How many golf courses does the Commonwealth of Virginia own? No, that is not a ‘how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb’ question. Owning and operating golf courses is not a core government function. It is effectively competing against private enterprises that usually do the...
In September House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, gave a major policy speech to the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce declaring that money alone cannot solve Virginia’s transportation problems. He called for a “new way” to think about those problems that relies heavily upon new technology and prioritization of projects by Return...
Watch the government bureaucrats in December of any year. The Government Accountability Office issued a report (CLEAN WATER ACT –Changes Needed if Key EPA Program if to Help Fulfill the Nation’s Water Quality Goals) in late December, 2013, which will put another EPA bull’s-eye on farmland and ranch operators and...
In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly replaced one eighth-grade social studies Standards of Learning (SOL) exam with three required middle school SOL tests. In 2009, Virginia’s state superintendent proposed eliminating the third-grade social studies SOL exam, but backed off after opposition from members of the General Assembly. My. What a...
President Obama’s pledge, to the effect, “if you like your health plan, you can keep it,” oft repeated in the run-up to passage of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), has already been condemned as false by no less an authority than The Washington Post. That, however, was before the calendar...
Increasing government regulations tend to have varying degrees of effect on different industries. Even though their impacts on the broader economy may be modest, for certain industries, the impact can be quite severe.Susan Dudley, director of the George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center, said in a report that the Obama...
Since September, 2013, a number of organizations and writers have been describing a ticking time bomb coming from EPA to be delivered to all landowners. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have sent a draft regulation to the White House which looks like another EPA grab for power...
Editor’s Note: This is the last in a series, reprinting the Virginia Board of Education’s SOL history published in the 2013 Annual Report on the Conditions and Needs of Public Schools in Virginia. This part discusses international comparisons for Virginia’s students and examines the state’s performance in the 2013 National...
As Virgnia’s General Assembly debates whether to expand the taxpayers’ financed Medicaid to an additional 400,000 of our citizens, we should step back and see what can be done today to reform the current program and help many of those folks who do not have health insurance.
... Judging from the first year of scholarships granted under the Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit (EISTC), the program not only provides new opportunities for low-income students, but do so at a significant savings to the state budget. Proposed changes to the program would likely increase both the number of scholarships...
