Tag: Dick Hall-Sizemore
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Help for Small Businesses–One State Use of CARES Funding
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I owe the Dept. of Small Business and Supply Diversity (DSBSD) an apology. In an earlier post, I questioned whether the agency would be able to quickly distribute $120 million in grant funds. It turns out that its first checks went out in mid-August and it had to stop accepting applications on…
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More Money, Same Level of Service
By Dick Hall-Sizemore There are often cries of anguish or outrage on this blog and elsewhere over the increases in spending proposed in budget proposals and then authorized by the General Assembly. Some of this criticism of increased spending is justified, but, sometimes, the increase is the result of circumstances beyond an agency’s control. Sometimes,…
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A Really Sweet Valentine
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Governor Northam recently gave the budget conferees a $730 million Valentine. Based on January’s revenue report and year-to-date collections, the Governor has revised the general fund forecast to include an additional $410 million in FY 2021 and $320 million in FY 2022. The main factor leading to the increase was the unanticipated…
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Baby Steps Toward Campaign Finance Reform
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia law prohibits a candidate for public office from converting “excess” campaign funds to her personal use when closing out her campaign finance account. However, there is nothing to prevent a candidate from using campaign funds for personal, non-campaign related, purposes during a campaign. Ever since his first General Assembly session (2014),…
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The Latest Federal COVID Money Pot
By Dick Hall-Sizemore The federal COVID money keeps rolling into the Commonwealth. According to the Secretary of Finance, as of January 13, it was estimated that the state would receive $2.4 billion from the stimulus bill passed by Congress in late December (the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA)). Unlike the earlier COVID…
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More Vaccination Confusion
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I do not know who is to blame–CVS or the state–but the vaccination situation is unacceptable. The Commonwealth seemed to be getting on the right track by enabling individuals to register with their local health departments and the local agencies then using those registration to schedule appointments. Then the federal government changed…
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How the CARES Funding is Being Allocated
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Upon Jim Bacon’s suggestion, Jim Sherlock and I have taken on the task of looking closer at the federal COVID money that is coming the Commonwealth’s way and trying to discern how it is being spent. Unfortunately, this is not an analysis one finds in the general news media. We have taken…
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What’s the Point?
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Republicans in the General Assembly refused to go along at the beginning of the session with the customary practice of extending the “short session” from 30 days to 46 days. They said that the Democrats had a long enough time during the very long special session to enact legislation. Although they were…
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Criminal Justice Scorecard at Crossover
By Dick Hall-Sizemore With the General Assembly at the crossover break, now would be a good time to take stock of the status of major criminal justice and public safety legislation. Not surprisingly, the priorities identified by Democrats are faring well. Below is a summary of the actions taken on selected bills. For a more…
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Where Is the Outrage?
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I have waited all day for the howls of protest on this blog concerning the high-handed action of a House committee chairman who would not allow a bill even to be considered and voted on in committee. She just sat on it. Shades of Ed Willey! And we thought these Democrats were…
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And They SWaM and They SWaM
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Governor Northam is moving to increase the amount of business that goes to companies owned by women or minorities. A little background would help put the pending legislation into perspective. There have long been programs at the federal, state, and local levels that serve to give some preferences to small businesses, as…
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Criminal Law and Public Safety Bills of Interest
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Despite recently having a special session to devote to criminal justice reform, the General Assembly has a healthy docket of criminal law and public safety reform bills to consider this session. I have selected a few to highlight below. Unless otherwise noted, the bills are still in their original committees. Democratic Priorities…
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The Cost of Criminal Justice Reform
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Examining the projected costs of criminal justice reform enacted by the 2020 Special Session may be a bit of old news, but I think it is still useful. The General Assembly has appropriated $27.2 million for the current biennium to support its criminal justice reform initiatives. If one includes the additional $800,000…
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The Speaker Rules
By Dick Hall-Sizemore The Speaker of the House of Delegates is the most powerful position in the legislature. One of her most potent tools is the power to assign members to committees. Eileen Filler-Corn has again wielded that power. Members usually retain their committee assignments during the two years of their terms. However, circumstances leading…
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More Loss of Press Coverage
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In the past two years that I have been posting on BR, I have relied heavily on the coverage of the General Assembly by the Daily Press of Newport News, particularly the reporting by David Ress. It seems that he is now off the Virginia state government beat and now mostly covers…