Category: General Assembly
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Does a Hedge Fund Want to Buy This House?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore State Sen. Glenn Sturtevant (R-Chesterfield) plans to reintroduce his bill to prohibit investment firms worth more than $50 million from purchasing homes in Virginia, reports the Virginia Mercury. The bill is a reaction to the perception that investment firms are buying a disproportionate share of houses on the market, particularly houses that…
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Save Us from Well-Meaning Meddlers
by James A. Bacon When credit card companies, hospitals and other debt collectors try to collect the money they’re owed, they often target the bank accounts “of people who are already in crisis,” Radio IQ informs us. “When a creditor garnishes a bank account, it can really be devastating,” Jay Speer at the Virginia Poverty…
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Virginia Democrat Wants SOLs Offered in Foreign Languages
by Kerry Dougherty Hey Virginians, remember that $1.2 billion surplus in the state budget that Gov. Glenn Youngkin has been trying to return to taxpayers? Unsurprisingly, Democrats in Richmond are finding ways to spend it. All of it. Take State Sen. Barbara Favola, for instance. Please. She’s introduced SB753, a measure guaranteed to cost a…
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Gov. Youngkin’s Priorities Shared by Jefferson Institute
By Derrick Max Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) presented his budget amendments to the the legislature’s money committees yesterday. The speech was filled with budget amendments to reduce taxes and fund new or existing programs. These tax cuts and additional spending proposals were made possible by Secretary of Finance Stephen E. Cummings’ report that the Commonwealth was…
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A Nonsensical Proposal
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Governor Youngkin has taken on the car tax again, sorta. Rather than attack it directly, he proposes a Rube Goldberg process for some Virginians to get some relief from the car tax. Here is how it would work: Individual taxpayers with a federal AGI of $50,000 or less would get a refundable…
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Index Taxes for Inflation Before Raising Legislator Pay for Inflation
By Steve Haner The Virginia General Assembly is maneuvering to raise its own pay to adjust for decades of inflation. To do so without showing similar consideration for the impact of inflation on Virginia taxpayers should be cause for a voter revolt. No tax code indexing, no pay raise. To its credit, the staff at the…
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Want Energy Both “Green” and Reliable? Send Natural Gas and Money
By Steve Haner With the release of its latest 15-year plan to expand energy generation in the Commonwealth, Dominion Energy Virginia has increased the projected cost of residential electricity in 2035 to almost $216 per 1,000 kilowatt hours, a 24% increase over the same projection in its 2023 planning document. If the $216 comes to…
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New School Accountability System Needs New Funding Approach
By Chris Braunlich When the Virginia State Board of Education approved a new state accountability system, it predictably drew attacks from the usual sources. The new system places greater emphasis on student mastery of subject information (50-65%) over student growth (20-25%). But while growth is critical and should be recognized, under the process approved during the…
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The Local Car Tax: Still Hated, Still a Target for Repeal
By Kimberly Pinter and Callahan Burton Governor Gilmore was right. His “No Car Tax” slogan resonated with all Virginia vehicle owners and catapulted him to the Virginia Governor’s mansion in 1997 with 56% of the vote. The tax is universally hated and perceived as unfair. You pay good money for a car (plus sales tax!), more…
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A Transparent Effort to Prevent SCC Approval of Hydrocarbons
By Steve Haner Any doubt that some members of the Virginia General Assembly’s reconstituted electricity regulation commission intend on taking full control of our energy economy was dispelled at its second meeting Wednesday. With that control, the goal is to then impose a full anti-hydrocarbon energy agenda. Three proposed legislative initiatives were floated. None…
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Anti-Hydrocarbon Advocates Want It Both Ways on Local Control
By Steve Haner The top 2025 legislative goal of Virginia’s Climate Catastrophe Democrats will be to override local zoning controls on wind, solar and energy storage projects. But for now, they are begging Chesterfield County residents to fight a proposed natural gas plant by appealing to that same local control. What’s a little hypocrisy when you…
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Atlantic Park Part 11, Epilogue: Costs, Real Costs and Lessons Learned
Presentation to the Virginia Beach City Council May 28, 2024
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Atlantic Park Part 10: Virginia Small Business Financing Authority
by James C. Sherlock On September 13, 2022, a regular meeting was held of the board of the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA). That board has sweeping responsibilities only one of which is the bond program. From its 501(c)3 Tax-Exempt Bond Program. On the agenda of that meeting was authorization of bonds for North Carolina’s…
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Atlantic Park Part 3: The Deal of the Century
By James C. Sherlock Updated September 18, 2024 at 10:07 AM and 3:27 PM Atlantic Park is due to open on nearly 13 acres of city land near the Virginia Beach oceanfront in May of 2025. The new entertainment district is the largest public-private partnership project in the history of the Commonwealth’s biggest city. It…
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Atlantic Park Part 1: Prologue
Updated September 18 at 10 AM and 3:16 PM By James C. Sherlock Atlantic Park is under construction as a massive new entertainment district near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach’s resort area. The centerpiece, a surf park, will be surrounded a 3,500-seat concert hall, shops, restaurants, offices, and apartments. If it succeeds, Atlantic Park will…