Abby Zwerner, the Newport News teacher shot by a 6-year-old student a year ago, doubts she will ever return to teaching. In addition to her lingering injuries and psychological trauma, Zwerner is suing the Newport News School District for ignoring multiple warnings that the student had a gun and was...
The last time the General Assembly made a similar mistake with the Virginia tax code was 20 years ago. It was 2004, and the complaints that business was not “paying its fair share” came from Republicans in the House. They introduced and quickly pushed through a bill that stripped sales tax exemptions from multiple...
Some years back, I ran into a friend, a Virginia Education Association unit chair, outside the General Assembly building, there to lobby on behalf of a state-wide teacher salary increase. The real problem, I noted, was that across-the-board salary increases didn’t reflect reality, providing, for example, the same increases for...
Legislators in Richmond are intent on removing all vestiges of slavery in Virginia – including state senators recently voting to end tax breaks for the Daughters of the Confederacy heritage group that sponsored most of the statues that have already been removed from the public square. But they are surprisingly...
A piece of Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s tax package has survived after all, but only the part that increases the sales tax base to collect about $1 billion or so more per year from citizens. Democrats who recently complained that sales tax increases were unfair to the poor are suddenly...
The aggressive progressive agenda working its way through the 2024 General Assembly has lost some steam at the halfway point, but at least four of the major Democratic goals discussed earlier are still advancing. The two bills that will have the greatest impact on the Virginia economy are the proposed...
Dartmouth College is making news regarding its return to using the SAT/ACT scores once again as a part of its admissions process. The policy will become effective in 2025 for the incoming class of 2029. Many colleges and universities decided to make the SAT/ACT test-optional during the COVID-19 pandemic when...
To many, testifying before a government committee conjures visions of the drama surrounding the McCarthy, Watergate, or Zuckerberg hearings. In Virginia, not so much. Faced with processing more than 2,600 bills in 60 days, legislative hearings are often more of a kabuki dance while backstage choreographers figure out the next steps. Speakers are frequently...
Governor Glenn Youngkin’s package of proposed tax changes is now stalled in both the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates. A House subcommittee spiked it Feb. 5 and then dashed other bills imposing major tax increases on higher income Virginians. Of course, anything is possible until the General Assembly adjourns in...
The Democrats now running Virginia’s General Assembly are not just more progressive, but far more ambitious than their predecessors. To fully understand how ambitious you must compile the entire list of progressive bills advancing in the 2024 session and consider their total impact on the cost of living and the cost...
