Bacon's Rebellion

  • Democrats Proposal to Cut Sentences Would Undermine Public Safety, AG Says

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    Jason Miyares

    by Hans Bader

    On February 27, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to Virginia state legislators about a Democratic proposal to allow some violent offenders to receive sentence reductions previously available only to non-violent offenders.

    Miyares asked legislators to prevent the proposal, passed by the House of Delegates on February 22, from going into effect, by adopting Gov. Glenn Youngkinโ€˜s proposed budget item 390(R)(2).

    โ€œCutting sentences for violent crime, especially in cases identified as a high risk for recidivism, is having a detrimental impact on public safety throughout Virginia,โ€ Miyares wrote in the letter. โ€œAggressive sentence reductions for violent criminals and those with high risk for recidivism disregards past and future victims. Allowing such a practice is not justice, and itโ€™s not safe.โ€ (more…)

  • Common Sense from Young Delegate Earley

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    by

    Bob Rayner

    Del. Mark Earley Jr.

    by Gordon C. Morse

    Occasionally, a member of the House of Delegates will stand up, speak to a matter of public interest and do so coherently.ย 

    Del. Mark L. Earley Jr., R-Chesterfield, achieved this feat on Friday afternoon, Feb. 23, 2024, when he offered his thoughts on state Sen. Bill 212 — legislation that would sanction skill games, described by the Richmond Times-Dispatch as โ€œelectronic slot machine-like devices the General Assembly tried to ban in 2020.โ€ย 

    While the measure cleared the House of Delegates on a 57-38 vote, Del. Earley spoke to a broader concern: ย 

    Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the House, I don’t want to take a lot of your time today. I know it’s Friday. But I just feel compelled to comment on this briefly.ย 

    As we all know, in the last few years, really about a five-year time frame, we’ve have had a serious expansion, in a very short amount of time, in gaming and gambling here in Virginia. At this point, we got the lottery, we got casinos, we got sports betting, we got all sorts of things.

    And now we have these gray games, skill games, whatever you want to call them, that have really sort of come here imposed upon us in a certain way, and now we’re dealing with it.ย 

    Now,ย  don’t get me wrong, I certainly understand the arguments about how small business can potentially benefit from this, and I appreciate that. I am very sympathetic to it.ย 

    But I do think that we have a different obligation, and perhaps a higher obligation, to consider what this means for our neighborhoods and our families.ย 

    Iโ€™m concerned about turning every neighborhood store and every gas station into a mini casino.ย  (more…)

  • The Camel in the Tent

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    In 2022, the General Assembly disregarded two long-standing principles of funding transportation projects in the Commonwealth.ย  Republican Gov. Youngkin followed down that path this year.

    The General Assembly has dedicated sources of revenue to be used for transportation, with general government functions being financed by general income and sales taxes and other special funds. The revenue sources for transportation include taxes on gasoline and other fuels, motor vehicle licensing and titling taxes, operating licenses fees, and 0.5 percent of the 4.3 percent state sales tax. Localities in specified regions of the state are authorized to levy an additional 0.7 percent sales tax to be used for transportation. The concept of having funding for transportation and general government separated was so ingrained in the legislature that there have been attempts in the past to create a โ€œlockboxโ€ for transportation funds to avoid their being used for other general government purposes. The latest such attempt was in 2018.

    By statute the legislature has stipulated broadly how transportation funding will be distributed: by system, by highway district, etc.ย  It has also authorized the issuance of bonds by the Commonwealth Transportation Board and other entities. However, with few exceptions, the main one being the widening of U.S. Rt. 58, the legislature has stayed away from designating the specific projects to be funded. It has left that function to the Board, relying on guidance from the Virginia Department of Transportation. It was a prudent choice. Otherwise, the funding of specific projects would be largely based on politics, rather than need. (more…)

  • Governor May Get Two Different Nuclear Bills

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    by

    Steve Haner

    Small modular reactor illustrated

    By Steve Haner

    A Virginia Senate committee voted Monday to approve a House of Delegates bill designed to finance a small modular nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia, contradicting its own earlier vote for a much broader bill that had statewide application.

    Two different bills on the same topic might now pass the Virginia Senate.ย  If the House does the same thing with the Senate bill, now alive in front of its Labor and Commerce Committee, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) could have two very different bills to choose from. (more…)

  • Virginia Budget Amendment Could Lead to Lawsuits Seeking Many Inmatesโ€™ Release

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    from Liberty Unyielding

    On February 22, Virginiaโ€™s progressive House of Delegates removed language from the stateโ€™s proposed budget that limited early releases of inmates who committed both violent and non-violent offenses. It removed that language in a 53-to-44 vote, then passed the Houseโ€™s version of the state budget by a 75-to-24 vote.

    If the final state budget also lacks this language, it will be argued that the affected inmates are entitled to be released earlier, including at least 500 of them this year, and thousands more in the years to come. In 2023, the Virginia Mercury reported that 8,000 offenders in Virginia prisons are there for a combination of violent and non-violent offenses, and thus would be affected by this sort of provision.

    This provision would allow the affected inmates to benefit from a 2020 law passed by Democrats that released many non-violent inmates earlier by dramatically expanding time off inmatesโ€™ sentences for avoiding major prison infractions and participating in prison programs. This time off is known as โ€œearned sentence credits.โ€ Affected inmates who previously received 4.5 days off their sentence for every 30 days they largely complied with prison rules instead got 15 days off . Effectively, this shrank their period of incarceration by nearly a quarter from what they otherwise would have served. Prisons have been emptied as a result: Virginia recently announced plans to close four state prisons in 2024.

    (more…)

  • A Veto-Proof Local Tax Hike Nearly Approved

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    by

    Steve Haner

    Virginia sales tax rates: Light blue, 5.3%, green, 6%, dark blue, 6.3% and yellow 7%. All but the localities in dark blue would be allowed to add another 1% under this pending legislation. Click for larger view.

    By Steve Haner

    A bill likely to produce $1.6 billion or more in local sales tax increases is moving through the General Assembly with enough bipartisan votes to block any veto from the Governor, but differences remain between the House of Delegates and Senate versions. (more…)

  • Contracting Out the Space Race

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Photo credit: NASA

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Because the focus of this blog is on Virginia politics and public policy, I am loath to venture beyond those boundaries. However, I have recently become concerned about an issue (nonpartisan, I hope) that has ramifications beyond the Commonwealth. I am interested in the opinions of those on this blog who may have much more expertise in the issue than I have.

    An American private company recently succeeded in landing a payload on the moon. This was the first American moon landing in 51 years. This feat highlights a change in space policy by the United States: the government has turned much of space activity over to the private sector.

    The director of NASAโ€™s planetary science division summarized this change in space policy this way:

    This is a really a significant shift in how we do business. โ€œThe fact that NASA is not actually building or responsible directly for these missions or their launches is an opportunity to invest in the commercial industry to build a new capability. NASA can then purchase the delivery service, and the intent hopefully being that we can increase the frequency of deliveries and reduce the cost to NASA of doing science. (more…)

  • What Is It with Democrats and Criminals?

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Elections have consequences.

    And when Virginia voted last November to give Democrats a slim majority in the General Assembly they also voted to give almost 8,000 violent criminals a shot at getting back on the streets.

    This ill-conceived measure – SB427 – is the evil brainchild of Sen. Creigh Deeds, who believes that juries and judges should be second-guessed once an inmate has served at least 25 years of his – itโ€™s almost always a male – sentence.

    News flash: any inmate whoโ€™s served that many years in prison is a bad dude. A murderer, a rapist or some other sort of vile reptile. These are not petty criminals or marijuana users.

    (Deedsโ€™ initial bill wanted to spring felons after 15 years behind bars, but he amended it.) (more…)

  • The Grim Reapers of Virginiaโ€™s General Assembly

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    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Kerry Dougherty

    When she was hospitalized in September 1998, my brother and I had a somber discussion with her physician. We asked how long our mother – who was clearly failing – would live.

    โ€œHow long is a piece of string?โ€ the doctor shrugged.

    She died four days later.

    Iโ€™ve been thinking about my mother, her suffering and her last years spent under a death sentence since I learned that Virginia Democrats are again pushing an assisted suicide law. Unlike earlier bills that died in committee, this one, introduced by Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, cleared the Senateโ€™s health subcommittee, a first step toward becoming law.

    This measure – SB280 – would allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients who are determined to be terminally ill with less than six months to live.

    As if thatโ€™s an exact science. (more…)

  • New Admissions Policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Will Stand

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

    The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear the appeal of the Coalition for Thomas Jefferson challenging the decision of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the changes in the admissions policy for the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.ย  The result is that the changes in the schoolโ€™s admission policy adopted by the Fairfax County School Board in 2020 will stand.ย  Justices Thomas and Alito dissented from the decision not to grant certiorari.ย  (Their dissents begin on page 30 of the linked document.)

    This issue has been discussed extensively on this blog.ย  For some background, see here.

  • Democrats Lose Concerns About Taxing the Poor

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Econ 101 Quiz. Virginia Democrats are poised to raise the sales tax 1% in most localities, add digital products to the taxed services, and create a new payroll tax. How will those changes impact that chart? Click for larger view.

    By Steve Haner

    A piece of Republican Governor Glenn Youngkinโ€™s tax package has survived after all, but only the part that increases the sales tax base to collect about $1 billion or so more per year from citizens. Democrats who recently complained that sales tax increases were unfair to the poor are suddenly embracing them.ย 

    On Sunday, both the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates budget committees approved Youngkinโ€™s budget language to impose the sales tax on a host of digital products and services, adding 6% or more to the prices of downloads, streaming services, and online data storage. The full range of newly taxed transactions is not yet clear.ย 

    The Senate then increased the gain to the treasury by making sure the new taxes will also cover business-to-business transactions, something the governor sought to exempt and something which is just passed along in higher prices. ย 

    The risk of including that tax policy initiative inside Youngkinโ€™s introduced budget bill was obvious from the start, and General Assembly Democrats have now pounced on the opportunity to capture that revenue. The tax increase is now wrapped in with all the state spending for two years, a hard bill to vote against.ย ย  (more…)

  • Partisan Poison: Va Dems Quash a Bill to Protect School Kids

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    Del. A.C. Cordoza

    by Kerry Doughertyย 

    How exactly is Virginiaโ€™s General Assembly celebrating Black History Month?

    By killing a bill to protect children in public school lavatories, introduced by Del. A.C. Cordoza of Hampton.

    Cordoza is an African-American. And a Republican. He was famously denied membership in the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus when he was elected in 2022.

    Sadly, to the caucus, heโ€™s not the right kind of Black man. Because his views are on the right.

    Cordoza claims his bill that would require school personnel to check bathrooms every 30 minutes would not require added personnel nor would it cost taxpayers a dime.

    It was tabled, he told the Virginia Mercury, because heโ€™s a Republican.

    While the proposed legislation was not expected to impact state spending, Cordoza said his bill was still forwarded from the House Education Committee to the House Appropriations Committee for review. It died in that committee without a hearing.

    โ€œItโ€™s sent there to die,โ€ said Cordoza, โ€œto die quietly because they donโ€™t want the world to know that theyโ€™re killing a bill to protect little girls in the bathroom, but they want to make sure that a Black Republican is not the one who does it.โ€ said Del. A.C. Cordoza, R-Hampton.

    Itโ€™s actually a practical suggestion, given that there have been a number of assaults in several school bathrooms, and perhaps some that have not been reported. Having an adult stick his or her head in the lavatory every 30 minutes would certainly discourage bullies and sex offenders. (more…)

  • In Their Own Words: Lanice Avery

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Editor’s Note: To document the spread of “wokeness” — short-hand to describe the philosophy of intersectional oppression — The Jefferson Council has begun publishing profiles of University of Virginia faculty members in their own words. Not our words. Not our spin. Not our interpretation. Their words. — JABย 

    Assistant Professor Lanice Avery has a joint appointment to the departments of Psychology and Women, Gender & Sexuality at the University of Virginia. Her research interests, she says on her university profile page, lie at “the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and media.” In her LinkedIn page, she describes herself as a “board-certified sexologist.” This semester she is teaching one course, on Black feminist theory.

    In this post we highlight her work in her own words, both in writing and on video. (We have highlighted key phrases to show how her work conforms to the intersectional-oppression paradigm, commonly referred to as wokeness, that is increasingly prevalent at UVA.) From Avery’s university web profile:

    She is interested in Black womenโ€™s intersectional identity development and how the negotiation of dominant gender ideologies and gendered racial stereotypes are associated with adverse psychological and sexual health outcomes…. Her work examines how exposure to gendered racism impacts Black womenโ€™s psycho-social development, and the contributing role of media (mainstream, digital, and social) use on Black womenโ€™s identity, self-esteem, victimization experiences, and mental health outcomes.

    (more…)

  • The Fight Against Invasives

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Image credit: National Geographic

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    One fascinating aspect of the General Assembly is legislation that does not make headlines but is important to a fervent group of Virginians and that could have an impact on the state as a whole.

    In recent years, the problem of invasive plants has gained the attention of legislators. In 2009, the General Assembly defined an invasive plant as one โ€œthat is not native to the ecosystem and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic harm or harm to human health.โ€

    The requirement that an introduced plant must cause harm in order for it to be considered invasive is the key to the definition. That means the daffodils that are now adding some cheer to my backyard in the middle of winter are not invasive. On the other hand, the English ivy in my yard is invasive.

    That statutory definition does not identify the specific plants that should be considered invasive. Consequently, there could be disagreements among โ€œplant peopleโ€ and confusion in the general public. Last year, the General Assembly directed the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to โ€œcreate a list of invasive plant speciesโ€ by January 1, 2024. It also prohibited any state agency from planting, selling, or propagating any plant on that list, except under narrowly defined situations. (The Virginia Mercury has described this years-long history in detail.) (more…)

  • Progressive Legislators Declare “Profound Solidarity” with Criminals

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    from the Liberty Unyielding blog

    Killings and violence have risen in the U.S. over the last decade, as some government officials have come to sympathize more with criminals than their victims. The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus recently said it is โ€œin profound solidarityโ€ with Virginiaโ€™s prison population, and that its members โ€œwork to dismantle the unjust criminal system.โ€ They said the criminal-justice system has the โ€œrole of dehumanizing, abusing and punishing Black America.โ€

    Thirty-two of Virginiaโ€™s 140 state legislators belong to the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, including the speaker of Virginiaโ€™s House of Delegates, Don Scott; the president pro tempore of the state Senate, Louise Lucas; the head of the House Appropriations Committee; and the head of the Senate Rules Committee.

    On February 14, the VLBC issued a statement that began:

    The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus (VLBC) remains in profound solidarity with the 122,500 Virginians who are actively trapped in our stateโ€™s criminal justice system, nearly half of whom are Black. When slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment, it was qualified with โ€œexcept as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.โ€ With that, mass incarceration was born and the criminal justice system absorbed the role of dehumanizing, abusing and punishing Black America. (more…)

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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