Legislature Warned Again of Electricity Shortage
Here we go again. As the 2025 election year heats up and warnings rise about electricity shortfalls this summer, the legislators behind Virginia’s coming ban on hydrocarbon electricity are pretending they see the problem. A May 22 headline out of a recent legislative meeting on energy claimed that “Democratic leadership signals willingness to reexamine Virginia Clean Economy Act.” The […]
Tariffs on Medicine Put Virginia Patients at Risk
The Thomas Jefferson Institute’s opposition to President Trump’s tariff regime is now well known. Taxing imports only hurts those the President hopes to help most. While the President’s recent call to extend tariffs to foreign made films has gotten a lot of press, little attention is being paid to President Trump’s recent threat to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical […]
Former Virginia Governor George Allen: ‘The Tariffs Are An Unconstitutional Seizure of Taxation Power that Conservatives Should Oppose’
There are few issues more important than how and how much governments tax their citizens. But what is often less appreciated, but even more important, is under what authority taxes are imposed. Former Senator and Virginia Governor George Allen, a Republican, opposes President Trump’s tariffs, arguing they are an unconstitutional overreach of presidential power. In […]
Youngkin Acts to Prevent Energy Price Hikes, Labels Virginia Clean Economy Act ‘Failed’
With one exception, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has now vetoed the contested energy bills that he sought to amend at the 2025 General Assembly’s reconvened session last month. The rejection of his amendments or substitutes gave him a final opportunity for a full veto of the legislation. Friday night was his deadline for decisions. His overall number […]
Lawsuit Challenges the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Over Regulation of Small Reactors
Virginia is not directly involved, but with our nuclear industrial base, a pending federal lawsuit over the authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is crucial for our energy future. At the end of last year, Texas and Utah and small nuclear startup LAST Energy filed a claim in the Eastern District of Texas that the NRC is unlawfully impeding progress in the […]
Why Harvard University and the United Daughters of the Confederacy Should Both Keep their Tax Exemptions
Every taxpayer dollar sent to any university or private entity should be closely scrutinized. In the case of the billions sent to Harvard University and other elite schools, the probe being imposed by the Trump administration is long overdue. The research grants which make up the majority of Harvard’s non-medical federal funding, notoriously lack transparency, allow for […]
Business Needs Certainty. So Do Voters
Asked nearly 40 years ago what he needed most, less regulation or lower taxes, a small manufacturer of machine tools replied: “We need both,” he said, “but the thing we need most is certainty.” “Businesses have to plan out months and years,” he said. “We have to plan for employee salaries, tax rates, benefit costs, energy […]
Trump’s Double Whammy to Virginia’s Economy
No one can say we weren’t warned. During his debate with then Vice President Kamala Harris, President Donald Trump clearly stated, “other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world, and the tariff will be substantial…” Promises made, promises kept. Unfortunately. I don’t think, however, that anyone […]
State Legislation on AI: How a Courageous Governor’s Veto Averted Regulatory Crisis
Artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly and powering solutions previously unimaginable. At the same time, AI legislation is on the rise and a patchwork of state restrictions looms over the momentum of innovators and US leadership. This Monday, HB 2094, the High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Developer and Deployer Act, was vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA). HB […]
Senator Lucas: Our Neediest Students Deserve an Opportunity Now!
To say that there is a crisis in Virginia’s education system would be a gross understatement. As the Thomas Jefferson Institute’s Hannah Schmid recently wrote: “The 2024 Nation’s Report Card revealed 42% of Virginia fourth graders and 34% of eighth graders were reading at a below basic level on the national assessment. That means more than one-in-three […]