More than 300,000 Virginians have something today they didn’t have last year — health insurance through Medicaid, observes Virginia Public Radio. What they don’t have is a primary care physician. Many are still seeking primary care treatment at hospital emergency rooms. Admissions to the emergency room of Norfolk General Hospital...
During the Q&A at a presentation I gave in June, a questioner cited $40 tolls on the I-66 (inside the Beltway) high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as an example of what driving would be like if tolling were more widely used. I had to explain to the largely non-Virginia audience why...
The jobless rate is at historic lows and certainly is an important economic barometer. But looking at the labor force participation rate might be a more telling story. That rate, which calculates the number of people employed or unemployed looking for work as a percentage of the total adult working-age...
Virginia is poised to become the eleventh state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a regional compact created to limit CO2 emissions from large electricity plants. Although emissions are already declining, the compact would be financed with a carbon tax to be paid by consumers in the form of...
Virginia should not join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax is now fully authorized under a new state regulation, and the deadline to appeal that regulation has passed with no appeal filed. Only the one-vote Republican margin in the two...
Virginia’s highway system ranks 2nd in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition, according to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation. This is a 25-spot improvement from the previous report, where Virginia ranked 27th overall, as the number of structurally deficient bridges decreased and the state benefited from the...
Governor Ralph Northam recently suggested caution in the face of recessionary concerns: “As the global economy changes, we must be both cautious and strategic.” Those concerns were largely echoed by the actions of Republicans in the General Assembly who made a priority of boosting the state’s cash reserves. But another...
Virginia state government ended Fiscal Year 2019 awash in cash largely for one reason: A $466 million tax increase that fell on about 30 percent of individual taxpayers, caused by conforming to the new federal tax law without any corresponding tax reform. That represents almost 60 percent of the $797...
Education is usually at the top of the list of national priorities, especially for American Presidential candidates. If one looks at the mission statement for many schools and school districts, it usually includes statements about producing or preparing students for active citizenship. The U.S. should make civics education a priority....
Give Richmond educators credit for brutal honesty. A presentation of the school system’s five-year plan surfaced some devastating data: Only one in ten Richmond high school students is ready for college and a career, according to College Board criteria. If it’s any comfort, that number is up from 9% in...
