(This column ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch on February 13, 2012.) Frantically, many Virginia Retirement System (VRS) stakeholders have asked me: “Are we really in a financial danger zone?” With the potential McDonnell infusion of $2.21 billion to VRS, my response elevates to “not likely.” When I began a...
(Editor’s note: Jim Bacon is one of our state’s best out of the box, yet practical thinkers. This column first ran in the Virginia Pilot on Christmas Day 2011.) While Virginia’s Public Private Partnership Act may be experiencing growing pains as projects from the Midtown and Downtown tunnels to HOT...
(This article first ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch on February 6, 2012) We’ve heard a lot about the need for college degrees. Individuals with college degrees on average get paid more and have skills that transfer to more occupations than their non-degreed counterparts. Taken together, higher skills lead to...
(This article first ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch on February 6, 2012) We’ve heard a lot about the need for college degrees. Individuals with college degrees on average get paid more and have skills that transfer to more occupations than their non-degreed counterparts. Taken together, higher skills lead to...
It was an honor to know and work for Ronald Reagan, whose 101st birthday we celebrate this month. I “cut my political teeth” working for him in West Texas in 1976 and 1980, running for the U.S. House at his suggestion in 1978, and later serving in his administration in...
President Obama “is focused like a laser on putting people back to work,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) assured us last fall – echoing repeated statements by President Obama and Administration officials who “can’t wait” for Congress or others to take action and create jobs. The jobs thing didn’t last...
(The Jefferson Policy Journal will begin running a column from Just Facts Daily and hope these issues generate a robust conversation with our readers. You can read other “facts” from this publication here ) The 2010 Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) gives presidential appointees at least 40 regulatory powers that...
What is the cost of a quality full-time, online education program? It’s an important question if Virginia’s movement towards less costly “virtual schools” is to continue moving forward. With places like Singapore and the European Union having expanded their online learning programs, the issue has international implications for Virginia’s students....
It is imperative that in the current session the General Assembly pass Governor McDonnell’s Virginia Retirement System (VRS) reform package or something similar. Two factors create the urgency in this matter. First, the Governor and General Assembly leaders made clear for several years their intention to make changes to increase...
The McDonnell administration’s thinking behind the $1.6 billion reconstruction of U.S. 460 between Suffolk and Petersburg has come into clearer focus with the publication of an economic study by Chmura Economics & Analytics. The I-85 Connector, as the administration has dubbed the project, will have an annual estimated economic impact...
