Category: General Assembly
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Crime and Punishment in Virginia Nursing Homes
by James C. Sherlock The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) inspectors regularly report instances of resident abuse, including battery, occasionally resulting in death. That has persisted for decades and appears undeterred by current enforcement efforts. The Code of Virginia (Code) is partially at fault. It makes it challenging for the state, its citizens, and local…
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Massive Infusion of Rural Healthcare Funds will be a Magnet for Waste and Fraud
by James C. Sherlock The Trump administration has announced that Virginia will receive $189,544,888 for 2026 alone to improve rural healthcare. That figure is based on an application made by the Youngkin Administration that specified how it would be spent. That is just a down payment. The Rural Health Transformation Program’s $50 billion…
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Old School Journalism
by Dick Hall-Sizemore While recently lamenting to myself the sad state of local journalism, I began ruminating about the outstanding reporters for the Richmond Times-Dispatch who used to kept us informed. There was James Latimer, the dean of political reporters; Charles McDowell with his wry wit and columns about national politics; Shelly Rolfe and his…
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Youngkin Budget Proposes Partial State Deduction for Tips, OT
by Steve Haner Governor Glenn Youngkin has proposed that Virginia conform its tax rules to most of the changes in federal taxes adopted by Congress last summer, including recognizing a state tax deduction for tip income, overtime pay and interest payments on car loans. Those tax policy recommendations are part of the Republican’s final…
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$62 Billion For Grid Batteries is Not a Path to Affordability
By Steve Haner The 2026 General Assembly is likely to amend the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) to greatly expand the construction of utility-scale batteries for our electric grid. Based on the current prices for Virginia battery installations, this may saddle ratepayers with $54 billion in new capital expenses over 20 years. The Commission on…
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“Better Have a Very Good Buyout Clause”
House speaker predicts short tenure for any UVA president selected by current UVA Board.
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The SCC Decides: Dominion’s Rates and Profits Go Up, New Rules on Data Centers
by Steve Haner, The massive data centers behind a growing energy crunch in Virginia will begin to pay substantially more for electricity in Dominion Energy’s territory, but not until 2027. The State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) approval of a new rate structure for the largest users will probably only intensify debates about what is their “fair…
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Gas Approval Infuriates a Huge Donor to Democrats, Elates Another
by Steve Haner, The State Corporation Commission (SCC) was able to approve Dominion Energy Virginia’s application for a needed natural gas generation facility because the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) includes a safety valve. If energy reliability is threatened, the prohibitions on natural gas at the heart of that law can be waived. One of…
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Proposed Amendments to the Virginia Constitution
by James C. Sherlock To facilitate public consideration, this is the first of several articles on bills pre-filed by Democrats for the 2026 General Assembly. This one presents pre-filed amendments to the Constitution of Virginia. It will include the official summary of each and a link to the bill as filed. Some summaries are…
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Democratic Priorities in the General Assembly and Campaign Finance Reform
by James C. Sherlock It is important that Virginians understand early what the total control of the Virginia Government by Democrats will mean in legislation, whether they support the bills or not. In pursuit of that effort, the author will post each of the General Assembly Democrats’ priority bills that are pre-filed. The format for…
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New Ways to Soak the Rich, But Tax Hikes Coming Will Be Broader
By Steve Haner, As a new Democratic Party trifecta looms in Virginia, a progressive policy group has floated a long list of old and new ways to soak Virginia’s upper income residents through taxes in order to fund additional state spending. The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis doesn’t use the word “spending,” of course, but speaks of “investments” in…
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Virginia Nursing Homes – Southwestern Region Update
by James C. Sherlock This article was revised on November 16 to provide a better view of the data. The format the author chose wasn’t getting the job done, so he revised it. Changes in the text are made only to reflect the updated spreadsheet. It should provide more clarity. This is the third article…