Author: Dick Hall-Sizemore
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Mailing It In
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In Virginia, there is “no-excuse” absentee voting by mail. Any registered vote can cast a ballot by mail. Furthermore, if a voter chooses to mail the absentee ballot to the registrar, it will be counted as long as it is received by the general registrar’s office by noon on the third day following…
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A Total Lack of Credibility
Why should anyone believe anything that comes out of Trump’s press office when a spokesman says that Trump has “the most talented cabinet and team in American history”? For starters, I would refer him to George Washington’s first cabinet, which included Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Henry Knox.
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DREAM On
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia law provides that a student attending a public institution of higher education shall be eligible for in-state tuition, regardless of citizenship or immigration status if the following conditions are met: Federal law provides: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall…
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Off the Interstate: An Old Church Still Serves its Community
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Along Rt. 30 in King William County is the community of Mangohick. There is not much to see there, except a very old church whose congregation is still very much active. The Mangohick Baptist Church was built between 1730-1732. It is listed on both the Virginia Historic Landmarks register and the National Register…
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Spanberger Pushes Back
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Gov. Abigail Spanberger is pushing back against the elimination of a sales tax break for data centers being proposed by Senate Democrats in their budget recommendations. (For background on the sales tax exemption, see Steve Haner’s discussion here.) There is a tradition in which the governor meets with the budget bill conferees (those…
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With Friends Like This…
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia Republicans seem to be very frustrated with their party’s attempts to thwart the redistricting changes being pushed by Virginia Democrats. A lot of their frustration has been directed at former Gov. Youngkin. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the incumbent Republican members of Congress,whose seats are in jeopardy, met with…
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ERIC is Back
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Despite professing concern for election integrity, former Gov. Youngkin pulled Virginia out of Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., (ERIC), an organization developed to enable states to share data in order to clean up their election rolls and identify people who might try to vote in different states. The General Assembly has passed,…
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A Dangerous Bill
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The General Assembly has passed, and has sent to the governor for her review, legislation that would require that any “program of instruction on or relating to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol” shall: “1. Not describe, portray, or present as credible a description or portrayal of the…
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Follow-up on Voter Registration Rolls Suit
by Dick Hall-Sizemore There was considerable reaction to my recent article regarding the U.S. Dept. of Justice suing Virginia for not turning over an unredacted copy of the statewide list of registered voters. Two comments in particular struck me as needing some response from me. Matt Hurt posed this question: “The National Voter Registration Act of 1993…
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VDH Rejects CDC Vaccination Guideline Changes
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia has joined 23 other states and the District of Columbia in rejecting the new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control regarding childhood vaccinations. The CDC guidelines no longer include hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, flu, COVID-19 and meningitis in the routine immunization schedule. Explaining that the recent changes in the…
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Give Us Your Voter Registration Rolls
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Trump administration has sued the Commonwealth of Virginia for refusing to turn over its voting registration rolls to the U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ). The Commonwealth is not alone. Currently, the administration has sued 24 states and the District of Columbia for refusing the demand. The states sued were primarily those…
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A Recent Graduate’sTake on VMI
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Because I have no personal contact or knowledge of VMI, I have been loath to weigh in on the debates that have been raging on this blog. However, last week, I had the opportunity to have an extended conversation with a recent VMI graduate, which I found enlightening. Here is some background about…
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Redefining Time
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Most people to understand a “day” to constitute a 24-hour period of time. They understand that the term “work days” generally exclude weekends and holidays. Furthermore, for those that follow government and politics, “legislative days” is understood to mean those days in which the legislature is in session. Notwithstanding those commonly accepted definitions, Virginia’s Republican…