Bacon's Rebellion

  • Assembly and Spanberger Made Zero Progress on Virginia Energy Challenges

    Posted on

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    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    What the General Assembly ordered us to buy instead of true power generation.

    In advance of the 2025 election, the Jefferson Forum outlined in this June commentary the energy challenges facing Virginia. New Governor Abigail Spanberger (D) and the General Assembly have now concluded work on the 2026 energy legislation and Virginia has made zero progress – and may be losing ground. 

    Ignore the political posturing coming from Capitol Hill in Richmond. The reliability risk remains, and electricity costs are going to keep rising. 

    It would be nice to report that Jefferson Forum’s efforts, including more time at the Assembly this winter, made a difference. But being closer to the process this year only underlined that the elected officials are working without much understanding of the issues, that most bills are not accompanied by financial analysis or ratepayer impact information, and the various donor groups, such the utilities and those seeking to dictate utility policy, are heard more often than average consumers.  

    The key issue a year ago was the growing disconnection between Virginia’s electricity demand and its internal supply. Projected demand from the exploding data center industry even calls into question whether the multistate PJM Interconnection Virginia belongs to will have enough supply for Virginia in coming years, and it certainly won’t without controversial new transmission lines.  

    The General Assembly session passed nothing that will close the looming supply shortage. Another bitter winter blast like the one early this year, or a summer heat spell requiring an equal energy surge, could bring the dreaded involuntary demands to reduce or cut off the power.   

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

    A humorous image featuring crispy bacon on a plate with text overlay about only eating bacon on days that start with 'T', referring to Tuesday, Thursday, Thaturday, and Thunday. The image also includes a container of 'Denny's Bacon Salt'.

  • Spanberger Right to Veto Public Employee Unionization Bill

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    by Derrick A. Max

    Governor Abigail Spanberger

    Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, the sponsor of a sweeping public-sector collective bargaining bill (Senate Bill 378) said Governor Spanberger told him Wednesday that she planned to veto the legislation.  If she does, she will be making the right decision for Virginia taxpayers, local governments, students, public employees and for her status as the leader of her party here in the Commonwealth. 

    According to her amendment justification, Governor Spanberger supports collective bargaining generally, but not the way this bill would implement it.  That distinction matters! 

    The original bill was not a modest reform. It would repeal Virginia’s existing limits on public-sector collective bargaining, create a new Public Employee Relations Board, require public employers to negotiate over wages, hours, and other terms of employment, and establish collective bargaining for individual home care providers through a new state structure. It also would repeal Virginia’s statutory protection declaring secret-ballot votes in union representation proceedings a fundamental right. 

    The Jefferson Forum warned repeatedly that this legislation would move Virginia in the wrong direction. It would weaken local control, increase costs, empower union bosses, inject more politics into public institutions, and impose rigid labor rules at the very moment Virginia needs flexibility and affordability. 

    Governor Spanberger’s proposed amendments recognized many of our concerns. She sought to delay implementation for local governments until 2030, alter the new labor board structure, and preserve more authority for public employers. The General Assembly rejected those changes and sent the bill back to her in its original form.  A clear disregard for the Governor’s concerns and authority.   

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  • The Integrity of Healthcare Programs in Virginia – Part 2 Forests and Trees

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    A smiling woman with gray hair styled in soft waves, wearing a black top and a silver chain necklace, against a blurred gray background.

    Federally-funded programs administered by the states are primary targets of fraud and abuse because of the vast sums at stake.  The amount of money at risk is literally unimaginable. Medicare and Medicaid alone exceed two trillion dollars a year. 

    Federal programs are widely victimized in Virginia because the Commonwealth does not defend them well.  The Commonwealth recovers millions of dollars. Billions escape.

    State defenders against fraud in many federally funded programs run by the Commonwealth have a too-narrow focus. Actively hampered by the General Assembly, they are ignoring the forest as they examine the trees.

    States operate their own programs under federal and state guidelines for:

    • administering Medicaid,
    • licensing and overseeing providers of healthcare and of assistance to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD);
    • managing unemployment insurance systems. Those are funded through a joint federal-state partnership financed by employer payroll taxes — state unemployment taxes (SUTA) for benefits and federal unemployment taxes (FUTA) for administration.  
    • conducting public assistance programs for the needy that are largely funded by the federal government.  Major programs like SNAP (food assistance) and TANF (cash assistance) are funded by the federal government but managed at the state level.

    In Virginia and other states, there are four lines of defense against program fraud, waste, and abuse:

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  • The Single Funniest Thing on the Web May Mask Tragedy

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    The story behind the jokes is true, well-documented, and strange. From X:

    Comedy is funniest when it is based on an underlying truth. Freitas offers a hilarious satire. 

    Attorney General Jay Jones is lit up by Mr. Freitas for actual typos. Virginia (Virgnia) and Senator (Sentator) were misspelled in a court filing seeking a delay in the certification of the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision finding the recent redistricting process illegal under the Virginia Constitution. He also lampoons Jones for the misspelling of Attorney (Attoney) on his official website and Lucas for misspelling Senator (again, unaccountably, Sentator) in her press release about her recent arrest.

    The satire is funny because it is so well done and true. A fascination for the audience that makes it funnier is that the errors are so inexplicable in the modern era.  This author has been forced to override his spell checker to let him even quote each of the misspellings.  

    What is not funny is Jay Jones’ ongoing struggles. Before his election, he made a terrible error in an infamous early morning text that revealed extremely dark thoughts – he expressed a wish for the death of a political opponent’s children.  

    Now this. Were the embarrassing errors that were the subject of the Freitas lampoon committed again in the early morning?  

    (more…)

  • How Bad Is Surovell at His Job?

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    James A. Bacon

    Close-up of a man with a beard, wearing a brown suit jacket and a blue shirt, speaking or engaged in conversation.
    State Senator Scott Surovell

    by Joe Fitzgerald

    The first was a plan to put a casino in Fairfax County, despite the objections of the local government there. He knew better than the county supervisors. The governor vetoed it.

    Scott Surovell has had three major failures in his third year as leader of the state Senate Democrats.

    The second was his push to appoint an anti-immigrant general district court judge in an area that’s heavily immigrant. The appointment was successful, but the decision to do so was a failure prima facie. But Surovell knew better than local Democrats.

    The third was his push for a redistricting referendum on shaky legal grounds. Many serious people who favored redistricting still expected the referendum to fail on constitutional grounds. Surovell knew better than the skeptics, but today the Virginia Supreme Court agreed with the skeptics.

    The greatest damage from the referendum push is to the governor, who lost ten points in her approval rating, in part from supporting the referendum, which stank even for many of us voting for it. The more general damage is to the Democratic Party in general, flip-flopping on redistricting and doing it badly.

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  • Virginia’s Decision on Federal School Choice Tax Credit Program Looms

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    Todd Truitt

    Two Democratic Governors Join Federal School Choice Tax Credit Program While Virginia’s State Program Faces Sunset

    by Todd Truitt

    Two Democratic governors have now chosen to participate in a new federal school choice tax-credit scholarship program. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced this week that her state will opt in, following Colorado Governor Jared Polis. In addition, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein said he plans to opt-in once the federal government issues regulations on the program later this year. While only two Democratic governors have said they will not participate, most of the rest are undecided.

    Former Governor Glenn Youngkin opted the Commonwealth into the program in January 2026 before leaving office. As the program’s 2027 launch date approaches, many are watching Governor Abigail Spanberger to see whether she will maintain participation.

    The federal program, part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year, allows individual taxpayers to claim a dollar-for-dollar nonrefundable federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to qualified nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). These organizations can then provide scholarships for private school tuition, tutoring, educational materials, or other approved K-12 expenses. Participation requires no state funding, but states must actively opt in for residents to access the benefits.

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  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

    A chef in a kitchen with various cooking equipment, humorously questioning why bacon is called bacon and cookies are called cookies, with a backdrop of cooking food and baked cookies.

  • Contrary to Popular Belief, Data Centers Slow the Increase in Energy Prices

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Derrick Max

    For several years, opponents of data center growth in Virginia have advanced a simple political narrative: data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity, therefore they “must” be driving up electric bills for ordinary Virginians.

    It is an emotionally intuitive and persuasive argument. It is also increasingly unsupported by the evidence.

    A new analysis from the Institute for Energy Research directly examined electricity prices, electricity demand growth, and data center concentration across all 50 states. The findings should fundamentally reshape the debate in Virginia, home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers.

    The report found no statistically significant correlation between the number of data centers in a state and either current electricity prices or faster price increases over time. In fact, the ten states with the most data centers, including Virginia, Texas, California, Illinois, and Ohio all had electricity prices almost identical to the national average.

    Map of the United States showing electricity rate increases and the distribution of data centers. Blue areas indicate electricity costs above the national average, while red areas indicate below average costs. The size of the circles represents the number of data centers in each region.

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  • The Bravest Democrat in the 2026 General Assembly took on Louise Lucas

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    A smiling man with a bald head, wearing a blue blazer and a patterned shirt, standing outdoors with streetlights in the background.
    Del. Garrett McGuire (D-Fairfax County)

    You know how sometimes you try to do the right thing for the right reason, and it blows up in your face?  

    One of the newest members of the General Assembly is freshman Delegate Garrett McGuire, D-Fairfax. He is either the bravest of the Democrats or one who committed a rookie mistake. 

    His HB 1423, as introduced, stated in part:

    § 1. That the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) shall analyze the existing authority for oversight and accountability of group homes and make recommendations for increasing the oversight and accountability of group homes. (emphasis added)

    So, knowingly or not, Del. McGuire asked for an assessment of increased oversight, accountability, and investigation into the Medicaid-funded business of Senate Finance and Appropriations Chair Louise Lucas.

    Right thing to do. Prescient even. But Del. Garrett is unlikely to be well received in Democratic circles, who may be asked whether they, too, are interested in improving client safety at Lucas Lodge. Or if the Justice Department investigation is still driven solely by Republicans mad about redistricting. Or something.

    (more…)

  • SCOTUS Ends Racial Segregation of Voting Districts

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Virginia Beach’s race-based voting districts are now in the crosshairs.

    Close-up of a map showing Virginia Beach and Newport News in Virginia, marked with a red pushpin.

    by Victoria Manning

    Democrats across the nation created voting maps shoving black voters into racially apportioned districts. Forced segregation was wrong at the water fountain and it’s equally wrong at the ballot box. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) just ruled race-based voting districts unconstitutional—impacting state and local voting maps across the nation including Virginia Beach, VA.

    The Louisiana v. Callais case began when a judge ordered the state of Louisiana to redraw its voting maps to specifically include a majority-minority district based on race. A group of voters then challenged that new district in court as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. It ultimately ended up on the high court’s docket.

    SCOTUS ruled in Callais that creating voting districts based on race is an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander.” The court held that the Voting Rights Act that guarantees a person’s right to vote not be denied because of race still holds, but the drawing of districts must focus on the “enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment’s prohibition on intentional racial discrimination.” They also determined that states can still draw districts based on nonracial factors, including “to achieve partisan advantage.”

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  • Virginia Supremes Speak

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A judge in a courtroom striking a map of Virginia with a gavel, highlighting the division between different regions marked in red and blue.
    Ai-generated image by Grok

    The Virginia Supreme Court has struck down the redistricting amendment on the grounds that lawmakers violated the state constitutional procedure for placing amendments on the ballot. I’m leaving for vacation today, but I’ll post reactions on the blog — in the order they arrive in my inbox (newest on top) — until I have to head to the airport. — JAB

    Statement of House GOP Leader Terry Kilgore Statement on Supreme Court Ruling

    GATE CITY, Va–House GOP Leader Terry Kilgore issued the following statement regarding today’s ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia:

    “Today’s ruling establishes once again that the Constitution of Virginia means what it says. The rule of law requires that Virginians have an opportunity to review a Constitutional Amendment before they vote for the House of Delegates in a meaningful way. You cannot violate the Constitution to amend the Constitution.” 

    Attorney General Jason Miyares issued the following statement through Fair Maps following this morning’s Virginia Supreme Court ruling:

    “Virginians spoke loud and clear in 2020 that voters should pick their elected officials, not the other way around. Today, their voices were heard over the shamefully deceptive rhetoric and language of an unconstitutional effort by Richmond Democrats to carve up the state for themselves. We thank the Justices for their swift action to uphold the rights of our fellow Virginians all across the Commonwealth.”

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  • The Day Grant Saved America

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    As Virginia celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, there’s another anniversary we should honor as well: the Wilderness Campaign.

    by Shaun Kenney

    A wooded area with lush green trees surrounding a road intersection featuring a stop sign and a yield sign.

    “They came to a crossroads in the track out of the eastern reaches of The Wilderness. If they turned left it would mean they were heading north. If they turned right — south. And from their throats burst a tremendous shout of exultation. It was in the darkness and dust that they had what they later remembered as a rebirth of themselves as men and as an army. Through their ranks came Ulysses S. Grant, and they shouted for him and waved their hats in the air for him.”

    — Gene Smith, “Lee and Grant” (p. 201)

    While I have no idea why Virginia 250 is sputtering, I am absolutely shocked to see that Virginia isn’t doing anything cohesive to celebrate and promote the founding of America.

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but America is a Virginian idea, created by Virginians, bled for by Virginians, where Virginia conceded her western claims which entitled her to be a nation unto herself, where Virginians — Jefferson among them, but George Mason and George Wythe as well — articulated the reasons for the separation with Great Britain, where the American War for Independence resolved itself at Yorktown, where Virginians led by James Madison forged the U.S. Constitution, and where the Virginia Dynasty from Washington through Monroe led the early republic for 32 of its first 36 years.

    What is little disputed is that the two bonds that kept the United States together were the words Liberty and Union — “Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable!” was Senator Daniel Webster’s reply to South Carolina’s John Calhoun when the prospect of nullification, an idea floated by Jefferson and Madison in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolves, hovered around the debate between states’ rights and the scope of the federal government. President Andrew Jackson threatened to call up the troops and South Carolina submitted to the Union, for a time.

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  • Government Oversight of the Integrity of Healthcare Programs in Virginia – Part 1

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    A professional portrait of an older woman with gray hair styled in a wavy fashion, wearing a black top and a large silver chain necklace. She is smiling and facing the camera.
    Senator Louise Lucas, president pro tempore of the state Senate.

    by James C. Sherlock

    This author’s unbroken experience over many years has been that majorities in the General Assembly have sought to protect the healthcare industry from competition (COPN) and leave it alone to operate as it sees fit. They have not wanted oversight because many of their largest donors and most influential constituents in the healthcare business have not. It has proven both embarrassing and enraging to watch.

    Their constituents who are not in the business have had no idea how much danger that has put them in.

    Over the author’s 15 years of investigative reporting on healthcare in Virginia, it has proven difficult to build and maintain a consistent, integrated picture of state government oversight of program integrity. That traces to the fact that healthcare program integrity has not in that time been consistent, well-funded, or integrated in Virginia. Yesterday’s headlines about issues in Portsmouth are the tip of the iceberg. We need to do much better.

    Key pieces of the puzzle include:

    1. Who and how many in the Virginia government are responsible for overseeing government healthcare programs?
    2. If and how they exercise that responsibility;
    3. Their complaint, investigation, and reporting mechanisms; 
    4. Their various authorities and responsibilities to sanction errors and fraud; and 
    5. The level of internal coordination within the Virginia government of those authorities, responsibilities, and actions.

    All five change regularly, driven by both federal and state decisions, and program integrity oversight hasn’t worked well in Virginia yet. Webster’s defines a system as “a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole.” As defined there, Virginia has had no healthcare oversight system. There has been no “unified whole”.

    Some of that is Virginia’s fault, some not. We’ll look.

    (more…)

  • Dominion’s Fantasy PIPP Application Should Be Rejected or Resubmitted

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    Dominion Energy Virginia has asked the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to allow it to begin collecting the cost of a low-income energy subsidy program, adding a small monthly charge to all its customers.  The application should immediately be dismissed because it fails to recognize how the 2026 General Assembly expanded the program.

    At the very least, the SCC should direct the utility to amend its application to reflect the legislative changes that go into effect next January 1.  The participation and ultimate cost of the program are going to expand rapidly under House Bill 884.  The monthly charge Dominion has applied for will not even come close to paying for it.

    The program is the Percentage of Income Payment Program, or PIPP, discussed often on Bacon’s Rebellion since the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act created it.  It caps the monthly electric bills of eligible participants at ten percent of their income, with the balance paid by increasing the bills of everybody else.  The money also covers past due bills in the PIPP households.

    The utility is also dealing with several other major cost increases expected this year – a much higher fuel factor charge, and the need to start collecting a carbon tax from its ratepayers – so perhaps it had reason to low-ball this third bill addition.  It only asked to add 16 cents to that illustrative 1,000 kilowatt hour monthly bill so often discussed.

    That is estimated to produce about $14 million in PIPP revenue for the 12 months starting November 1.  But the 2026 legislation, signed by Governor Abigail Spanberger (D), allows Dominion to expend up to $100 million annually on subsidies and administrative costs, if needed.  That is likely to be exactly what Dominion will need to collect. 

    (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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