Category: Government Finance
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Don’t Let Data Centers Force a Virginia Government Shutdown
by David J. Toscano [FLASH: Rumors are now circulating that House and Senate negotiators may be close to a budget deal. That is good news, but it still must pass both bodies and be signed by the governor by June 30] Want a good example of the “tail wagging the dog?” Look no further that…
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Virginia on the Brink
by Kerry Dougherty With Virginia’s top two Democrat females mud wrestling in Richmond, it’s time to think about what a Virginia state government shutdown might look like. With 13 days to get a budget, the unthinkable may actually happen: Virginia government may shut down because the Democrats fundamentally don’t like each other. None of us…
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The Budget “Talks” Are Heating UP
by Dick Hall-Sizemore As reported by the Virginia Political Newsletter, Sen. Lucas and Gov. Spanberger have been engaging in public responses to the House budget conference proposal and to each other. Neither is backing down, although Lucas seems to have dropped her demand that the sales tax exemption for data center equipment be repealed. Instead,…
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House Takes Initiative in Budget Battle
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The House of Delegates Appropriations Committee has taken the offensive in the budget impasse in the General Assembly. The committee has released its version of a budget conference bill. Based on the new revenue forecasts, the committee has proposed significant appropriation increases for education, social services, and other priorities of the legislature. …
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A Revenue Reforecast Is Not a Blank Check
by Derrick Max To be clear, there is no evidence that Virginia’s professional forecasters manipulated the numbers. The Commonwealth has earned a well-deserved reputation for responsible revenue forecasting, and when collections exceed expectations, forecasts should be updated accordingly. In fact, the Jefferson Forum has noted how Virginia’s economy is more resilient to federal changes than it once was,…
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Virginia Is One Month Away from a Government Shutdown
Virginia Democrats hold both branches of the General Assembly and the Executive Mansion — and still can’t govern effectively. by Shaun Kenney Virginia still doesn’t have a budget. Instead of working on a budget, Senate Democratic leadership is now openly threatening a government shutdown unless they get what they want. Governor Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) is unapologetic on…
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Virginia’s Old-Fashioned Cat Fight
by Kerry Dougherty Someone recently asked why I’m so fond of including Tweets, er Xes, in my posts. That’s easy. There’s no better way to figure out what’s going on in the devious hearts of politicians than to read their Tweets. In the days after her businesses were raided by the FBI State Sen. Louise…
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The Budget Clock is Ticking and It is not Getting Any Easier
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Due to economic development announcements and actions by Governor Spanberger, the job of the General Assembly negotiators on the biennial budget just got harder. The Governor has vetoed two pieces of legislation which would have produced revenue that each house had built into its budget. =For the Senate, it was SB 542…
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A Consequential Fight
by James C. Sherlock Michael Martz of the Richmond Times-Dispatch published an excellent report April 15 detailing the three-way fight among Governor Abigail Spanberger and various Democrats in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates over the budget. The Governor proposed “hundreds of changes” to the competing budget bills proposed by each chamber. Long story…
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Good News for Medical Research in Virginia
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Remember that edict by the Trump administration capping the indirect costs portion of grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at 15 percent? There was vigorous discussion of that announcement on this blog, with many commentators supporting the move. Well, the Trump administration has given up on that effort. As soon as…
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Will Union “Dues Skimming” Come to Virginia?
by Chris Braunlich There are many reasons why Governor Abigail Spanberger should veto the collective bargaining bill headed to her desk, a bill requiring local and state governments to bargain with union bosses even if less than a majority of public employees want the union or the bargaining. There is the fact that it will…
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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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The Fiscal Flywheel Effect
In my Feb. 13 podcast, former Finance Secretary Steve Cummings explained the positive feedback loop between strong state finances and economic development. His observations about the fiscal flywheel effect are worth highlighting here. –JAB Cummings: “The underlying premise here is growth. When you have a declining revenue stream, when you have declining population, you’re gonna…
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Neither House nor Senate Budget Raises General Taxes
But the Senate Strips the Data Center Tax Break Next Year by Steve Haner The Senate and House of Delegates financial committees met on Sunday to approve competing sets of amendments to the next Virginia budget, neither proposing any general tax increases. The Senate version included modest tax reform: a small taxpayer rebate for this…
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Buttressing Virginia’s AAA Finances
Running budget surpluses, cutting taxes, and maxing out the rainy day fund Excerpt from the Feb. 13 Oinkonomics podcast interview of former Secretary of Finance Steve Cummings about Governor Glenn Youngkin’s fiscal legacy: “We were able to generate $10 billion in cumulative surpluses. Some of that was last year, where a conservative position was taken…