Bacon's Rebellion

  • In Struggle for Autonomy, UVA Board Eyes Role of Board Secretary

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The process for selecting the Board of Visitors secretary at the University of Virginia might seem arcane to outsiders, but it consumed the attention of board members briefly Friday before everyone agreed to table discussion until the regularly scheduled meeting in September.

    According to the Board manual, the secretary preserves documents, prepares the minutes, keeps the official Seal of the University in safe custody, and assists the Board in “the discharge of its official duties.” The secretary has little formal power but plays a key role in communicating information to board members.

    And therein lies the problem. The secretary (currently Susan Harris) reports to the president (Jim Ryan). Several members of the Board are frustrated by their inability to get answers from the Ryan administration. Requests for information are frequently blown off as too troublesome and time-consuming for overworked administrators to waste their time on.

    Generally speaking, one way in which university presidents control their boards is to manipulate the information presented to them. Such is certainly the case with UVA. Thus, the disagreement over who picks the secretary for their four-year terms is at heart a struggle over access to information.

    Rector Robert Hardie brought the issue to the Board’s attention, referring to a proposal by an unnamed board member to change the existing selection process — the president and rector nominate an individual “in concurrence,” and the Board votes its approval — to one in which any board member could nominate someone. The Executive Committee had discussed the idea, Hardie said, and the seven members unanimously opposed it in a straw poll.

    (more…)

  • University Board Politics Got Even Nastier Yesterday

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Blaming the toxic politics in Washington, D.C., the state Senate Privileges & Elections Subcommittee just made Virginia politics more toxic by voting down eight university Board of Visitors members nominated by Governor Glenn Youngkin in an 8-to-4 party line vote.

    “What we see in our political climate today, especially coming out of Washington, trying to make its way to our commonwealth — it’s our job to stand up,” said Committee Chair Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, the committee chair…. who happens to be running for lieutenant governor.

    A new battleground has emerged in Virginia politics — the appointment of board members to the governing bodies of Virginia’s public universities. Traditionally, the legislature defers to the overwhelming majority of a governor’s nominees. And when lawmakers don’t like someone, they wait until the regular General Assembly session in January-February to reject him or her.

    The process allows nominees to serve six or more months before getting the axe. It’s not clear from the Richmond Times-Dispatch report what immediate impact the Subcommittee vote will have.

    “Just days before a contentious Democrat primary, Virginians see today’s antics for what they are — an obvious political sideshow,” said Youngkin spokesman Rob Damschen. “This sloppy attempt … is not only completely out of order with General Assembly procedures, it also costs Virginians thousands of dollars. Make no mistake, these highly qualified appointees will continue to serve in their posts as the Constitution of Virginia affords.”

    But Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, defended the vote. “When we’ve done this before, governors have said this is valid,” he said. According to the RTD, Surovell was referring to subcommittee votes when Republicans were in control that did not confirm some of Democratic Governor Ralph Northam’s appointees.

    (more…)

  • Pennsylvania Joining RGGI is All Cost, No Benefit: PJM

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    Steve Haner

    The states still in the Regional Greenhous Gas Initiative. Lawsuits are pending to add Virginia and Pennsylvania.

    By Steve Haner

    A Republican leader in the Pennsylvania legislature asked the regional electricity market PJM Interconnect what would happen if that state joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. PJM reported it would raise consumer costs but have next to no impact on carbon dioxide emissions.

    The report, dated April 25 but just shared with Bacon’s Rebellion, demonstrated what likely happened while Virginia belonged to the RGGI carbon tax, cap and trade compact: Virginia’s hydrocarbon generation plants were operating less often but similar plants elsewhere within PJM increased their output. As an effort to reduce CO2 emissions it was a bust.

    The political battle over Pennsylvania’s membership in the RGGI compact has paralleled the fight in Virginia, and the issue is pending in an appeals court just like it is in Virginia. In Virginia, RGGI advocates are suing a governor who took the state out of the agreement, while in Pennsylvania Republican legislators are suing a governor who signed up to join RGGI. Both states are outside RGGI at this moment and are not collecting the carbon tax. 

    Whether or not Virginia belongs within RGGI ought to be a major debate in the 2025 election campaign. It now breaks down largely on a party-line basis and this one issue serves as an excellent proxy for the larger debate over energy, emissions and the claimed climate crisis. To think RGGI makes any sense you must believe that CO2 is driving temperatures to dangerous levels and causing extreme weather. 

    (more…)

  • In the Governor’s Race

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    James A. Bacon

    Do not yield to the enemies of promise.

    by Gordon C. Morse

    The 2025 race to be Virginia’s next governor enters summer a lackluster affair and it need not continue in that condition. Both candidates have inherently interesting backgrounds and, you know, it’s okay to talk about yourself.

    The key being that it’s you doing the talking. Establishing your authenticity as a leader – as well as your individuality as a human being – by means of political consultants is akin to leading a strutting brass band into a dead-end alley. It’s looks good, but goes nowhere. (Yes, just like in Animal House.)

    It will be well lit, however. Hand that to the political TV craftsmen. Unprecedented levels of political ad spending have caused production values to soar as well. The sets, the people, the visual techniques – everything in these ads looks terrific.

    Ah, there’s the center of attention: the candidate. Such aplomb. Such self-confidence. Rest assured, we’re looking at a stand-up person.

    All fights – no matter for what purpose – will be courageously fought.

    All ideals will be brilliant conceived.

    All things, all hopes, all dreams will be won and at no extra cost to anyone.

    The cliches mount up by the bushel.

    (more…)

  • UVA Board Passes Status-Quo Budget for 2025-26

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Fending off a bid by fiscal hawks to cut spending on administrative overhead, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors Friday approved a $5.8 billion operating budget for 2025-26. The sum covers $3.3 billion for the UVA medical center and $2.5 billion for academic operations in Charlottesville and Wise.

    The board action reaffirmed the 3% tuition increase approved in December but provided a one-time “rebate” to hold tuition steady for in-state undergraduate students next academic year. The $6.5 million in lost revenue will be made up from a $5.9 million increase in state support and some “cost efficiencies.”

    Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis defended the spending and tuition increases as necessary given the “enormous amount of pressure” from inflation, state-mandated pay increases and funding uncertainties created by Trump administration cuts to research. The budget includes many economies, efficiencies and cuts, she contended. “There are budget reductions. They are painful.”

    While a majority of Board members acquiesced to the budget, a few were not satisfied.

    “For me, the budget doesn’t meet the mark this year,” said Doug Wetmore. “I was hoping to see at our budget workshop … more detail about the cost centers of the university.”

    (more…)

  • The Energy Policy Minefield Facing a New Virginia Governor

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    When the smoke clears on the November elections and Virginia has a new governor and a different House of Delegates, energy policy will still head the list of crucial issues. It is in the state’s best interest to highlight those issues during what’s left of the campaign season and force candidates to state their intentions.

     Virginia is a net energy importer, approving electricity-sucking data centers faster than it can put up power plants and power lines to serve them.  The power plants that our major utilities are directed to build by state law are mostly vast solar farms, plagued by low operational reliability, while the more reliable hydrocarbon generation is still scheduled by law to disappear. The threat of shortages is growing. 

    If recent history is the guide, a solution to the demand-supply disconnect will be difficult because of the revenue produced by the data center industry and the public appetite for our digital economy. The same history indicates a Democratic victory in November will leave solar and wind as the preferred (basically mandatory) generation choices, with a nod toward more nuclear power at some point. A mandate for huge spending on batteries will probably resurface, but they do not power anything unless charged first by a real generator.  

    Dominion Energy Virginia is seeking a green light from the regulatory State Corporation Commission to build new natural gas-fired generation, with both problems in mind. The SCC is in the final stages of evaluating a 15-year integrated resource plan (IRP) for the utility that includes several new gas plants in the next few years, but opponents of using hydrocarbons have argued the utility has failed to prove that gas is the only choice.  

    The final round of written arguments following the long public hearing weigh heavily against the utility’s plan, with most case participants arguing it should now be rejected. Even Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares told the SCC his office merely had “no objection” to the IRP, hardly a ringing endorsement. Should the SCC decide Dominion did not make the case for gas, the utility’s corresponding application to build the first such plant in Chesterfield County will face a higher hurdle.   

    (more…)

  • Bits and Pieces

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    I have always thought that local government was the most interesting level of government to watch. Officials from two jurisdictions made the news (not in a good way) last week.

    Martinsville. A member of city council, Aaron Rawls,  filed a lawsuit in federal court charging that the city manager and a deputy sheriff had violated his First, Fourth, and 14th Amendment rights. The suit stems from an incident at a council meeting in March when Rawls, while criticizing a salary increase that had been given to the city manager and the management in general, was interrupted by the mayor and warned about insulting the staff in public. Shortly after that, a deputy sheriff approached Rawls, asked him to leave, and escorted him out of the council chambers.

    Rawls claims that the city manager signaled to the deputy to remove him. The city manager denied signaling the deputy. She said, “No one signed [the deputy]. She is a court deputy and acted as trained in her court role. While the moment was difficult I do not have the authority to remove a member as city manager. While I serve as clerk the mayor is the chair and is the only [one] with the authority to request the removal of someone who is out of order.” 

    The mayor claims that he never gave such a signal. He explained that, instead of removing Rawls, he would have given him additional warnings and, if they were not heeded, he would have called a recess in the meeting. But he defended the deputy. “I believe that when she looked at everything that was in there, the things he was saying, the responses he was getting from the crowd, I think she took the totality of the circumstances at play…and made a judgement call. I think she did the right thing.” 

    The poor deputy caught in the middle of this has not made any public statement.

    Spotsylvania. Richard T. McGrath, the chief district court judge of the local district, was indicted on a charge of bribery of a public official, a Class 4 felony. The public official who was allegedly bribed was not named in the indictment. This situation is counterintuitive—one would normally think it would be the judge being bribed, rather than being the briber. The members of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, who apparently were informed of the forthcoming indictment, as well as the State Police investigator handling the case, understandably, are not talking to the press.

    Perhaps LarrytheG can enlighten us.

  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    James A. Bacon

    Compiled by The Bull Elephant

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

  • Youngkin Ramps Up Fight Against Anti-Semitism

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Glenn Youngkin. Image credit: Restoration News.

    “We’re not anti-Semitic, we’re anti-Zionist.”

    That’s the refrain we hear from pro-Palestinian protesters calling to free Palestine “from the river to the sea” and to “globalize the intifada.” They don’t hate Jews, they say. They hate the Israeli state, which just happens to be populated by Jews. Anti-Semitism, according to this logic, is something that emanates exclusively from the far Right.

    There is anti-Semitism on the far-right, to be sure, although it doesn’t seem to be much in evidence here in Virginia since the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally in which torch-bearing white supremacists (mostly from other states) marched down the Lawn of the University of Virginia proclaiming, “Jews will not replace us.” The precise meaning of that exhortation eludes me, as there is no rational scenario in which Jews comprising 2% of the U.S. population will be “replacing” anybody else. But notice what the white supremacists did not say: They did not say, “We will replace the Jews”… which is pretty much what “decolonizing” Palestine from the river (the Jordan River) to the sea (the Mediterranean Sea) does mean.

    In their actual actions, as opposed to their apologetics, it appears that members of the pro-Palestinian movement are less inclined to respect the distinction between Zionists and Jews. When it comes to expressing their rage against the Israeli state, any Jew will do.

    Thus, in recent days, the alleged murderer of two Jews (one of whom was American, one Israeli) in front of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., yelled, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” while a man who set eight Jews afire in Boulder, Colorado, with a makeshift flamethrower, allegedly proclaimed, “Free Palestine.”

    (more…)

  • The Next Social Media Star?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    From pink pussy hats to anti-Israel chants, Democrats and leftists have long excelled at performative politics. Republicans and conservatives tend to be the ones to uphold convention. Admittedly, no one can put on a show like President Trump, and the shaman with the bull-horn hat during the January 6 riot made a lasting impression. But as a generality, you don’t hang out with conservatives with the expectation of enjoying raucous entertainment.

    I don’t know if Shamcar Connors is the exception who proves the rule or a sign that conservatives are mastering political performance art at long last, but the man knows how to grab peoples’ attention. By the throat. And not let go.

    Connors, whose travails we described three years ago when his refusal to take the COVID vaccinated blocked him from getting a kidney transplant, has always been outspoken. When he delivered public comments critical of transgender girls in the girls’ bathroom to the Stafford County School Board, he stood out from the crowd. A weightlifter gifted with a muscular physique and bass voice, he came dressed as a “transgender female Olympic swimmer.” In a swimming suit. With bright rainbow colors. View video of his comments above.

    Some in the audience were undoubtedly appalled. His satire stomped on delicate sensibilities and left them bleeding on the ground. But it appears that many Stafford residents agree with Connors, and they let him know it. He says students attending the hearing asked to pose with him for photos. And when asked if they wanted “boys using the girls’ bathroom,” he adds, “the girls screamed NO!”

    In the age of social media, we’ve come a long way from the quiet dignity of Norman Rockwell’s classic painting, “Freedom of Speech.”

  • The Vanishing Starter Home

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    When I moved to Richmond in the early 1970s, fresh out of graduate school, my wife and I rented a house for a couple of years. Then, with the help from my in-laws with the down payment, we purchased a “starter” home—a three-bedroom, one-bath, brick rancher, much like the one we had been renting.  We did this on only one income, mine, as we had a small child and my wife wanted to be a stay-at-home mother.

    Such a scenario is probably inconceivable today. There has been much concern and discussion, nationally and on this blog, about the cost of housing and the need for “affordable” housing. The Wall Street Journal had a recent article that neatly summarized many of the underlying causes for the lack of affordable starter housing. For those BR readers who do not have access to the Journal, following is a summary of the main points made, along with the charts provided.

    (more…)

  • D-Day, June 6, 1944

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Into the Jaws of Death. Credit: Chief Photographer’s Mate Robert F. Sargent

  • Dress Rehearsal for Boomergeddon

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    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: Chat GPT

    by James A. Bacon

    Judging by the headlines in Virginia’s newspapers, one might think that federal budget cuts are causing widespread devastation to government services and the economy. Here is a sampling from just the past couple of days:

    NASA Langley workforce slashed by 40% in Trump budget plan — The Virginian-Pilot

    “‘A smack in the face:’ Vouchers holders fear federal housing cuts” — The Virginia Mercury

    Earle-Sears’ silence on Medicaid cuts ‘speaks volumes,’ Charlottesville Dems say — The Daily Progress

    An after-school program in Trump’s backyard struggles to survive DOGE cuts — The Washington Post

    Kaine, Warner condemn closure of Old Dominion Job Corps Center — News & Advance

    I could go on… and on… but it would be tedious. The point is that Virginia’s wellbeing is funded to an extraordinary degree by the federal government — not just defense, entitlements, and payroll for government employees but innumerable programs underwriting everything from medical care and job training to daycare and housing for the poor.

    (more…)

  • PIPP Electricity Subsidies Finally Flowing

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    The subsidy program to help low-income customers of Dominion Energy Virginia with their bills, funded by involuntary contributions from all the other customers, is beginning to show signs of growth. It is called the Percentage of Income Payment Program, or PIPP.

    In its most recent filing on the program with the State Corporation Commission, the utility reported that it had provided bill subsidy payments to almost 23,000 eligible customer households as of this past March. PIPP began helping people with bills in February 2024, almost four years after this new entitlement was included in the omnibus Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020.

    The slow start was the subject of an earlier report on Bacon’s Rebellion. Having reached 22,822 enrollees by March 31 of this year, the program had provided about $14.5 million in benefits. The launch has been so slow the money being spent was already being held, because the utility began assessing the mandatory “universal service fee” on its customers in 2021, long before the first beneficiary enrollments and payouts.   

    Because of the accumulated balance, the universal service fee on all customer bills moved back down to zero for this year and Dominion has proposed to keep it at zero for the next phase of the program, which kicks off November 1. That request is now subject to the SCC’s review. Dominion projects that during the 12 months beginning November 1, annual bill subsidies will reach $20 million, with another $6 million in overhead costs split between the Department of Social Services and the utility itself. 

    Appalachian Power Company in the western part of Virginia is running the same program but has not filed a fresh report or application with the SCC. Last summer the SCC allowed it to charge its customers $1.32 per 1,000 kilowatt hours of electric usage. Appalachian’s underlying bills are higher and perhaps its customer base is more economically stressed.

    PIPP is designed to cap the amount of money low-income households must pay for electricity out of their monthly income. The cap is 10% in households using electricity to heat, and 6% in households using another heat source. About 3,300 of the Dominion customers who are being subsidized by PIPP heat with another source.

    Another interesting tidbit in the report is that a fair chunk of the money being transferred from non-PIPP participants to PIPP participants (after the healthy overhead cut) is going to pay off their overdue bills. One way or another, the money all flows into Dominion’s coffers — for current billing, for overdue billing or for the administrative task of paying itself.  The house always wins. 

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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