Category Archives: Efficiency in Government

A Seat at the Table — State and Local Advisory Boards in Virginia Need Ideological Balance

Posted on May 18, 2022 by | 9 comments

Willow Woycke, president of the Transgender Education Association

by James C. Sherlock

One of the opportunities offered by investigative journalism that is denied to the average citizen is to observe appointed government advisory boards in action.

It has been enlightening, but almost always disappointing. The way the members of appointed boards are generally selected in Virginia is an artifact of a political spoils system.

Take education. Action boards such as the state Board of Education and local school boards have tended to appoint one-sided advisory panels and, unsurprisingly, get one-sided advice as a single option for public policy.

Minority ideas seldom make their way into the draft policies that advisory boards prepare. That in turn results in bad public policy. We need as a matter of some urgency to do better.

I urge the Youngkin administration to take the lead and change this tradition in state government. Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, Governance

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Fix the Virginia Department of Health

Posted on April 24, 2022 by | 2 comments

Credit: PBS Healthcare Management

by James C. Sherlock

Governor Youngkin and his new administration have an opportunity to fix crucial problems in the Department of Health that have been festering for decades.

The issues:

  • How can Virginia regulate effectively its state-created healthcare monopolies?
  • In a directly related matter, how can we fix the failures, famously demonstrated during COVID, of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in its other missions ?

The power of Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) to control the business of healthcare in Virginia was the original sin.  Giving that power to the Department of Health made it worse.

From that point VDH was the agent of its own corruption. Never charged by the General Assembly to create regional monopolies in its administration of Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law, VDH did so anyway.

Actions have consequences.

Now those regional healthcare monopolies are each the largest private business in their regions, have achieved political dominance in Richmond, and effectively control VDH. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Antitrust, Charity, Philanthropy and Nonprofits, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Efficiency in Government, General Assembly, Health Care, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics in the Virginia Department of Education – Average Teacher Salaries Edition

Posted on April 21, 2022 by | 24 comments

by James C. Sherlock

I was in the early stages of researching a column on school salaries in Virginia when I came upon yet another bad report.

In 2021 Special Session I, the General Assembly directed the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide a report on the status of staff salaries, by local school division, to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and Appropriations and House Appropriations Committees.

The appropriations committees wanted to know how much teachers and others were getting paid so they could raise the state contribution. It would seem to be a report that VDOE would like to get correct.

As with many other reports I have documented, the January salary report on its face cannot possibly be correct. VDOE and thus the Governor and General Assembly have no idea how much teachers and other instructional staff are paid in Virginia.

This report was a parting gift from the Northam administration.

The question itself — average salaries — may prove not to provide information useful for legislation and appropriations however accurately it is answered. Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, General Assembly, Government Finance, Regulations and Government Oversight

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What Virginia Can Do to Temper Inflation

Posted on March 20, 2022 by | 26 comments


by James A. Bacon

Governor Glenn Youngkin has proposed using $437 million in unanticipated transportation revenues, much of it generated by the wholesale tax on gasoline, to give Virginians a three-month break on the 26-cent retail gasoline tax.

During his campaign, Youngkin ran on a platform of addressing Virginia’s high cost of living and reversing the erosion of middle-class living standards. A vacation on the gasoline tax is certainly consistent with that theme. And with inflation running at nearly 8% over the past 12 months, Virginians need help wherever they can find it. They will find no succor from Democrats, whose list of unmet societal “needs” is endless. They are delighted to spend every dime in tax revenue on one of their favored causes — which, alas, rarely includes helping financially strapped middle-class taxpayers.

While Youngkin has identified a winning issue, he needs to think bigger and more systematically. It’s fine to dial back the gasoline tax for a time, remove the sales tax on groceries, and try to repeal the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax, but there is so much more that he can do.

Forty-one percent of the cost of living, as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is housing, 17% transportation, 7% medical care, and almost 7% education. Each of these categories is, to some degree, influenced by state-level budgetary and regulatory policy. Continue reading →

26 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, Energy, Health Care, Land use & Development, Transportation

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Infrastructure Bill, Meet Richmond’s United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Posted on February 6, 2022 by | 46 comments

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Richmond, Va.

by James C. Sherlock

The President and members of Congress have celebrated the enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act into law.

In Virginia and the other states (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia) of the federal Fourth Circuit, good luck with that.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit just published two related decisions on January 29th and February 4th, 2022 decided by the same three-judge panel, all appointees of Democratic presidents.

Both decisions remanded to federal agencies for reconsideration years of federal assessments that have supported the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Those agencies are now run by Biden appointees. They won’t be back.

The court is populated with a majority of judges appointed by Democratic presidents. There is a vacancy awaiting a Biden appointment. The Chief Judge faces mandatory retirement next year.

So no relief in sight except the Supreme Court.

The decisions clearly demonstrate what will happen to Virginia public infrastructure projects that are opposed by the greens and/or protected classes or both, which will be nearly all of them.

Roads, bridges, pipelines, large solar panel projects, airport expansions, new rail lines, you name it. Flood control? Forget it. They are headed into the federal and state bureaucracies and then to court and then back again.

For years. Continue reading →

46 Comments

Posted in Courts and law, Culture wars, Efficiency in Government, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Infrastructure, Regulations and Government Oversight, Uncategorized

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Oops! That’s Not Your Tax Form

Posted on February 1, 2022 by | 16 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Not good enough, Virginia Department of Taxation. Not even close.

It’s not enough to apologize and tell the roughly 15,000 Virginia Beach taxpayers whose personal tax information on their 1099G forms was sent to the wrong address to simply hold tight until the correct document finds its way to them.

Those forms contain names and addresses, the last four digits of the taxpayers’s Social Security number plus the amount of his or her tax refund or overpayment last year.

News flash: Many of us are scrupulous about deterring identity theft. We shred invitations to open credit cards, insurance policies and bank accounts. We destroy bills with our names and account numbers on them. Heck, I black out personal details on plastic prescription bottles before tossing the empty container in the recycling. Continue reading →

16 Comments

Posted in Efficiency in Government, Taxes

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Bureaucrats Are Not Running Amok

Posted on January 4, 2022 by | 7 comments

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

In a couple of recent posts, much has been made of Governor-elect Youngkin’s comments about reviewing regulations. After thinking about this promise and remembering similar promises by former governors, I decided to undertake one of my favorite exercises: poking around in the Code of Virginia a little bit. I found two items directly relevant to this discussion: one I was vaguely aware of and one I was not aware of.

First, the one that I was unaware of. This promise of Youngkin is no big deal because he will merely be following the law. Sec. 2.2-4017 requires:

Each Governor shall mandate through executive order a procedure for periodic review during that Governor’s administration of regulations of agencies within the executive branch of state government. The procedure shall include (i) a review by the Attorney General to ensure statutory authority for regulations and (ii) a determination by the Governor whether the regulations are (a) necessary for the protection of public health, safety and welfare and (b) clearly written and easily understandable.

I was vaguely aware of the General Assembly having some power to review new regulations. Indeed Sec. 2.2-4014 authorizes a standing committee of either house of the General Assembly to file an objection to any regulation proposed in its field of jurisdiction. Furthermore, the statute goes on to establish a procedure whereby the General Assembly may suspend the effective date of a final regulation and, subsequently, nullify all or a portion of the regulation. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Efficiency in Government, General Assembly, Regulations and Government Oversight, Virginia Law

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Medical Facility State Inspector Shortfalls An Urgent Matter for the Governor and General Assembly

Posted on January 4, 2022 by | 9 comments

by James C. Sherlock

Virginians are blessed to have a person running the Department of Health Office of Licensure and Inspection (OLC) who may be the best public servant in the Commonwealth. She desperately needs help to do the work she is assigned in order to protect us.

Kim Beazley, the Director of that Office, has been quoted at length by me before. On November 30th, 2020 I published Ms. Beazley’s response to a series of FOIA requests to get an update on a 2017 Office of the State Inspector General report that found major shortfalls in the staffing levels of the OLC.

Ms. Beazley’s answers showed that nothing had changed in three years.

The shortfalls were based upon laws and budgets that purposely reduced the authorized staff significantly below that sufficient to meet its statutory inspection requirements. Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Consumer Protection, Efficiency in Government, General Assembly, Government Finance, Health Care, Regulations and Government Oversight

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This Could Be Interesting… Virginia to Get a “Chief Transformation Officer”

Posted on January 3, 2022 by | 48 comments

Eric Moeller. Photo credit: McKinsey & Company

by James A. Bacon

This evening Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin announced several new key appointments, including his chief of staff and deputy chief of staff. But it is the appointment of Eric Moeller, a partner at McKinsey & Company, as “Chief Transformation Officer” that I find most intriguing.

I don’t believe that the Governor’s Office has ever included anyone by that title before. The  press release from Team Youngkin does not specify what Moeller will be doing, but it doesn’t take much imagination to speculate that appointing a partner of McKinsey, one of the world’s largest consulting firms, is for the purpose of taking a close look at the organizational structure and business processes of state government.

Chopping regulations is one of those old saws like eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse” that Republicans say they want but is easier said than done. This is pure speculation, but perhaps Moeller will lead such an effort. Continue reading →

48 Comments

Posted in Efficiency in Government, Uncategorized

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Virginia State and Local Agencies Must Spend Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds by December 31

Posted on December 14, 2021 by | 5 comments

by James C. Sherlock

State and local governments are awash in billions of dollars of federal funding with various federal expiration dates if not spent.

The General Assembly set its own deadline.

Recipients have to spend federal money allocated by the General Assembly by Dec. 31 or lose it back to the Governor for repurposing. That is not as easy as it sounds. It represents in many cases far more money that any of them have ever handled.

The budget bill from 2021 gave the outgoing Governor two weeks before the end of his term to shift unspent federal funds from the purpose for which they were allocated by the General Assembly to “other qualifying expenses.”

Thus, a Democratic majority General Assembly ensured that a Democratic governor could make the political decisions of re-allocation. Fair enough. Hard to blame them. They had already seen Terry McAuliffe. Risky bet.

We don’t know how much of the billions of dollars from multiple federal relief acts will be unspent by Jan. 1.

But we can be reasonably assured there is a scramble going on to get it spent before it has to be turned over for reclassification by the Governor. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Efficiency in Government, General Assembly, Government Finance, Politics, Regulations and Government Oversight

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In Praise of Two Great Public Servants

Posted on November 11, 2021 by | 5 comments

Stephen Moret

by James A. Bacon

Virginia has been blessed to have had many superb public servants over the years. They may not be remembered in the history books, which have a bias toward elected politicians, but we are reminded of the indispensable contributions of at least two of them in today’s news clippings. One is leaving to pursue his passion in workforce development. Another already left, but is returning part-time to help Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin bone up on fiscal and transportation issues.

Stephen Moret, president of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, made his most visible marks by spearheading the recruitment of the Amazon  HQ2 project to Arlington and restoring Virginia to the top of CNBC’s “Top States for Business” rankings. But he also has done yeoman’s work reinvigorating the once-moribund VEDP and building bridges between economic developers and educators. Central to Moret’s approach has been integrating economic development with workforce development.

He will leave Virginia to become CEO of Strada Education Network, a nonprofit with a mission of promoting upward mobility through education. The focus is on helping individuals, according to Strada’s website, “who face the most barriers to postsecondary education and training.” Growing up as the son of a single mother in Mississippi, he can relate to the challenges of people facing economic insecurity, he tells the Richmond Times Dispatch’s Michael Martz. Read Martz’ profile here. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Economic development, Efficiency in Government, Government Finance

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Nursing Home Ads Pose As Official State Advice

Posted on October 12, 2021 by | 9 comments

by James C. Sherlock

The Virginia state government has a Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. 

Who wouldn’t want one of those?  

But in the case of recommending nursing homes, it would be better if it would either stop or fix its broken system. Which it pays a nonprofit, VirginiaNavigator, to run.

It is offering nothing more than free, self-written advertisements for good and bad nursing homes alike under the guise of a state recommendation to seniors. Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Efficiency in Government, Governance, Health Care, Long Term Care and Nursing Homes, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Virginia’s Self-Inflicted Nursing Home Crisis — Part 2, the Business

Posted on October 1, 2021 by | 8 comments

by James C. Sherlock

Nursing homes are businesses.

Seventy percent of those in Virginia are for profit. They are run not by doctors but registered nurses with physicians on call. 

Nursing facilities very widely in size in Virginia, from the 300-bed Mulberry Creek Nursing and Rehab center in Martinsville to facilities of less than 30 beds, especially the long-term care units of a few mostly rural hospitals.

They include facilities designated as skilled nursing facilities (SNF), often post-op care and rehabilitation, and others designated as long-term-care nursing facilities (NF). Most nursing homes in Virginia have facilities and certified beds for each.

Insurer mix and staffing costs are keys to profitability.

Many of these businesses are worth what they get paid, but many are not. Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Efficiency in Government, Ethics, General Assembly, Governance, Health Care, Long Term Care and Nursing Homes, Money in politics, Public safety & health, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Virginia’s Self-Inflicted Nursing Home Crisis – Part 1

Posted on October 1, 2021 by | 15 comments

by James C. Sherlock

None of us ever knows when we will need a nursing home for ourselves, our parents or our kids. Yes, kids.

While long-term nursing care is mostly for older patients, skilled nursing facilities are needed for patients of all ages, including children, for shorter term post-op treatment and recovery.

The patients in many of Virginia’s nursing homes suffer greatly from a combination of known bad facilities and a lack of government inspections. The health and safety of patients in those facilities are very poorly protected by the state.  

In this series of reports I am going to point out some nursing homes (and chains) whose records will anger you. Government data show some have been horrible for a very long time in virtually every region in the state.

Those same records show that Virginia is years behind on important, federally mandated health and safety inspections.

VDH’s Office of Licensure and Certification doesn’t have enough inspectors — not even close. And the government of Virginia — officially based on budget data — not only does not care but is directly and consciously responsible.

When I am done reporting on my research I suspect you will demand more inspectors.

You will also  reasonably ask why the worst of them are still in business when the Health Commissioner has the authority to shut them down.

Good question. Continue reading →

15 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Efficiency in Government, Ethics, General Assembly, Governance, Health Care, Long Term Care and Nursing Homes, Money in politics, Public safety & health, Regulations and Government Oversight, Uncategorized

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VEC Made $930 Million in “Incorrect” Payments Last Year

Posted on September 21, 2021 by | 2 comments

by James A. Bacon

Inundated by unemployment claims during the COVID-19-induced recession last year, the Virginia Employment Commission made an estimated $930 million in “incorrect” payments last year, according to an update by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

The magnitude of wasted dollars has gone largely unnoticed as the media and the Northam administration have focused on VEC’s failure to deliver unemployment benefits to out-of-work Virginians, many of who have fallen behind on their rent payments now face eviction.

Between March 2020 and July 2021, the VEC paid out $13.9 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits, states JLARC. The number of claims jumped tenfold, and guidance for administering the gush in federal relief dollars was unclear and evolved over time. The VEC’s obsolete claims-processing software was overwhelmed. Further, the VEC compounded its problems by making forms and instructions overly “complex and confusing.” Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Efficiency in Government, Labor and Workforce

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