Category: General Assembly
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Dominion Opposes Battery Mandate on Fire Safety Concerns
by Steve Haner Today a Senate committee is scheduled to take up the bill directing Virginia’s two investor-owned utilities to propose huge battery installations which will cover square miles of ground, cost ratepayers billions of dollars and which will produce zero energy to power our homes and businesses. The bill has Governor Abigail Spanberger’s endorsement. So far, legislators have been in a “see, hear and…
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Say Socialized Cost, Not That Other S Word
by Steve Haner A House of Delegates committee has approved expanding a state-managed program to subsidize electric bills for some lower-income Virginians, hoping to reach more people and offer them more assistance. It also approved a new plan to grant lower-income homes lower water rates. The utility companies involved will not absorb the cost of…
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A Month in Your Wallet
I have no idea who started that circulating around the Capitol, but boy that is effective. Showed up in my inbox yesterday. That bill officially has a fever. — SDH
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“Affordability” Watch: Mandatory AC for Rental Units
From LoudounNow: “Legislation by Del. Marty Martinez (D-29) that would add air conditioning to the list of services labeled “essential” when supplied by landlords has received approval from a House committee. “Essential services for rental units are regulated by the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and must be maintained by the landlord. Currently, the…
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Stacked Local Taxes Make Virginia Less Affordable
by Derrick Max — Virginia’s restaurant and lodging sector is still in a fragile post-COVID recovery, yet local governments across the Commonwealth are piling on new and higher taxes that make affordability worse for families and survival harder for small businesses. A new statewide analysis of meals, lodging, and related sales taxes across all 133…
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This is Overreach
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The redistricting map presented by Democrats is outrageous, embarrassing, and just plain outlandish. I can’t think of other words to describe it. It certainly violates the state constitution’s requirement that districts be compact. The traditional ideas of respecting communities of interest and jurisdictional boundary lines to the extent possible were thrown out the…
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Virginia Nursing Home Laws Avoid Chains and Subverted by Weak Sanctions
by James C. Sherlock Delegate Rodney Willet, D-Henrico, is trying to do the right thing for the right reasons. He has introduced HB 605 to amend § 32.1-127. (Effective January 1, 2026) Regulations. He added a new section B. 35 to establish staffing standards for Virginia nursing homes. Del. Willett is joined by many members of…
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Can We Call It the “War” for VMI Now?
The U.S. Department of War has issued a statement regarding a bill in the Virginia legislature that would transfer control of the Virginia Military Institute to the Board of Visitors of Virginia State University. “The Department of War is monitoring Virginia House Bill 1374, focused on the governance of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), with…
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Fern Versus Abigail, Storm Crushes Governor’s Energy Promises
by Steve Haner Governor Abigail Spanberger’s major campaign pledges to lower electricity bills have already been crushed by the harsh reality of last week’s Winter Storm Fern. Virginians everywhere are about to see their highest energy bills ever, and the energy sources Spanberger wants us to adopt were all but useless during the crisis. …
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Out-of-State Donors Push Nursing Home Campaign Contributions to New Heights
by James C. Sherlock “Organizing for Virginia Seniors” has jumped to number two on VPAP’s list of Top Political Donors in Virginia behind Dominion Energy. The funding for “Organizing for Virginia Seniors” comes from New York and New Jersey nursing home chains, about which this author has been less than complimentary. And then there…
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Upholding the Rule of Law Is Everyone’s Responsibility
by J. Kennerly Davis All Virginians, regardless of their political affiliations, should welcome the decision issued this week by Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley to block and void the Democrats’ brazen attempt to defy the clear requirements of the Virginia Constitution and unlawfully redraw the Commonwealth’s congressional districts to their disproportionate advantage. We all win…
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A Chance to Lower Electric Bills the General Assembly is Ignoring
by Steve Haner Ignore what they say. Watch what they do. The Virginia General Assembly could cut the bills of Dominion Energy customers a bit, but instead will give the company another ten years to take your money and spend it on someone else (after skimming off its healthy profit). A ten-year program using money…
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A Vapid Performance
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Out of curiosity after reading Derrick Max’s article on the family and medical leave act, I watched the video recording of that subcommittee meeting on HB 1207. Derrick Max raised legitimate questions and objections to the bill. There were two Republican Delegates on that subcommittee. Neither asked a single question of the bill’s…
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Pending Paid Leave Bill Among Most Generous in U.S.
by Derrick A. Max Governor Abigail Spanberger campaigned on a promise to sign “paid family and medical leave” when it reaches her desk. But popular vote-getting concepts often ignore the damaging impact such policies have once they are implemented. Virginia’s paid family and medical leave program (Senate Bill 2/House Bill 1207) is a case study in…
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How Much Power Do We Really Produce? None of Your Business!
A General Assembly subcommittee Tuesday derailed a simple energy transparency bill calling for an annual report on how well utility generation units perform. “The juice isn’t worth the squeeze,” sneered an environmental lobbyist just before the vote to table House Bill 766. It is solar “juice” that isn’t worth the squeeze, and the bill would have…