Governor’s Paid Leave “Fix” Leaves the Biggest Problems Untouched
Earlier this year, I warned that Virginia’s proposed Paid Family and Medical Leave Act would create one of the most expansive and expensive paid leave programs in the country. I had hoped the Governor’s new amendments issued just before midnight last night would fix those concerns. They don’t. The legislation would still establish a statewide insurance system funded by mandatory payroll contributions from workers […]
Bargaining Bill Would Trampling Public Employee Rights
Tuesday’s column discussed some of the reasons Governor Spanberger should amend or veto the public employee collective bargaining bill headed to her desk: the local and state taxpayer costs, the creation of new bureaucracies, the opposition of local Democrats and a majority of local government and school board leaders and, perhaps most persuasively, the use of […]
Is Union “Dues Skim” Coming to Virginia?
There are many reasons why Governor Abigail Spanberger should veto the collective bargaining bill headed to her desk, a bill requiring local and state governments to bargain with union bosses even if less than a majority of public employees want the union or the bargaining. There is the fact that it will force major spending […]
Governor Spanberger: Don’t Make Principals Jump Through Hoops to Keep Students and Teachers Safe
By Ali Ahmad and Derrick A. Max Conservatives across the country are salivating at the idea that Virginia’s new governor may sign a bill that opens her to the charge that she is siding with school bullies and delinquents over teachers and principals. House Bill 298, patroned by Delegate Delores McQuinn, is now on Governor Spanberger’s desk. […]
The Schoolhouse as Clinic: The Dangerous Mission Creep of Public School Mental Health Screenings
Virginia parents should be alarmed that the Virginia General Assembly just passed House Bill 355 which mandates annual mental health screenings for all public school students in grades 6 through 12. While framed as a compassionate response to a very real “mental health crisis,” it represents a fundamental shift in the mission of public education: from academic instruction to clinical surveillance. By institutionalizing mandatory mental health screenings, HB 355 threatens […]
The Virginia General Assembly Passed Nine Bills to Increase Electricity Costs
The 2026 Virginia General Assembly has passed at least nine separate new laws that will increase the cost of your electricity. Not one of the bills creates a single megawatt of additional energy for our use. Most of the bills create new ways for the utilities to take money from all their ratepayers and spend it […]
Will Voters Bring Gerrymandering Back to Virginia?
Unless Virginia voters reject the constitutional amendment on the ballot April 21, gerrymandering will return to Virginia. Five years ago, 66% of Virginia voters — 2.8 million Virginians — approved a bipartisan redistricting constitutional amendment ending gerrymandering. The result was a map that is widely regarded as one of the fairest in the country. The new proposal, however, for […]
Collective Bargaining Will Only Further Divide Virginia’s Universities
Cardinal News ran my guest column this morning warning that collective bargaining at Virginia’s public universities will only further depen the political divides that are undermining Virginia’s once esteemed system of higher education. The push to unionize university workers in Virginia is not about increased pay, better working conditions, or fairness. Beneath the rhetoric it is clear this debate […]
In Today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch: Students Can’t Afford the Learning Loss that Will Come from Paid Leave Bill
The Richmond Times-Dispatch ran my guest column this morning that warns of the significant learning loss that will likely occur from the Paid Family and Medical Leave bill (SB2) that is quickly winding its way to the Governror’s desk for her promised signature. As I have written previously, the Virginia General Assembly is about to pass the most […]
First They Came for the Data Centers, But Will It Stop There?
Building Virginia into the leader of the data center industry for the United States and the world has been a bipartisan goal of several recent governors and General Assemblies. The golden egg laying goose they nurtured is now in danger of being butchered. What is happening to this one industry during the 2026 General Assembly […]