Category Archives: General Assembly

Competition for Schools

Posted on January 25, 2024 by | 22 comments

Sen. Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg)

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

One of the good bills introduced in the General Assembly this year would bring a measure of competition in public schools. Put in by Sen. Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg), SB 552 would require school districts to allow students to attend any school in the district. Currently, districts are allowed to adopt such open enrollment policies, but are not required to do so. Typically, students must attend the school within the attendance zone where they live.

The legislation would enable an elementary school student in the eastern part of Henrico County, for example, where the reading scores in schools are very low, to attend an elementary school in the western part of the county, which has schools with high reading scores. If the requests for “nonresident” students to attend a particular school exceed that school’s enrollment capacity, a lottery would be used to decide which nonresident students got to attend that school.

The legislation directs the State Board of Education to develop model policies and guidelines to implement the legislation. Under the provisions of the legislation as introduced, the Board would have to act quickly. The bill requires the policies and guidelines to be adopted by August 1, 2024, to enable the open enrollment process to be in effect for the next school year, 2024-2025. Continue reading →

22 Comments

Posted in Education (K-12), General Assembly

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Two Excellent Nominees Emerge for SCC

Posted on January 23, 2024 by | 12 comments

Kelsey A. Bagot, now nominated for the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

By Steve Haner

The new Democratic majority in the Virginia General Assembly is moving rapidly to fill the two State Corporation Commission vacancies with excellent, qualified choices. One is well known in Virginia and the second is new to our hallowed Capitol, but with a decade of energy law experience on the federal level.

Former Virginia Deputy Attorney General Samuel T. Towell has degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (engineering) and the University of Virginia (law).  Kelsey A. Bagot just got her Harvard Law degree a decade ago, but she had the opportunity at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to work for former SCC Chairman Mark Christie.

Former Deputy Attorney General Sam Towell, also nominated today.

Both appeared this afternoon before a brief, perfunctory really, joint meeting of the relevant House and Senate committees. Within a couple of minutes, with only one question asked, both were unanimously certified as qualified. Which they are.

It will be up to the full House and Senate to formally elect them at some point in the next few days. The two seats they will fill have been vacant for a long time and they will start with desks piled high. Members of the SCC are actually judges, subject to Virginia judicial canons. The pending state budget sets the salaries as of next July 1 at $214,000 for the chair and $212,000 for the other two members. Continue reading →

12 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, General Assembly, Regulations and Government Oversight, Utilities

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Like It or Not, Solar Farms May Be On Their Way

Posted on January 23, 2024 by | 37 comments

by Kerry Dougherty 

I know it’s winter and Virginia is not looking her best. But if you have nothing else to do this weekend, may I suggest you take a drive into the rural corners of the commonwealth and soak up the bucolic scenery.

Check out those cotton fields along Route 58 west toward Danville, even though most of the cotton has been harvested. Check out the farmland of the Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck. Then head out toward Lexington and north to the orchards of the Shenandoah Valley. Don’t forget to take a drive up the Eastern Shore past the thousands of acres that in summer give us potatoes, tomatoes and corn. Lastly, zip out to Pungo where the fields will be full of strawberries in a few months

While you’re driving, take a gander at the beautiful old growth forests that blanket much of the Old Dominion.

In fact, take a good, long look. Drink it in. Vow to never forget the beauty that was once Virginia.

Because next time you pass through these areas you may see nothing but the glare of solar panels. The wildlife that once inhabited the land? The birds that nested in the trees? The produce that flourished in the fields? Gone.

If Democrats in Richmond have their way, that is. Continue reading →

37 Comments

Posted in Central planning, Environment, General Assembly, Land use & Development

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Virginia Legislation Would Define Raising Rent to Keep Pace with Inflation as ‘Rent Gouging’

Posted on January 22, 2024 by | 25 comments

from the Liberty Unyielding blog

Raising rent to keep up with inflation isn’t what most people would consider “rent gouging,” even when the landlord has to increase rent by more than 7%. For example, Washington, DC’s rent control board allowed landlords to raise rents on most tenants 8.9% in 2023, to compensate for the 6.9% inflation in Washington, DC that occurred in the previous year. But pending bills in Virginia’s legislature would allow local governments to adopt “anti-rent gouging” ordinances, that would define raising rent by more than the lesser of 7%, or inflation, as illegal “rent gouging.”

The legislation states that once a local government has adopted “anti-rent gouging provisions,” it “shall prohibit any rent increase … of more than the locality’s annual anti-rent gouging allowance,” defined as the “percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index...or seven percent, whichever is less.” So if inflation is 8% — as it was nationally in 2022 — the landlord can only raise rent by 7%, at most. And the landlord might not be allowed any inflation adjustment at all, because under the legislation, a local government “may” — not must — “allow rent increases” to compensate for inflation.

So landlords will become poorer and poorer due to inflation under the ordinances authorized by the legislation.

This seems unfair. Why shouldn’t landlords be able to raise rent to keep pace with inflation? Most tenants get pay raises or cost-of-living increases to compensate for inflation. American workers’ wages grew faster than inflation in most of the past decade, and over the cumulative ten-year period. Federal workers commonly get pay raises to offset inflation. Retirees get annual increases in their social security payments based on cost-of-living adjustments. With their increased wages, tenants should be able to pay rent that rises with inflation. But under the legislation, they could avoid doing so, and pay less than the market rate.

Effectively, this legislation would allow local governments to adopt very harsh rent control. Currently, Virginia does not have any rent control laws, either at the local government level, or at the state level. Like most states, Virginia has viewed rent control as a bad idea. Thirty-three states preempt local governments from adopting rent regulation laws.

But this legislation — which is pending in both houses of Virginia’s legislature as HB 721 and SB 366 — would for the first time give local governments in Virginia the power to impose rent control. Continue reading →

25 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, General Assembly

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Serious Tax Reform Addressing a Serious Problem

Posted on January 22, 2024 by | 49 comments

Chris Braunlich

By Chris Braunlich

The American linguist Yogi Berra once said of a New York City restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore.  It’s too crowded.”

Overcrowding, however, isn’t what motivates a move to a state (or from a state).  Those decisions are inspired by robust economic activity, jobs for residents, and a pathway for each generation to do better than their parents did.  People move for a job, for higher pay, for lower cost of living, or for a better education. Continue reading →

49 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, General Assembly, Government Finance, Taxes

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A Doggone Tale

Posted on January 21, 2024 by | 19 comments

State Sen. Tammy Mulchi (R-Mecklenburg)    Photo credit: Mecklenburg Sun

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

A recent special election in Southside Virginia is a stark illustration of  how a small special interest group can exercise out-sized power.

In mid-December, long-time state Sen. Frank Ruff (R-Mecklenburg), announced he was resigning from the Senate, shortly after having been re-elected to a seventh term.  He had received a diagnosis of cancer in October and was facing a strict regimen of treatment.  Gov. Glenn Youngkin set Jan. 9 as the date for a special election to fill the seat.

Ruff’s announcement caught most people by surprise.  According to the reporting of David Poole in the Mecklenburg Sun , two people who were not surprised by the announcement were Tammy Mulchi, Ruff’s legislative aide, whom he endorsed in his resignation announcement, and Kirby Burch, the leader of the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance.  Both got advance notice from Ruff of his impending resignation announcement. Continue reading →

19 Comments

Posted in Elections, General Assembly, Politics, Uncategorized

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Index Minimum Wage? Do the Tax Code, Too.

Posted on January 19, 2024 by | 110 comments

By Steve Haner

One bill that certainly is heading for Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk is the increase in the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour as of two years from now. Both versions, House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, raise it to $13.50 for next year, with the $15 level kicking in a year later. Both bills are now out of their first committees.

It was a campaign promise. The Democrats in both chambers coordinated to make it their first bill of the year on both sides. Smart marketing. Soon the Republican governor must decide whether it becomes his first veto, with Republican legislators then having to vote to sustain it or not. Continue reading →

110 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, General Assembly, Taxes, Unions

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Virginia Bill Would Allow Even Serial Killers to be Released After 15 Years

Posted on January 18, 2024 by | 51 comments

from the  Liberty Unyielding blog

On January 9, a bill was introduced to let Virginia prison inmates be released after 15 years with the approval of a judge. Even serial killers serving life sentences without parole would be eligible for release. In 2022, a similar bill easily passed the Democratic-controlled state senate, only to die in the GOP-controlled House of Delegates. But this year, Democrats control both houses of Virginia’s legislature, so it may pass.

The bill, HB 834, would not require all inmates to be released after 15 years, but it would encourage their release by letting judges release inmates based on factors slanted in favor of release, and by giving most inmates the right to a taxpayer-funded lawyer to argue for their release. The bill instructs judges to consider factors that typically favor release, such as “support from” stakeholders for the inmate’s release, “and the petitioner’s efforts to participate in any educational or therapeutic programs.” It does not list factors such as deterrence and retribution, even though the Supreme Court has ruled that those are both valid reasons to keep an inmate in prison, in decisions such as Tison v. Arizona (1987).

Such early releases would increase crime and make it harder to deter premeditated murders. A 2014 study in the American Economic Journal found that early releases of prison inmates increased Italy’s crime rate. A 1998 study found that longer prison sentences deter violent crimes more effectively than short ones, based on California’s experience after it increased sentences for repeat offenders who commit murder, robbery, or rape. (See Daniel Kessler, et al., Using Sentence Enhancements to Distinguish between Deterrence and Incapacitation, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 6484 (March 1998)). Continue reading →

51 Comments

Posted in Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, General Assembly

Will Democrats Revisit Virginia Net Zero Laws?

Posted on January 18, 2024 by | 63 comments

Senator David Marsden, D-Fairfax, sees “serious problems” in Virginia’s net zero laws.

By Steve Haner

For the third year in a row, Democrats in the Virginia Senate have shot down an effort to divorce Virginia’s auto dealers from California’s impending mandates on electric vehicle sales. But before the predetermined vote went down, the new chair of the committee made a surprise announcement that he and his colleagues are open to revisiting Virginia’s legal rush to end fossil fuels.

Senator David Marsden, D-Fairfax, said he and Senator Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, have discussed using the period between the 2024 and 2025 General Assembly sessions to convene a conference on the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) and the many other statues they passed to suppress coal, oil and natural gas use.  Republicans later shared his musings on X.

What serious problems, Mr. Chairman? Tell us more.

Marsden is the new chair of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee and Deeds now chairs the Commerce and Labor Committee. The Virginia Mercury noted Marsden’s comments at the tail end of its report on the meeting, but it was the only actual news to break out that afternoon. The Richmond Times-Dispatch failed to mention Marsden’s announcement but had a nice photo of a half-empty Tesla charging lot in California.

Truth would have been better served by a photo of the stranded EV’s waiting for crowded, failing chargers in frigid climes this week. There is a reason consumers have not been rushing to buy EV’s at the expected rates.  Despite the happy talk from mandate proponents, the targets are pie-in-the-sky. The only winner in this whole process is Tesla, getting rich selling carbon credits under the cap-and-trade element of the California regime. Continue reading →

63 Comments

Posted in Energy, Environment, General Assembly, Regulations and Government Oversight, Utilities

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It’s a Different House Courts

Posted on January 17, 2024 by | 16 comments

Del. Vivian Watts (D-Fairfax), chair, Subcommittee on Criminal Laws

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Long-time observers can attest to the significant changes that have occurred in the legislature over the decades. Perhaps nowhere are these changes more evident than with the House Courts of Justice Committee and its Subcommittee on Criminal Law.

This committee and its criminal law subcommittee had a reputation as being tough, and many legislators, especially non-lawyers, dreaded appearing before them. Its members were some of the most senior members of the House and most were experienced trial lawyers. It was a rowdy and colorful group. The committee handled more legislation than any other committee.

For many years, the legendary A.L. Philpott (D-Henry), widely acknowledged as having the deepest knowledge of criminal law of any legislator, reigned over the committee and subcommittee. During most of the current century, Rob Bell (R-Albemarle), another delegate with extensive experience with criminal law, chaired the subcommittee and then the full committee.

The committee and subcommittee had the reputation of being hard-nosed about criminal law. However, being experienced trial lawyers, most members were cognizant of the possibility of proposed legislation having unintended consequences if not worded precisely. Therefore, they would often go over bills line by line to ensure that the meaning of the proposed language was clear. Continue reading →

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Posted in General Assembly

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Still Acting Like a Rookie

Posted on January 15, 2024 by | 45 comments

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Governor Glenn Youngkin does not seem to be a fast learner. He seems to think he is still at the Carlyle Group where the top brass announced deals and the rest of the organization fell in line. That’s not how it works with a bicameral legislature, especially when your party is in the minority in both houses.

About a month ago, the governor announced, with much fanfare, a plan to bring the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals to Potomac Yard in Alexandria. It would be a $1.5 billion deal involving the construction of a sports arena and supporting facilities. A new sport and entertainment authority would oversee the project, including issuing bonds to fund it. The General Assembly would need to approve the legislation creating the authority.

The General Assembly has convened and the members have questions about this deal. However, as reported by the Washington Post, the administration has few answers. It does not have the bill language ready for the members to review. Even more basic, at the end of last week, it did not have a patron for the legislation lined up. Delegate Luke Torian (D-Prince William), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said that the administration had asked him to carry the bill in the House, but he was still waiting to see the bill. “I hope to have an opportunity to see it over the course of the weekend,” he said. Continue reading →

45 Comments

Posted in General Assembly, Governance, Leadership, Politics

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Virginia Bill Would Redefine Revenge Porn to Include Non-Porn, Making It Easier to Prosecute Politicians’ Critics

Posted on January 12, 2024 by | 58 comments

Susanna Gibson

by Hans Bader

Virginia’s revenge-porn law may soon be expanded to punish people for posting embarrassing, revealing images of public figures, such as politicians, if Virginia’s legislature approves HB 926. Doing so would violate the First Amendment, and invite lawsuits by civil-liberties groups like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression or the Institute for Justice.

In 2023, the media and blogs covered the fact that a Democratic legislative candidate performed live sex acts on the pornographic web site Chaturbate. That information was leaked to the media, including The Washington Post. Blogs posted images of the candidate showing that she was undressed, but not showing her private parts or anything pornographic. The candidate, Susanna Gibson, lost a close race for the Virginia House of Delegates, but not before arguing that the leak of her porn to the general public was a “sex crime” for which people should be prosecuted under Virginia’s revenge porn statute. “Daniel P. Watkins, a lawyer for Gibson, said disseminating the videos constitutes a violation of the state’s revenge porn law, which makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to ‘maliciously’ distribute nude or sexual images of another person with ‘intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate.’” But no prosecution was ever brought, perhaps because doing so would violate the First Amendment, and because it might be hard to prove the leak was done with the “intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate,” as opposed to educating voters about a candidate’s past.

Now, Delegate Irene Shin (D-Herndon) wants to rewrite the revenge porn statute so broadly that prosecutors will be able to prosecute not just the leaker, but also bloggers or journalists who posted publicly available images of Gibson showing that she was in a state of undress during her performances at Chaturbate. Continue reading →

58 Comments

Posted in Elections, General Assembly

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There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills!

Posted on January 11, 2024 by | 134 comments

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

As staff members of the General Assembly start looking to “find” money in Gov. Youngkin’s proposed budget bill that can be used to fund priorities of their committee members (and they will be looking—that is a major part of their jobs during the Session), a good place to look would be capital maintenance reserve. There is at least $200 million in that budget item that could be taken without adversely affecting any of the agencies involved.

As defined by the Dept. of Planning and Budget (DPB) in its reporting instructions to agencies, a maintenance reserve (MR) project is “a major repair or replacement to plant, property, or equipment that is intended to extend its useful life.” A typical MR project would be repair or replacement of built-in equipment such as in HVAC systems; repair or replacement of building or plant components such as roofs or windows; and repair of existing utility systems such as steam lines or water systems.

The cost for an MR project must exceed $25,000 but be no more than $2.0 million for a non-roof replacement project and no more than $4.0 million for a roof replacement. DPB may grant exceptions to these dollar amounts and agencies must submit annual reports to DPB on MR expenditures. Continue reading →

134 Comments

Posted in General Assembly, Government Finance, Uncategorized

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As Dominion and APCO $oar, NOVEC Drops Rates

Posted on January 10, 2024 by | 80 comments

Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative’s territory within the greater Northern Virginia region.

By Steve Haner

The major “rural” electric cooperative serving very urban Northern Virginia is drastically lowering its rates as of this month, because the cost it is paying for bulk power purchases has dropped. The contrast with what is happening with Virginia’s two major investor-owned electric companies may be telling Virginia something if anybody wants to listen.

NOVEC, or Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, will be charging its residential users just under $114 for each 1,000 kilowatt hours of usage, down more than $26. The commercial and industrial users among its 175,000 customers are seeing comparable reductions. Continue reading →

80 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Energy, General Assembly, Regulations and Government Oversight, Utilities

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How Not To Do Tax Reform. Again.

Posted on January 8, 2024 by | 34 comments

By Steve Haner

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration had its first formal discussion with Virginia’s local governments about eliminating their car tax collections two days after he announced it publicly.

The General Assembly convenes Wednesday and if there is a plan to replace the $2.8 billion in local government revenue raised by that tax source, it has not surfaced. Voters truly detest the local levy, mainly because it is one of the few taxes everybody pays by check or with a credit card, but at this point it is safe to assume the idea is dead in the water. Continue reading →

34 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, General Assembly, Taxes

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