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…)
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 NASAโs planetary science division summarized this change in space policy this way:
This is a really a significant shift in how we do business. โThe 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…)
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 – itโs almost always a male – sentence.
News flash: any inmate whoโs 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…)
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.
โHow long is a piece of string?โ the doctor shrugged.
She died four days later.
Iโve 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 Senateโs 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 thatโs an exact science. (more…)
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 schoolโs 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.
By Steve Haner
A piece of Republican Governor Glenn Youngkinโs 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 Youngkinโs 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 Youngkinโs 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…)
by Kerry Doughertyย
How exactly is Virginiaโs 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, heโs 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 heโs 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.
โItโs sent there to die,โ said Cordoza, โto die quietly because they donโt want the world to know that theyโre 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.
Itโs 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…)
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 womenโs 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 womenโs psycho-social development, and the contributing role of media (mainstream, digital, and social) use on Black womenโs identity, self-esteem, victimization experiences, and mental health outcomes.
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 โthat 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 โplant peopleโ and confusion in the general public. Last year, the General Assembly directed the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to โcreate 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…)
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 โin profound solidarityโ with Virginiaโs prison population, and that its members โwork to dismantle the unjust criminal system.โ They said the criminal-justice system has the โrole of dehumanizing, abusing and punishing Black America.โ
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 stateโs criminal justice system, nearly half of whom are Black. When slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment, it was qualified with โexcept 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…)
by Martin Caplan, MD, and Kenneth Lipstock, MD
Apparently, Virginiaโs doctors and nurses are racist.
This is the message ofย twoย bills that are moving through the state legislature. The bills would force medical professionals to take ongoing โimplicit bias trainingโ to get and keep their license. The problem is that such training is insulting, dangerous, and scientifically indefensible. Itโs grounded in the false idea that people mistreat and even oppress others, especially those of a different race.
Itโs a popular narrative, but there is no sound evidence to support it. What is clear is that if our lawmakers pass these bills, theyโll encourage racial division and tribalism, while undermining the medical profession and hurting patients who need our help. (more…)
By Steve Haner
A circuit court judge in Floyd County may soon order Virginia to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and to reimpose the related carbon tax on Virginiaโs electricity consumers.
Judge Kenneth โMikeโ Fleenor Jr. ruled earlier this month that a suit seeking reinstatement of RGGI could continue and held a hearing on February 5 on the question of โimmediate relief.โย The plaintiff, a group of energy efficiency and insulation contractors using the RGGI tax dollars for their programs, has claimed it will suffer immediate and irreparable harm unless Virginia returns to collecting a carbon tax on coal and natural gas used by utilities. (more…)
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
Liz Cheney was in Richmond Saturday night delivering her warning about Donald Trump.
Cheney represented Wyoming in the U.S House of Representatives and held the No. 3 leadership position in the Republican caucus.ย She served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Her speech was this monthโs offering of The Richmond Forum, a long-running public subscription lecture series.ย According to the president of The Forum, Cheney was booked about a year ago, before her high-profile role in the 2024 Presidential election campaign could have been known.
Cheneyโs message was simple:ย if elected President this year, Donald Trump will destroy constitutional democracy in the United States.
Another takeaway:ย congressional Republicans have been infected by a โplague of cowardice.โ
For her Virginia audience, Cheney had effusive praise for U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger.ย She said that Spanberger was only the second Democrat she had ever endorsed.
Apparently, all the media outlets in the Richmond area were asleep.
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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