Bacon's Rebellion

  • How Did VCU Miss the Red Flags?

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner


    by Jon Baliles

    The unravelling saga of a failed development proposal downtown a block from City Hall that was supposed to rise out of the ashes of the failed Navy Hill project is still smoldering. The failed deal has come with a price tag of about $80 million so far (and growing) for VCU Health. They were supposed to be the main tenant of the project and, by all accounts, approved and signed a deal in July 2021 in which VCU accepted heavily one-sided terms that have become so expensive it could still ripple throughout the city, the university, and the state.

    Eric Kolenich has peeled back the latest layer of the onion in an eye-popping article in the Times-Dispatch this week, with emails that revealed grave concerns with the deal that would leave VCU Health holding the bag, and also emails that showed more concern to close the deal than what was in it. The emails show both bad communication and miscommunication among those at top levels of VCU’s administration at both the Monroe Park campus and the medical campus. They were sent in a flurry in the weeks leading up to VCU inking and approving the deal, and ignored warnings that were raised in favor of a closer analysis or alternative parachutes that would offer a way out.

    After the Navy Hill project failed in early 2020, Capital City Partners, the developers who led that attempt, returned to the city with a proposal for a development for the city’s dilapidated old Public Safety Building at 500 N. 10th Street (aka the Clay Street Project because it is at 10th & Clay Streets). The proposal was for a 17-20 story building that would be leased by VCU Health for office use. They would pay $650 million in rent over 25 years that would produce close to $60 million in tax revenue for the city.

    VCU would have to pay rent starting in 2024, whether or not the building was completed, as well as pay for repairs and maintenance. If the project faced cost overruns, VCU would also be on the hook for those.  And strangely, since it was office space, it would not generate any revenue for VCU Health like other facilities they had recently built (e.g. the Children’s Hospital). (more…)

  • You’ve Been to Paris but You’ve Never Been to the Luray Caverns?

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Today we’re taking a break from politics, woke culture and indictments. It’s Explore Beautiful Virginia time. A midsummer palate cleanser!

    But first a question:

    Why does every tourist destination sell fudge? More precisely, is there some sort of law that mandates every vacation spot feature a “fudgery”? Is there something about salt air or mountain breezes that creates a sudden craving for a calorie-dense chunk of flavored sugar?

    I don’t have the answer, but yes, there is the requisite fudgery just outside the entrance to Luray Caverns. No, we didn’t go in during a family trip to Luray last weekend. The getaway to Virginia’s amazing natural wonder was sweet enough.

    Let me just say this: if you’re a Virginian who’s been to Paris but you haven’t been to Luray, shame on you. (more…)

  • Restoring Sales Tax Holiday is Not Tax Relief

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    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    Virginia’s Democratic legislators are convinced that citizens are happy to pay taxes for state services and will rebel at the polls if taxes are cut when there are “unmet vital needs.”  That is why they have so far resisted any and all proposals from Governor Glenn Youngkin and Republican legislators to split the state’s fat cash surplus between tax relief and more spending.

    So, why are those same Democrats not applauding the 2023 General Assembly’s failure to extend the state’s previous pre-school sales tax holiday? Shouldn’t the voters be happy to pay more for school supplies and clothes since the schools need the money? Instead they are joining the scramble to reinstate that tax break, open to all taxpayers, rich and poor.

    The good news is the Assembly’s incompetence (or was it an accident?) in letting the sales tax holiday lapse is providing another prod to keep Democrats at the table for tax policy discussions. Frankly, from a tax policy purist point of view, these tax holidays are not good policy, but they are wildly popular.

    That is because the sales and use tax is one people can see at the checkout counter. If you are saving $6-$7 on a Target run or Amazon bill, you notice. The other tax cuts under discussion – a higher standard deduction, a tweak to the income level that triggers the top income tax rate – only come up at tax-filing time, and if you use a computer program or outside accountant to file, you may never notice.

    The bad news is that now the General Assembly can come together and fix this oversight (if it was an oversight) and claim a victory for taxpayers. They will claim a bipartisan victory over something that leaves those taxpayers exactly where they were a year ago, no better off at all. From the beginning, the claim that nobody had put the sales tax holiday on the Assembly’s radar during the session has lacked credibility. If so, retailers need new lobbyists. (more…)

  • Lost Kids of Southwest Virginia

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Kingsolver, Barbara. Demon Copperhead.  Harper, 2022

     A review by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Barbara Kingsolver is an award-winning author who lives on a farm in Washington County, Virginia. Her latest novel, Demon Copperhead, is what she calls her “great Appalachian novel.” It was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year.

    Kingsolver grew up in Appalachia, in eastern Kentucky. After graduating from college in Indiana, she spent several years backpacking around Europe. Upon returning to the United States, she wanted to see the West, and ended up in Tucson. She says that she did not go to Arizona with the idea of settling there, but life happens. During her two decades there, she published several well-received novels. She began to feel the pull of Appalachia and, thus, several years ago, she and her family moved to a farm in Washington County. (more…)

  • Another Skirmish in the Book Wars

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Botetourt County resident demonstrates her opposition to proposed restricted access to library by juveniles. Photo credit: Cardinal News

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    After hearing from residents in two meetings demanding that LGBTQ+ material be removed from the county library, the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors has come up with a suggestion that, indeed, would put parents in charge, but would create great inconvenience for everybody involved.

    As reported by Cardinal News, the Board of Supervisors has recommended that the local library board adopt a policy requiring that all persons under 18 be accompanied by a parent or guardian while visiting a library branch. There would be an exception for 16- and 17-year olds who had written permission from their parents on file with the library.

    The result would be a great inconvenience for parents of kids younger than 16 who are not worried about the materials in the library. Likely, those kids would end up reading less.

    A better solution would be for those parents who do not want their children exposed to LGBTQ+ material to take on some responsibility themselves. Prohibit their children from going to the library or, as an alternative, accompany them to the library.

    Fortunately, the Board of Supervisors has little authority over the library. As the county attorney noted, public libraries are overseen by the Library of Virginia. It seems that the Board of Supervisors may have been doing a little posturing.

  • Nurse Staffing in Virginia Nursing Homes in July Ranked 49th in the Nation

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its national nursing home quality data for July.

    It provides summaries of nursing home performance for each state, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories.

    I sorted it for Reported Total Nurse Staffing Per Resident Per Day. I did that because Virginia’s lead nursing home lobbyist in January insisted, on video, to a hearing of an always-compliant General Assembly that the Commonwealth’s nursing homes be judged by that metric.

    In July, our nursing homes ranked 49th by their own preferred total nurse staffing measure. Nurse shortages are nationwide, so that fact cannot explain it.

    Those same nursing homes in those same data ranked 45th in total nurse turnover at 57.5% annually. Some of the worst individual Virginia nursing homes experience nearly 100% nursing turnover annually.

    That creates a vicious cycle.

    • Virginia has too many nursing homes that are understaffed, some by design;
    • Nurses quite naturally don’t like to work in them and, with many job options, will not remain in such places;
    • When staffing falls, nurses know it from CMS data or reputation and won’t take a job where they will be overworked and unable to provide optimum care to patients;
    • The understaffed nursing homes get worse.

    (more…)

  • Example Number 3,632 in the Decline of Local Newspapers in Virginia

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    The newspaper business in Virginia continues its rapid descent into well-earned oblivion.

    It is fair to disdain Donald Trump and hope that he is not our next president. Indeed, I have gone on record on BR with my views supporting that conclusion. This is an opinion blog.

    But there is, or should be, such a thing as standards in newspapers. News here. Opinion there.

    Many local newspapers now go too far as policy in a desperate attempt to survive. Or because the few remaining personnel simply don’t know any better. Or both. (more…)

  • Virginia Redefines Student Progress in Grades 3-8 for Distributing Federal School Improvement Funds

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) on June 16th notified the federal Department of Education (USDOE) of its updated State Plan.

    Such updates are required annually to allow the states to receive federal school improvement funds appropriated for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as updated by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

    The change was designed under the Northam administration to give credit for the first time in Virginia to a school for the progress of any student who has:

    • failed two consecutive state assessments on SOLs or the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP) test (eligible students with significant cognitive disabilities); but
    • does better in the current year than the previous one.

    It has been in the works for several years. This past school year was the second year of data collected under that system. That in turn provides comparable year-to-year data to show progress or lack of same for a student and the work of his or her school. Thus, the formula change will be implemented in the coming school year.

    The change was designed to help identify the schools in Virginia who most need the ESEA funding rather than repeated cycles of identifying the same schools with poor minority student populations without giving credit for such progress.

    It appears to be at least partially an attempt to improve morale — to give teachers in such schools credit for improvements with kids, say, who enter 5th grade unable to read but show progress on the next set of tests.

    I don’t know what effect it will have, but I believe it is a good thing to try.

    We’ll look at the entire process for distributing that particular pot of federal money in Virginia. (more…)

  • Big Donors Leave DeSantis and Turn to Youngkin

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Jeanine Martin

    Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign has failed to catch the attention of Republican voters. His support now hovers in the upper teens. DeSantis has recently fired one-third of his campaign staff. He is now losing major donors and many of them are turning to Governor Glenn Youngkin whose job approval is at an all-time high of 57%.

    Governor Youngkin’s fundraising efforts are also hitting all-time highs.

    Former DeSantis supporter billionaire businessman Thomas Peterffy is now backing Youngkin for President.

    From USAtoday.com:

    “I very much hope that he’s going to enter the race. People I speak to are all favorably inclined towards him,” Peterffy told Fox Business Wednesday. “If he entered, I think there would be tremendous enthusiasm.”

    According to The New York Times, media mogul Rupert Murdoch is also hoping for a Youngkin run for President.

    More from USAtoday.com:

    “In no uncertain terms, Rupert Murdoch made clear that Ron DeSantis is his golden boy, no longer,” Trump’s team wrote in a press release Tuesday.”

    “Wilbur Ross, former commerce secretary to Trump, will host top donors and party leaders at his Hamptons mansion Friday for “a chance to listen to Youngkin talk about how he’s going to take over the Virginia legislature,” according to the invitation.

    While explicitly not a fundraiser, the event gives key party figures the opportunity to meet the governor and potentially boost Youngkin’s national profile.

    How does Governor Youngkin respond to all of this support for a run for President?

    “It’s really humbling when people talk about 2024 and a national role for me. And I thank them, and then I reiterate that I’ve got a big job to do here,” Youngkin told USA TODAY.

    It seems there needs to be a Republican candidate who can gain the support of the voters as the candidate who can beat Trump in the primaries and any Democrat opponent he faces in 2024. With Youngkin’s high approval in the purple state of Virginia, and his fundraising skills, he just might be the candidate who can do it.

    Republished with permission from The Bull Elephant.

     

  • Racial Check Boxes Out at UVa Admissions. Racial Life Experiences In.

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The University of Virginia will eliminate the race/ethnicity checkbox on admissions applications but will allow students to describe how their “personal experiences” — including but not limited to race or ethnicity — “shaped their ability to contribute,” announced President Jim Ryan in an announcement emailed to the University community Monday.

  • Guns for Felons?

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Virginia law prohibits a convicted felon from possessing or transporting a firearm. Is that unconstitutional under the provisions of last year’s Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen  (597 U.S. ___; 142 S. Ct. 2111)?

    Background

    Before trying to answer that question, it is helpful to review the Supreme Court’s opinion in Bruen. New York law required anyone wanting to carry a concealed handgun outside the home to show “proper cause” for the license. New York courts had interpreted that phrase to require applicants to show more than a general desire to protect themselves or their property. The Supreme Court struck down that law as a violation of a person’s right under the Second Amendment to carry a firearm for self-defense. (more…)

  • Ham Cemetery Stands Strong

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Jon Baliles

    Over in the woods behind Bandy Field Nature Park in the West End along (and overlapping with) the border of Henrico County near the Village Shopping Center, there is a small African-American cemetery with an enormous history that recently appeared in a feature by Bill Pike in the Henrico Citizen; it is well worth the fascinating read.

    Just to set the stage: the cemetery is in an area that was important going back to colonial (and pre-colonial) times as the meeting point of two main roads — Three Notch’d Road (Three Chopt) and Horsepen Road. It was along the path of Dahlgren’s Raid in the Civil War, and it was also home to Huntley Plantation that held members of the Bradford family as slaves who, after emancipation, bought property with other freed slaves, along what is now known as Bandy Road (read a more detailed and absorbing history here). They expanded the formerly secret slave organization, the Sons of Ham, and in 1873 established the Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery. In the late 19th Century, Maggie Walker took a leadership role in forging an agreement between the Independent Order of St. Luke, which she ran, and the Ham Council.

    More homes were built over the years until the mid-20th Century, when the City of Richmond (which had annexed the area in 1942) announced plans to build a school on the property, cited eminent domain, forced the residents out, and razed the houses and flattened the Civil War era earthworks in the area. After the families dispersed to Bon Air, Henrico, Northside, and the Westwood Neighborhood, the school was never built and the ability of the former residents to maintain the cemetery became a challenge. (more…)

  • SCHEV on the Community College Guaranteed Admission and Credits Programs

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Image credit: Lumenlearning

    I received a note from Peter Blake, director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in reference to my column on that program in early July.

    He thanked, as do I, readers for their interest and supportive comments.

    We agree with you that (Community College Guaranteed Admissions and Credits) are one of the most effective ways to expand access, improve retention and completion, and make college more affordable.

    We (SCHEV) talk about it regularly in our various reports and recommendations.

    We have a standing item in our annual tuition and fees report that calculates how much a student can save by following a pathway that goes through a community college.

    For years, we have worked on improving systems that guarantee not only admission but also acceptance of community college credits toward a bachelor’s degree.

    We could always do more outreach, so we appreciate your interest in the subject and the positive response you received from your readers.

    It is important that the state offers a way to mitigate substandard K-12 educations. Virginia does that very well as far as I can tell.

    It is important to spread the word.

    But the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) cannot replace fully the lack of a solid grounding in life and academics in K-12. (more…)

  • Tech to End Racial and Legacy Preferences in Admissions

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Virginia Tech has announced that it will eliminate race and legacy status as factors in admissions. Information about an individual’s race/ethnicity will no longer be visible during the application process.

    “Much of our recent success in attracting and graduating students from underrepresented minority and underserved backgrounds (including low-income, first generation and veteran students) has been achieved by lowering barriers to admissions, creating effective pre-college programs, and supporting our students while on campus,” said President Tim Sands. “We will increase our emphasis on those programs and support mechanisms going forward.”

    These changes strike me as a reasonable compromise in response to the Supreme Court ruling. Dropping race and ethnicity as factors in admissions ends the invidious practice of explicit discrimination on the basis of race. It represents a huge defeat for “anti-racists” who believe that the only antidote to past discrimination against minorities is reverse discrimination in their favor.

    Tech has coupled that decision with a formal end to favoring legacies. Given the fact that legacies are disproportionately White, the symbolic value is huge. (more…)

  • Senators Cry “Voodoo Estimating” In Tax Fight

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institue for Public Policy.

    Not only are the leading Virginia Senate budget negotiators adamantly opposed to providing Virginians with additional tax relief in this election year, but they are now hinting at partial roll back of one of the major individual tax reforms approved just last year.

    When the 2022 General Assembly approved a major increase in the standard deduction used by most Virginia taxpayers, it applied a condition — that the underlying General Fund revenue had to continue to grow at least 5% in both fiscal years 2022 and 2023. If it did not, the standard deduction for that year would be reduced again. The revenue growth would be adjusted for the tax cuts, so the target was 5% growth before the revenue reductions those caused.

    Meeting that trigger target for FY 2022 was easy in that year’s overheated economy. Last week Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration certified that the second target was also met, meaning the full standard deduction also applies for this tax year. The goal was barely met, with growth of 5.1%, leading Democrats to accuse the Department of Taxation of “voodoo estimating.”

    The accusation against the usually-trusted tax staff was reported in a Richmond Times-Dispatch article. It failed to address whether the Democrats plan to act on their suspicions, but why complain otherwise? If they fight to certify the target was missed, and win, the standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly will drop by $1,000 and their tax bill will rise $58. A key Democrat dismissed it as “less than $30,” but that is for an individual. (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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