Tag: Dick Hall-Sizemore
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The Revenue Picture is Bad, But Not as Bad as Expected
By Dick Hall-Sizemore The state’s May revenue report has been released today. As one would have expected, the May 2020 general fund (GF) revenues were down significantly from May 2019 and the year-to-date GF revenues are running behind the annual forecast. However, on the somewhat bright side, the administration is now saying that it expects…
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A Better Alternative to Police Force
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I have been thinking a lot about a Washington Post article and accompanying police body camera footage. In that footage, a black man is pacing around and around in the middle of a street talking loudly, mostly incoherently. He is not being confrontational, but he is not cooperating, either. Several white Fairfax…
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Some Good Bills That Did Not Make Big News
By Dick Hall-Sizemore The 2020 General Assembly (remember that? — it seems so long ago! — was historic in many ways. There was an avalanche of legislation and committees and subcommittees met from the break of dawn into the evenings (so much for those traditional receptions hosted by various interest groups). Subjects such as the…
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Not All Cops are Bad–Another Side to the Story
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I subscribe to the underlying spirit of “Black Lives Matter.” I have long been concerned about police harassment of black persons. I am angered by reports of police misconduct and assault during the current demonstrations, both in Richmond and around the country. As in mass demonstrations of this sort in the past,…
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Northam and Falwell — Feuding with Scriptures
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginians have been treated this spring with a feud between the Governor and Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University. First, Falwell defied the Governor’s coronavirus-related stay-at-home order and told students they should return to the campus after spring break. Northam responded by suggesting that Falwell “look to the actions of the…
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Sorry, We Can’t Pay Your Insurance Claim. It Would Cost Us Too Much.
By Dick Hall-Sizemore For the past 17 years, my wife and I have rented a house at Sandbridge in Virginia Beach for a week in late May. My daughter and her family, including the three grandkids, come down for the week. It is the highlight of our year. This year was no exception. A year…
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Stay-at-Home Costs vs. Health Benefits
By Dick Hall-Sizemore There is a fierce debate going on in this country. One side is anxious to ease the restrictions imposed on the population in an effort to slow the spread the coronavirus and “open up the economy.” The other side, concerned about a resurgence of the disease and related deaths, wants to go…
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A Servant Leader
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Bill Mims is one of the treasures of Virginia government. Currently, he is an associate justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. His prior service includes representing Loudoun County in the House of Delegates and the State Senate and serving as Attorney General (appointment). He is known widely throughout the state for his…
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“The Dog Ate My Homework” Does Not Work for VEC
By Dick Hall-Sizemore The Virginia Employment Commission has been inundated with unemployment insurance claims. Virginians seeking to file claims have been frustrated at not being able to get through to the agency with their questions and by delays in receiving payments. All of this was the subject of a meeting and presentation to a Senate…
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“People Have Stopped Buying Automobiles”
By Dick Hall-Sizemore That is how Aubrey Layne, Secretary of Finance, summed up his explanation to the House Appropriations Committee of April’s 15% drop in transportation revenue All of the major components of the transportation revenue were down in April, but the biggest danger sign was in the motor vehicle sales and use tax. That…
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Juggling the Revenue
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Jim Bacon mentioned in an earlier post that the state’s revenues for April were $700 million less than in April of last year. I was surprised that there were no cries of outrage from readers and dire warnings of the state running a budget deficit. I was also surprised that I did…
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A Founder Warned Us; We Did Not Heed the Warning
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Being retired and staying at home, I have now embarked on a long-planned project—reading the debates of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, as reported by James Madison and a few others. I have only just started, but it is fascinating already. Many of the issues they discussed and debated are still being tossed…
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A Visit to Our Rebellion’s Home
Preservation Virginia will present a virtual tour this afternoon of Bacon’s Castle. Here is the description of this Virginia historic landmark: Bacon’s Castle is the oldest brick dwelling in North America and was once the home of Arthur Allen, a prosperous merchant and planter, and his family. Allen’s Brick House earned the moniker “Bacon’s Castle”…
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It’s a Crisis! Let’s Scam the Government!
By Dick Hall-Sizemore In a post yesterday, Jim Sherlock cited a report by NPR that the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) is in the process of finalizing contracts with private labs to expand COVID-19 testing. I hope that Jeff Stern, director of the agency, is not being pushed to conclude these contracts too hurriedly.…