One intrusive employment law change opposed by business groups was finally watered down in the late stages of the 2020 Virginia General Assembly, but others are passing and will be actively enforced by a phalanx of new state investigators and lawyers. The final state budget, still in negotiation, could add...
Largely with party-line, urban-vs-rural votes, Virginia’s legislature is poised to enact a Clean Economy Act that would eliminate coal-based electricity generation, prevent construction of new gas-fired power plants – and replace reliable, affordable fossil energy with wind, solar and battery-backup power. The bill offers important cautionary lessons for voters, workers...
Predicting economic growth and the outcome of elections have something in common: Both rely on assumptions. We economists make assumptions about when and by how much the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates or whether the coronavirus will lead to a slowdown in exports and world trade. Our assumptions impact...
Responding to a perceived climate emergency, the new Democratic majority in the Virginia General Assembly is seeking to transform the Commonwealth into a wind and solar energy Wonderland. It is passing legislation to mandate construction of solar and wind, mandate closure of disfavored power sources, and to prevent the State...
Joseph Ocol is the kind of teacher most parents would fight to have teach their daughter. His Englewood, Chicago girls’ chess team won the national championship in 2016 against 60 other schools, an achievement noted in the Congressional Record, by news media and by the mayor and city council. And...
Thanks to the persistence of Delegate Charles Poindexter, two members of Governor Ralph Northam’s cabinet are now on record stating the General Assembly will decide whether Virginia joins the carbon tax regime called the Transportation and Climate Initiative. In 2018 both of them had signed a letter endorsing the interstate compact...
Editor’s Note: A bill to repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law is currently working its way through the Virginia House of Delegates. More dangerously, a bill to require “Agency Shop Fees” will be considered Sunday in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, and would require non-union employees where there is a union contract...
The progressive Left calls it the “Virginia Values Act.” But it would more appropriately be called the “Attorneys’ Full Employment Act.” SB868 has been approved by key committees of the Virginia legislature, aided by blatantly inaccurate claims. It will revolutionize Virginia discrimination law, turning what once was a pro-business state into an...
The new chair of the House Finance Committee has introduced a major long-term tax reform proposal that will help most Virginia families, and the former chair of the same committee has offered a significant improvement to it. Both are good bills that should be embraced by the Virginia General Assembly....
Jefferson Journal: Raising the Price on School and Road Construction
Virginia faces billions in expenses for road, bridge and school repair. Why are so many politicians willing to raise the cost of that construction so less construction can be done?
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