Patricia West
by Kerry Dougherty
When Terry McAuliffe was governor he found a loyal Democrat lawyer to appoint to head Virginia’s parole board.
That was Adrianne Bennett, a failed candidate for the House of Delegates in 2011 and undoubtedly the most controversial parole board chair in Virginia history. She was a success if you believe, as McAuliffe apparently did, that the job of that board is to spring murderers and make Virginians less safe. Continue reading
by James C. Sherlock
I was asked yesterday by a reader about the relationship between nursing homes, rising registered nurse salaries and the new Virginia budget agreement.
Good questions. Virginia’s workforce includes nearly 70,000 registered nurses.
The state pays its workers, but it also pays its Medicaid share for private sector nurses. Pay for private sector workers is based upon market conditions. The market wage for registered nurses nationwide increased dramatically during COVID.
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of that mess was that registered nurses, of whom Virginia has 11% fewer than demand calculated by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, got very large pay and bonus raises, and the new wage points appear to have stuck.
If the laws of economics work here, that will over time increase the number of nurses if we can educate and train them in the required numbers.
The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all states show that the median wage for an RN in Virginia was $79,700 a year. In Northern Virginia portion of the D.C. metro area, the median was $92,800. The underlying data are a couple of years old.
Wages and bonuses can vary a lot among Virginia hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, nursing school staff and government employees, and are higher or lower depending on specialty. The private sector offers $10,000 to $20,000 signing bonuses paid out after the first year.
Employers of course must pay payroll taxes and other expenses related to employees, and thus their costs will generally exceed $100,000 per RN.
Virginia RNs are still underpaid compared to national figures. The mean annual wage for America’s 3 million registered nurses in May was $89,010 compared to Virginia’s $79,900.
The federal Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services, aware of some of the questionable business models of bad actors in the nursing home industry, published last week a proposed rule to both increase the minimum number of RNs in nursing facilities and to require all nursing facilities to reveal every year how much of the Medicare and Medicaid payouts go to salaries and related expenses.
So, Medicare and Medicaid costs will go up yet again. Continue reading
By James C. Sherlock
What would happen if the federal government were to propose for the first time specific nursing home staffing minimums?
We are about to find out.
A new rule. A new federal proposed rule introduced yesterday has already survived fierce opposition from the industry, which tried to kill it in the womb. They are not done opposing, but the administration seems to have its course set.
And the new rule is clearly within the letter and spirit of the Social Security Act that requires safe, quality care.
The new proposed federal rule consists of three core staffing proposals:
While the final rule minimums will be phased in over a three-year period, five for rural facilities, they would, if in force today, render non-compliant 245 of the 281 Virginia nursing homes that are rated for staffing by CMS.
There are also groundbreaking provisions for transparency on the percentage of Medicare and Medicaid payments spent on direct care staff, not just for nursing homes but also for community and home care.
The new proposed rule is potentially a great improvement for prospective patients coming out of the hospital to recuperate and rehabilitate or entering long term care.
Which includes a lot of very vulnerable Virginians.
The central Great Neck Corridor drainage system Virginia Beach
by James C. Sherlock
Sometimes things work. Perhaps they will this time.
There was a time in Virginia Beach when a partnership between a developer and a church to build new houses would have breezed through the Planning Commission and the City Council.
That kind of open season on clearing and building on Virginia Beach’s very low-lying land brought with it lots of problems, including flooding.
The citizens of Virginia Beach, tired of flooding in every heavy rain and even under a clear sky with a full moon, a couple of years ago passed a very large property tax increase on themselves to create a huge pot of money to deal with it.
One of the natural flood control systems already in place is a series of contiguous lakes along Great Neck Road in the eastern part of the city. They handle runoff from that major corridor. That system flows into the Lynnhaven River and the Chesapeake Bay.
To that place comes a developer and a local church with a proposal. Continue reading
by Joe Fitzgerald
Public officials will sometimes self-censor their emails, memos, and even texts for fear they’ll be embarrassed or caught telling the truth if a Freedom of Information request is filed. You’d think that caution would make them better communicators. Recent history proves that’s not the case. Sometimes it seems the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, instead frees them to do the bare minimum.
The often unjustified fear of information requests, para-FOIA, ignores how infrequent the requests are, not to mention how vanishingly rare convictions for violations are. Enforcement is by the officials covered by the law, and prosecution is up to the citizen. The real danger, if you can call it that, is a phrase or observation FOIA-ed and ripped out of context and going viral on social media. But in general the people who will do that find it easier to just make stuff up. Continue reading
by Ram Venkatachalam
Until recently, members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors haven’t tried to sell themselves as international diplomats and business development experts. They aren’t.
Nor do we have a long history of waste, fraud, and abuse when it comes to how members of local government spend our tax dollars, especially for money budgeted for constituent services.
But now four Democrat members of the Board have been caught red-handed in the biggest local government scandal in decades. This is what Entitlement looks like.
This year alone, Chair Phyliss Randall, and Supervisors Juli Briskman, Sylvia Glass, and Koran Saines have violated their oath of office by diverting nearly $100,000 in taxpayer money (that we know of) for first-class travel for themselves and others to Ghana and Uruguay. They even purchased a pricey camera to take pictures of themselves because it wasn’t enough to use their taxpayer-paid cell phones.
That money could have been spent to hire another elementary school teacher, firefighter, or deputy sheriff this year. Instead, it was wasted.
Our taxes paid for these four to travel with their aides, a political campaign donor and others under the guise of “sister city” partnerships – without a compelling reason, and with no return on investment.
The four supervisors did this out of a sense of entitlement, and Loudoun taxpayers paid 100% of the bill. Then, after being confronted by an investigative reporter for WJLA-TV7, they doubled down, and Chair Randall defended their actions. Many of their political allies have done the same, including Laura Tekrony, my opponent in the contest for Supervisor, Little River District. Ms. Tekrony is Chair Randall’s chief legislative aide, and her prolonged silence about the abuse is telling.
Instead of an apology or accountability from the four elected supervisors, Loudoun is being fed lies that more than $1.37 billion in investments and 2,500 local jobs resulted from these and similar “sister city” trips. In fact, the trips have produced absolutely nothing in economic benefits – zero dollars and no jobs, as documented by the county’s own records. Continue reading
Posted in Efficiency in government, Elections, Governance, Politics
Tagged Ram Venkatachalam
by James C. Sherlock
Everywhere counterproductive to competition, innovation and cost, Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) program also has proven antithetical to quality and safety in nursing homes.
A thorough 2022 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on improving nursing home quality had this to say about state Certificate of Need (CON) programs:
Certificate-of-need regulations and construction moratoria do not appear to have had their intended effect of holding down Medicaid nursing home spending; rather, these laws can discourage innovation and decrease access.
Certificate-of-need regulations may contribute to the perpetuation of larger nursing homes.
Despite the prominent role of nursing home oversight and regulation, the evidence base for its effectiveness in ensuring a minimum standard of quality is relatively modest.
The role of Virginia’s COPN program is as counterproductive to nursing home quality as is imaginable. Remember, COPN decisions happen before the state and federal regulators of the operations of nursing homes even get into the game.
Virginia’s COPN program is a statutory incumbent protection regime across all of its regulated targets. But it has gotten especially bad results with nursing homes, which by nearly every measure are among the worst in America.
In Virginia, the only realistic way to increase the size of a nursing facility is by COPN approval of the transfer of beds from one facility to another, often from one region of the state to another. Continue reading
by James C. Sherlock
In addition to the General Assembly embarrassing themselves in the way they passed a law on nursing homes in this year’s session, they did it in an unseemly rush.
There was no pre-filing, a near-immediate and disgraceful floor “debate” led by the nursing industry’s lobbyist, and a rushed vote in the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee.
A committee member in the House hearing asked for time to consider the bill. Her request was denied by the Chairman, who was the House patron of the bill. That was followed by a cursory review in the Senate Education and Health Committee before near-unanimous passage by both bodies.
Now it appears that the new state law they passed may violate the governing federal statute. Which, of course, state laws are not permitted to do under the supremacy clause. Continue reading
by James C. Sherlock
Virginia’s Health Commissioners have a job that is broad and deep in its responsibilities and authorities.By statute, appointees must be physicians.
Each is the chief executive of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH): a central office in Richmond and 35 local health districts.
By Virginia statutes and regulations, they are also the final decision authorities on such issues as the licensing of hospitals and nursing homes and all Certificate of Public Need decisions.
Nursing homes. To the point of this particular discussion, Health Commissioners have since at least 1989 possessed statutory (Code of Virginia § 32.1-135) and regulatory 12VAC5-371-90. Administrative sanctions authority to sanction Virginia nursing homes.
B. The commissioner may impose such administrative sanctions or take such actions as are appropriate for violation of any of the standards or statutes or for abuse or neglect of persons in care. Such sanctions include:
- Restricting or prohibiting new admissions to any nursing facility;
- Petitioning the court to impose a civil penalty or to appoint a receiver, or both; or
- Revoking or suspending the license of a nursing facility.
The results of a FOIA request inform me that not one of them has ever used that authority.
Not once in 34 years. Continue reading
Posted in General Assembly, Governance, Health Care, Long Term Care and Nursing Homes
Tagged James Sherlock
by James A. Bacon
There appears in the minutes of the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors meeting of July 13, 2023 an abbreviated mention of a very hot topic:
Mr. [Thomas E.] Gottwald raised concerns about the administration’s continued conflict with The Cadet newspaper. Five news articles have been written regarding a challenge to the Virginia Press Association’s awards given to The Cadet. [Board President Thomas R.] Watjen suggested a conversation be had to better understand the administration’s involvement with the news articles.
That would be the same independent student newspaper whose denigration by The Washington Post we have chronicled here on Bacon’s Rebellion. Although Superintendent Cedric Wins has publicly praised The Cadet for its prestigious award, allegations have been circulating that negative stories about The Cadet were prompted by the VMI administration itself. I have refrained until now from reporting on those charges, but they have surfaced in the VMI board meeting, in an online petition, and again in an article appearing in Cardinal News. Continue reading
Posted in Education (higher ed), Governance, Media
Screen capture from UVa’s “Common Application” form. UVa no longer has a checkbox for race — but it does ask if applicants belong to a Virginia-recognized Indian tribe and if they identify as a “sexual minority.” The applications also invite applicants to share their “personal or historic connection with UVa,” including legacy status and descent from “ancestors who labored at UVa.”
by James A. Bacon
When University of Virginia President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom announced the university’s new admissions policy last week, they made a point of saying that they had sought input and guidance from “leaders across the university,” including members of the Office of University Counsel.
But one key group was not consulted: the Board of Visitors.
That’s noteworthy because state code says the Board of Visitors sets the university’s admissions policy.
Describing the powers and authorities of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), state code notes that the SCHEV shall prepare enrollment projections for Virginia’s public colleges and universities. However, “the student admissions policies for such institutions and their specific programs shall remain the sole responsibilities of the individual governing boards.”
Not university presidents — the governing boards. Continue reading
Posted in Education (higher ed), Governance
Tagged James A. Bacon, University of Virginia
by James C. Sherlock
I am starting to lose my sense of humor about the whole Virginia nursing home thing.
The Virginia Board of Health (VBOH) writes state regulations for every health facility and health services provider in Virginia, including nursing homes.
There is a statutory seat on the VBOH for a nursing home representative. (Of course there is.)
The incumbent, appointed by Governor Northam, is Melissa Green, RN. I am sure she is a good nurse and a good person.
But Ms. Green is also one of the three founders and the Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) of Trio Healthcare.
Trio is rated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as one of the worst nursing home chains in the entire country and the worst in Virginia.
The senses of humor of all of us are once again threatened by The Virginia Way. Continue reading
Cookie Scott
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
Glenn Youngkin seems to be intent on replacing members of higher education boards of education appointed by his Democratic predecessors just because.
Case in point: N.H. “Cookie” Scott. Scott was one among the first Black students to enroll at Longwood University in Farmville in 1968 and the first to graduate four years later. She was a sociology major and was a psychiatric social worker before joining the Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC). In that agency, she worked her way up to Deputy Director for Administration. When she retired in 2018, she was overseeing several departments in an agency that had a total budget of $1.2 billion and over 12,000 employees. In 2019, Governor Northam appointed her to the Board of Visitors of Longwood. [Disclosure: as the DOC analyst with the Department of Planning and Budget, I worked with Cookie for many years and was on friendly terms with her.]
So, an accomplished Black woman with no partisan ties and no political contributions (at least none reported by the Virginia Public Access Project), was not reappointed. It is not as if the new Youngkin appointees to the Longwood Board of Visitors had any higher education administration or oversight experience or, lacking that, any experience with state government, the General Assembly, or managing a large public bureaucracy with a billion-dollar budget and thousands of employees.
There is Kathryn Roberts. She is the chief financial officer of a small development company in South Boston headed up by her husband. She does have in her favor that she is a Longwood graduate. Continue reading
by Shaun Kenney
With state revenue projections north of $5 billion, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) renewed his call for a budget deal with Senate Democrats as negotiators with the Virginia General Assembly met for the first time since June.
“Virginians remain overtaxed. Last year we provided $4 billion of tax relief for individuals, families, and veterans. What this year’s preliminary numbers tell us is that even after that historic tax package, the Commonwealth ended fiscal year 2023 with $5.1 billion in excess resources, far more than forecasted,” said Gov. Youngkin.
“There is plenty of money in the system to fund our shared priorities of education, behavioral health, and law enforcement while returning more of Virginians hard-earned dollars back to their wallets. Just as we did last year, I am calling on the General Assembly to reject the partisan, business-as-usual approach in Richmond, and agree on a deal that lowers the cost of living and cost of doing business in Virginia while investing in our shared priorities. This is not about Republicans and Democrats. It’s not about the Senate or the House. It’s about delivering for Virginians.”
Already, Virginia is returning some $1 billion to small businesses, with Secretary of Finance Steve Cummings confirming Friday that the state expects to return “something more than a billion” dollars to taxpayers who had taken advantage of a new tax benefit for pass-through entities, such as limited liabilities and other unincorporated businesses, that allows them to avoid a $10,000 cap on federal income tax deductions for state and local taxes.
Continue reading
by Jon Baliles
There has been a lot of talk about the affordable housing crisis in the region in recent years, but it has been constant in 2023. The entire region needs 39,000 units as fast as it can get them; but interest rates are high, the market is stalling — every week there is a new twist or turn in the drama. And this week is no exception.
Em Holter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a disturbing story about the meeting this week of the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) Board that drew an overflow crowd reacting to the reckless idea by Mayor Levar Stoney and his administration for dissolving the Board and creating a commission instead, that allegedly would allow for raising more money from other sources and involve other partners. The mayor’s and the administration’s argument is that because there is more money to be allocated, there should be more oversight. But what they are proposing is not more sunlight, but less.
The AHTF Board is tasked with oversight of the money in the fund to help support and spur more affordable housing projects. Just last year, the Mayor and Council finally approved a commitment of putting $10 million per year in the fund for five years. Who doesn’t need more money and more partners to help tackle an issue as large and complex affordable housing? Sounds sensible, right? Except…
As the Times-Dispatch article points out, what this is really about is who controls the money and who gets to pick the “partners”:
But with more funding comes more oversight, which city administrators are hoping to achieve. To do so, City Hall wants to eliminate the board and establish a commission that would allow for more money and more partners.
Those in opposition argue that administrators are overstepping their bounds, which could lead to an imbalance of power, loss of control of funds and elimination of public input.
Posted in Central planning, Governance, Government Oversight, Housing, Uncategorized
Tagged Jon Baliles
