Criminal Justice Reform

Jefferson Forum
July 17, 2019

(Editor’s Note: Teachers in Virginia who belong to their local Virginia Education Association unit also belong to the National Education Association, and a portion of their dues goes to the NEA, which is why those dues are so expensive. We thought thoughtful teachers who care about their students’ futures might...

Jefferson Forum
July 17, 2019

Do you know about The Jones Act? You should. It has a profoundly negative impact on your farming business. The Cato Institute recently published Policy Analysis No. 845 The Jones Act: A Burden America can no longer bear. It is the latest in a long list of studies on a...

Jefferson Forum
July 16, 2019

Virginia firms handled more defense contracts than any other state except California in the most recent fiscal year. The $37.4 billion performed in Virginia during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2018, makes up 4.6% of the state’s gross domestic product compared with 1.7% in the nation. These Department...

Stephen D. Haner
July 11, 2019

If Virginia is going to sell its soul, we should at least get the market price. The Virginia Racing Commission is starting to publish monthly reports on the cash flow to Colonial Downs and to the government under the new state-granted monopoly to operate gambling dens. Any relationship to horse...

Stephen D. Haner
June 28, 2019

What will you do with your $110? Thanks to the conformity revenue flood, it’s coming …

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Jefferson Forum
June 26, 2019

Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, in its latest analysis of Virginia’s economic development incentives, reports that efforts to capture and nurture microchip manufacturing with grants and tax breaks led to some early success that failed to hold, and the industry here is in decline. The reason may be...

Jefferson Forum
June 26, 2019

Editor’s note: Coleman Hughes, a columnist at the online magazine Quillette, delivered the following testimony at a United States House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Bill H.R. 40 on June 21, 2019. If passed, the bill would establish a commission for reparations. While his testimony is not specific to Virginia, this...

Jefferson Forum
June 26, 2019

The worst fears of Amazon critics are coming true. Housing prices are becoming increasingly unaffordable — even before Amazon sets up shop at its HQ2 facility in Arlington and floods the region with 25,000 employees. The average home price in Arlington County jumped 7% in the past year to $713,000,...

Jefferson Forum
June 26, 2019

Next month will mark the longest U.S. economic expansion on record. But growing signs of a slowing economy — and potentially a recession — have some businesses concerned about the future. Increased uncertainty is never a good thing for businesses. If they don’t know the future demand for their products...

Stephen D. Haner
June 12, 2019

It’s hard to dissect a battle while the smoke is still clearing, but the June 11 Virginia primaries demonstrated again the state’s continued and steady move away from its conservative past.  It was not a Great Leap Forward for the progressive elements of the Democratic party, but where they didn’t...