In my recent column, “The Oregon Solution,” I argued that the gasoline tax is doomed. As consumers shift to hybrid cars, fuel cell-powered cars and electric cars over the next 20 years, gasoline consumption will decline precipitously, and so will the gasoline tax — leaving the state of Virginia (and every other state in the…

Virginia state government organizes its economic development efforts around traditional programs — tourism, trade, small-business assistance and recruitment of corporate investment. These are all worthy parts of any comprehensive economic development strategy, but Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Smarter Growth, is thinking of economic development in broader terms. In an open…

Reader Larry Gross has brought to my attention two very cool — and under-reported — pieces of legislation. Road reclassification. In HJR 623, Del. Michelle McQuigg, R-Occoquan, would establish a subcommittee to study the current, outmoded (circa 1930s) classification of roads and streets in Virginia with a functional system as outlined by the Joint Legislative…

Last month, Virginian-Pilot reporter Tom Holden created quite a stir when he quoted Del. John Welch III, R-Virginia Beach, as saying he now supports a general tax increase to fund transportation improvements. Wrote Holden: Del. John Welch III, one of the General Assembly’s most ardent anti-tax champions, said Thursday he supports a 10-cents-a-gallon gas tax…

Two Fairfax County men have filed a lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court Thursday to block the transfer of authority for the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. The transfer of state assets and contracting out of “the power to tax” to the non-state entity cannot take place without approval of the General…

One of the more remarkable aspects of Del. Clifford L. “Clay” Athey’s proposed land use reform legislation is that it would enshrine the term “New Urbanism” in the state code. Other than to speak generally about “mixed use” and “walkability,” however, he does not try to define what it means. It’s the job of local…

Those who would like to see a dramatic color graphic that illustrates the importance of the Fundamental Change in governance structure that is advocated in our Backgrounder “A New Metric of Citizen Well-Being” at db4.dev.baconsrebellion.com, check out Page B 2 in the Sunday 7 January 2007 WaPo (the second page of Outlook). In recent years,…

In his state of the Commonwealth speech last night, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine made the case for two education initiatives: Giving teachers an extra three percent pay raise, and funding pilot programs to expand the Virginia Preschool Initiative. I’ve got nothing against paying teachers well. What I object to is rewarding all teachers, the good…

Of all the major legislative initiatives that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine touted in his State of the Commonwealth speech last night, the best was his health care package. For the most part, his proposals would do no harm. Indeed, they could actually do some good. First and foremost, Kaine understands that people need to assume…

Following up on his announcement of earlier this week, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine used his State of the Commonwealth speech to plug two narrowly targeted tax cuts. One initiative would raise the filing threshold for state income tax from $7,000 to $12,000 for an individual and from $14,000 to $24,000 for married couples. That would…

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine used the occasion of his annual State of the Commonwealth address last night to outline the framework of a potential deal on transportation funding. “There are significant areas of agreement between the House and Senate on this matter,” he said in a conciliatory tone that contrasted with previous threats to make…

The example of MainStream Media obliviousness highlighted in our current column (“Can’t Take This – Not Another Day!”) is from the 28 December WaPo. Perhaps it should have been the January issue of Virginia Business. The cover story is on the transportation “stalemate.” As has been pointed out concerning other Richmond New Urban Region Media,…

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is expected to use his “state of the commonwealth speech” tonight to press for a financial solution to Virginia’s transportation woes. As Michael Hardy and Tyler Whitley explain the stakes in an article today: The governor will pledge bipartisan cooperation, but he will challenge the lawmakers not to leave a second…

Be afraid, be very afraid! A flood of cheap novelty cigarette lighters could turn your toddler into an unwitting arsonist! According to fire prevention specialists with the Harrisonburg fire department, one child in Chesterfield County — or it could have been Henrico — was playing with a cigarette lighter in the shape of a toy…

Through two years of blogging, I’ve been content to cover the action in the General Assembly from afar, supplementing the daily newspaper coverage with e-mail correspondence, Web research and occasional interviews. One topic that I did research in depth was the package of land-use reforms submitted by the House of Delegates leadership. Some readers were…