Bacon's Rebellion

  • Will Spanberger Be a Redistricting Heroine?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Chap Petersen

    Saturday was a historic day as Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as the 75th Governor of the Commonwealth, our first female Chief Executive.

    Within minutes of taking office, the Governor issued a number of Executive Orders which rolled back Republican initiatives and implemented an aggressively Democratic agenda. To the victor go the spoils.

    True leadership, of course, is rising about partisanship to do what’s right for the people. Very few leaders in America have that type of moxie.

    Abigail Spanberger can be one of them.

    The 2026 General Assembly has already passed a proposed constitutional amendment, HJR 4, which would replace the 2020 constitutional amendment on “Bi-partisan Redistricting,” which Virginia votes passed by a 2-1 margin, with a “flex version” designed to maximize Democratic gains in the 2026 mid-terms.

    The “flex version” comes into play if “any state,” regardless of size, context or partisan leanings, decides to draw a new Congressional map. (Presumably, California qualifies as “any state” — so the threshold is already met). The bottom line is that HJR 4 is intended to render Virginia’s “non-partisan redistricting” law a dead letter, before it reaches its fifth birthday.

    (more…)

  • The GOP “Affordability” Agenda

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    James A. Bacon

    The agenda at a glance:

    • Lower Power Bills: Suspend costly energy mandates when prices spike or grid reliability is threatened, protecting families from being forced to choose between food and heat.
    • Car Tax Relief: Make good on the long-promised repeal of the car tax up to $20,000, putting real money back into household budgets.
    • Tax Protection: Permanently extend the enhanced standard deduction, preventing an automatic tax hike and saving a married couple an average of $661 per year.
    • Grocery Tax Repeal: End Virginia’s tax on groceries — one of only ten states that still imposes it — saving a family of four about $150 annually while holding local governments harmless.
    • Lower Car Insurance Costs: Allow, but do not require, insurers to offer preferred repair networks, creating a path to more affordable premiums for drivers.

    — the Virginia House GOP Caucus

  • Data Centers Provide Property Tax Relief for Homeowners

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    A building with glass walls has money flowing out of it, surrounded by falling dollar bills against a cloudy sky.
    Image credit: Grok

    by Hans Bader

    Data centers cut property taxes on homeowners, by providing lots of additional property to tax. The more property there is to tax, the less tax needs to be imposed on each property. Data centers use very few government services (unlike homeowners, who use things like schools and parks), so data centers don’t add much to a county’s costs.

    Democratic-run Loudoun County has lots of data centers and lower property taxes than other Democratic counties in northern Virginia, such as neighboring Fairfax County and Arlington County. Data centers generate almost half its property tax revenue, enabling it to tax homeowners at lower rates despite Loudoun County’s rapidly rising government spending under Democratic control.

    Loudoun County explains:

    (more…)

  • Senate Bill Grabs Political Third Rail of Diploma Exit Exams

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    Todd Truitt

    Group of high school graduates posing outdoors in caps and gowns, holding their diplomas.
    Photo created by Grok

    by Todd Truitt

    Senator Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax County, is sponsoring a bill this legislative session that would require the Virginia Board of Education to develop and “implement alternative graduation pathways” that allow students to earn a Standard Diploma without passing the statewide Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments.

    Currently to graduate from high school in Virginia, students must pass end of course (EOC) SOL exams in specific courses in English, Math, Science and Social Studies. Under Sen. Pekarsky’s bill, the Board would have to consult a range of stakeholders — from educators and administrators to parents and students — to design options that could include “non-assessment demonstrations of competencies” like locally developed performance assessments, portfolios, capstone projects, work-based learning, dual-enrollment courses, or industry credentials.

    A professional headshot of a woman with long brown hair wearing glasses, smiling confidently against a dark background.
    Senator Stella Pekarsky

    As directed by Governor Abigail Spanberger’s inauguration day education executive order, Secretary of Education Jeffrey O. Smith and State Superintendent Jenna Conway will conduct listening sessions throughout Virginia during the first 100 days of her administration with “students, parents, educators, school leaders, superintendents, school board members, and community members about the challenges and successes facing their schools.”

    Will changing this EOC graduation requirement even be a major concern to this broad section of stakeholders?

    (more…)

  • Alternate Estimates of Battery Bill Cost Still Tens of Billions of Dollars

    Posted on

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    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    A federal renewable energy laboratory’s public website on the cost of building utility battery storage indicates the cost now being paid by Virginia’s two major utilities is well above the average. Predicting future costs is always iffy, but the National Laboratory of the Rockies website does that, too. 

    National Laboratory of the Rockies data found here.

    In earlier posts, Bacon’s Rebellion reported (accurately) that Dominion Energy Virginia has applications pending at the State Corporation Commission to build battery storage at average costs of about $675,000 per megawatt-hour. 

    The federal data puts the 2026 cost of a four-hour battery system at $520,000 per megawatt hour, or $520 million* per gigawatt hour, with a slightly lower cost for 10-hour units.  Reworking the numbers from the earlier post, the utilities would still need more than $50 billion to build all storage called for in House Bill 895 at today’s prices. Some numbers are detailed at the end. 

    The earlier post did spark a response from one of the advocates for the bill, which is a massive expansion on the utility battery mandate now included in the Virginia Clean Economy Act. He made the point that there are examples of battery projects costing far less than Dominion’s, and that the utility does not have a stellar record of keeping its costs in line with or below outside competition. Their bill also promotes competition, which is good.

    (more…)

  • Yippee! We Live In Virginiasota Now!

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Last time Democrats controlled Virginia, they tried to turn the commonwealth into California.

    High taxes, high gas prices, EV mandates, oppressive covid restrictions.

    This time, it’s worse. They aim to turn Virginia into Minnesota.

    Gov. Abigail Spanberger apparently looked West, saw an unaffordable state full of environmental laws that make things like rebuilding a home after a wildfire impossible and decided that wasn’t enough of a dramatic change for the commonwealth.

    Instead, in her inaugural address she made it clear that Virginia – like Minnesota – is at war with the federal government. Henceforth a sanctuary state where the Virginia State Police are forbidden to work with ICE agents to peacefully deport illegal aliens.

    Listen to her:

    Continue reading.

  • Packing the BOVs

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Governor Abigail Spanberger has announced 27 appointments to the Boards of Visitors of the University of Virginia, George Mason University, and the Virginia Military Institute. The appointees fill vacancies created by the departure of board members selected by former Governor Glenn Youngkin, either because they were rejected by the state Senate or because Spanberger asked them to resign.

    Most prominent among the new appointees is former Governor Ralph Northam to the Virginia Military Institute. As the Washington Post notes, “In 2020, Northam, a VMI graduate, ordered an investigation into the school’s treatment of Black students.”

    Democrats, says the Post, have criticized Youngkin for “being overly involved in Virginia’s colleges.”

  • Harrisonburg Can Do Better

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Joe Fitzgerald

    Someone once described GM’s Vega as a vehicle completely unencumbered by the engineering process. And then there was the country mechanic who once suggested to the driver of a Vega that they fix a particular problem by jacking up the radiator cap and driving a new car in underneath it.

    We’ll get back to that.

    There are a number of issues with the current Harrisonburg City Council. Many of them nest under the umbrella of Proverbs 29:18. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

    It is not clear who’s driving and where they’re going. Another way of looking at it, as several dozen people have agreed in the past three years, is that the city is headed in the wrong direction.

    “We expect certain things of government, and somebody has to make those things work.”

    (more…)

  • Death and Taxes

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Portrait of Benjamin Franklin with a serious expression, featuring his distinctive gray hair and clothing with a light background.

    by David Saunders

    Welcome to 2026!

    You’ll be getting a W-2 from your employer soon in the mail. It’s an annual reminder of what you made and what the government took in taxes. You might owe the IRS (like me) or you might get a refund (like many), but either way it’s still sobering to think how much we have to fork over for the privilege of being a citizen.

    The biggest line item is federal income tax. You’ll also see deductions for payroll taxes for like Social Security and Medicare, quietly withheld every pay period. It is mysteriously labeled FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) and trust me it’s not a contribution… it’s a tax.

    Then there’s state income tax, where the Commonwealth’s top rate of 5.75% isn’t especially low or high, but it’s another layer on the stack. (Expect this to go up in the next 4 years)

    Next comes sales tax. Every little thing you buy, every Amazon order, every trip to the store, is subject to sales tax. Virginia’s combined state and local rate averages just under six percent, but some localities add much, much more like Richmond’s hot meals tax – where you pay 13.8% to eat out. In some areas you pay higher rates for transportation, hotel stays, admissions to events, or extra tax if you own a business. BPOL Tax (Business Professional & Licensing Tax) was adopted after 1812 to pay for the war of 1812 – and it never went away.

    (more…)

  • One Commission to Rule Energy and In the Darkness Bind Us

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    Del. Terry Kilgore, patron of HB 633

    A legislative commission created in 2008 to oversee one narrow function of two electric utilities is about to expand its scope of oversight of all forms of energy in Virginia, including nuclear, coal, and natural gas. It will be the legislative counterpart – and counterweight – to the politically independent State Corporation Commission. 

    The bill to accomplish that (House Bill 633) qualifies as one of the most sweeping and dangerous pieces of legislation pending at the 2026 General Assembly, and that is saying something when one reads the other bills that have been filed. Adding a touch of irony, the patron of the bill granting such sweeping power to legislative Democrats is the Republican House Minority Leader, and he hails from the heart of coal country.  

    The bill abolishes the long-standing Virginia Coal and Energy Commission he serves on, which admittedly had been inactive in recent years, and transfers its role to this group. The name changes from the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (CEUR) to the Energy Commission of Virginia (ECV). The first provision of the ECV’s powers in the new bill directs it to:  

    Examine the production, transmission, distribution, storage, and use of energy in the Commonwealth, including energy efficiency and conservation, as part of monitoring the development and implementation of the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth (§ 45.2-1705 et seq.) and the Virginia Energy Plan (§ 45.2-1710 et seq.).  

    The energy policy it references in the Code of Virginia could not be more committed to the mission of abolishing hydrocarbon energy in every sector of the economy, not just the electricity industry. Its overriding policy principles include: “Climate change is an urgent and pressing challenge for the Commonwealth. Swift decarbonization and a transition to clean energy are required to meet the urgency of the challenge…” 

    (more…)

  • Virginia’s New Immigration Enforcement Policies

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    From Governor Abigail Spanberger’s Executive Order No. 10 taking the state police out of immigration-law enforcement:

    Ensuring public safety in Virginia requires state and local law enforcement to be focused on their core responsibilities of investigating and deterring criminal activity, staffing jails, and community engagement. Since 2025, Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety resources due to the directives in Executive Order No. 47 (2025) that require and encourage state and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws. Federal authorities should enforce federal civil immigration laws—law enforcement in the Commonwealth should prioritize the safety and security of all residents in Virginia, the enforcement of local and state laws, and coordination with federal entities on criminal matters.

    From Attorney General Jay Jones day one “Actions to Keep Virginians Safe, Lower Costs, and Protect Fundamental Rights.”

    Protecting Our Communities: I am directing my team to review my predecessor’s opinion regarding United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers and develop clear guidance that balances public safety and trust between communities and law enforcement as it relates to how our immigration laws are implemented.

  • Congratulations to Governor Spanberger…

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    … and a call for collaboration and principled debate.

    A group of spectators applauding at a formal event, with a focus on a man in a top hat and a woman in a white coat and gloves, both smiling.
    Photo credit: Steve Helber/AP

    by Derrick Max

    Today, the Thomas Jefferson Institute congratulates Governor Abigail Spanberger on her historic inauguration as the 75th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia — and the first woman in the nearly 250-year history of the Commonwealth to hold this office.

    Her assumption of the governorship marks a milestone in Virginia’s story, one rooted in tradition and as she noted in her inaugural address “represents something profound… the peaceful transfer of power… a cornerstone of our American democratic experiment.” 

    Today’s ceremony was an elaborate and exciting celebration of what is best about Virginia, and marked an historic day that should make all Virginians, regardless of party, proud!

    The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy (TJI) is dedicated to advancing freedom, opportunity, and prosperity for all Virginians through limited government, free markets, and individual choice. When advancing policies that align with these principles, we stand with Governor Spanberger who rightly noted “our prosperity depends upon union… that our leaders and our fellow Virginians should join in common cause, find common ground, and pursue common purpose — this is the concept at the heart of what it means to be a Commonwealth.”

    (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A person with dark hair and a white coat is holding and setting fire to a photograph of a man while smoking a cigarette. In the background, city lights are visible. A caption above the image discusses a significant feminist revolution.

    See more memes at The Bull Elephant.

  • How An Unelected Army of NGOs Became America’s Fourth Branch of Government

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

  • But, of Course, Youngkin Was the One Who Politicized Higher-Ed Governance

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    From the New York Times:

    “The head of the board overseeing the University of Virginia and two other top board members, including a major donor to the school, resigned on Friday under pressure from the state’s incoming Democratic governor, according to two people briefed on the matter and letters obtained by The New York Times. A fourth member said on Saturday that he had also resigned.

    “The resignations came after the new governor, Abigail Spanberger, asked at least five members of the board to step aside as she takes office on Saturday. Ms. Spanberger has not said why she asked the board members to resign, but they were all involved last year when the Justice Department, in an extraordinary use of its power, bullied the university’s president into resigning. After Ms. Spanberger was elected in November, she asked the board to delay naming a replacement, but it went ahead and appointed a new president anyway.

    “Those who submitted resignations on Friday were Rachel Sheridan, the head of the board, known at the University of Virginia as the rector; Porter Wilkinson, the vice rector; and Paul Manning, a board member and major donor who gave $100 million to the university just a few years ago, according to the letters.

    “There are 17 seats on the Board of Visitors, which oversees the school, but before the resignations on Friday, there were only 12 members, all appointed by the outgoing governor, Glenn Youngkin, a Republican.” (Continue reading. New York Times subscription required.)

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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