect, of Portland, Ore., that will ease the strain on Virginia’s electricity grid and improve its reliability. According to a press release from the Governor’s office, the program will reduce the need for Virginia electrical utilities to build additional generating plants, transmission, and distribution lines.…

One would expect Virginia children to be better off than children in other states if only for the reasons that our household incomes are higher than the national average and Virginia has a smaller percentage of poor children. But what happens when you focus on just the poor? How well off are Virginia’s poor children…

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants to create a state-subsidized medical insurance program to make health care more affordable for the working poor. A pilot plan under consideration would feature low-cost premiums with no deductibles and a $50,000 annual cap on benefits, secretary of health and human resources Marilyn Tavenner said at a recent meeting of…

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has really stepped in it this time. He’s ripped the scab off the old state song controversy. If he had his way, said the Governor, who played the harmonica while a bluegrass band performed the tune at a campaign stop in 2005, Virginia would adopt the old bluegrass gospel anthem, “Will…

Del. Chris Saxman has generated a substantial online buzz regarding his Senate candidacy. And I’d say that candidacy is all but certain. No, it’s not just the hospitality suite at the Republican “Advance” this weekend. Nor is it merely his speaking slot on the official program. My certainty comes from the answers he gave to…

Illegal immigrants in the Mid-Atlantic states (Maryland and Virginia) are different from illegals in other states — they tend to be better educated, they make more money, and they’re less likely to have slipped across the border illegally, maintains the Center for Immigration Studies. Summarizes the Washington Post: The average household income for illegal immigrants…

Using Fed-Ex shipping and ATM machines as examples, Newt Gingrich contrasts “the world that works” with the “world that fails.” This 3:20 minute clip is worth watching. Don’t get sidetracked on his specific example — the federal government’s inability to track down illegal immigrants — of the world that fails. This video is not about…

GMU economics professor Bryan Caplan reprints a slightly redacted letter from a former Virginia Senator in which the writer agrees with Caplan’s thesis that voters are irrational. Snip: They have no interest or concern about learning what the nuances of the issues before them might be and they are swayed by 30 seconds [sic] sound…

It’s time to don the smoking jacket and settle down with the pipe, a glass of sherry and the latest edition of the Bacon’s Rebellion e-zine. You can be confident in the knowledge that you will not embarrass yourself when friends ask you which publication you read each morning. “Me? Why, I read Bacon’s Rebellion!”…

Virginia’s budget is in better shape than lawmakers thought back in August when Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced that the commonwealth had a $641 million General Fund shortfall to close in the current fiscal year (Fiscal 2008). A combination of new budget estimates, administrative cost cutting and savings identified by the General Assembly could allow…

Times may be tight in Richmond as the economy slows and the Northern Virginia real estate sector sputters, taking a bite out of recordation tax revenues, but there is a glimmer of good news on the spending side. Projected costs for Medicaid, one of the major drivers of state spending, are expected to moderate over…

The state Senate has eleven committees: Today, under Republican control, all 11 are chaired by white men representing districts than are more rural than typical for the state. In January, seven committees will be chaired by women, four by African-Americans (three of whom are women) and only three by white males. Northern Virginians will have…