The Jefferson Journal

Commentary

Derrick A. Max
March 21, 2025

Last night, as promised repeatedly during the campaign, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education (the Department). The order also ensures the continued delivery of essential services such as federal student...

Derrick A. Max
March 14, 2025

Despite a shortened 2025 General Assembly session due to a water plant failure in Richmond, Legislators still managed to introduce and debate almost 2,500 bills — an impressive workload by any measure.  In the end, however, a total of 1,440 of those bills were killed, with 409 (or 28 percent)...

Christian Braunlich
March 13, 2025

Writing in the blog Bacon’s Rebellion, Arlington parent and self-described “Obama Democrat” Todd Truitt has come out swinging against a Virginia budget amendment to spend $12 million extra “to improve student performance in mathematics.” His argument?  Without Governor’s amendments, these extra funds won’t help math outcomes and will probably hurt....

Stephen D. Haner
March 11, 2025

The expanded use of natural gas as a fuel for electricity is the key debate in Dominion Energy Virginia’s integrated resource plan pending before the State Corporation Commission. Not waiting for the decision in that case to come later this year, the utility has now filed an application to start...

Derrick A. Max
March 7, 2025

After failing to pass legislation last year that would have made breakfast and lunch free for all public school students regardless of income (at a staggering cost of $201.5 million), Senator Danika Roem (D-Manassas) pared down that bill to focus solely on funding a universal free school breakfast program this...

Stephen D. Haner
March 3, 2025

The new chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission used the Trump Administration’s order to have agency employees report their activities as a chance to show off. Late last week the chairman issued a four-page letter of accomplishments on behalf of his staff, a list that might be a good...

Christian Braunlich
February 28, 2025

State Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-Powhatan) has written a  Richmond Times-Dispatch commentary proclaiming Governor Glenn Youngkin responsible for Virginia’s education declines, a commentary astonishing for the breadth of its amnestic qualities.   Senator Hashmi, who seeks the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor, correctly notes “Virginia’s fourth-grade math scores have plummeted, dropping us...

Stephen D. Haner
February 26, 2025

Until October of last year, customers of Dominion Energy Virginia could see at least some of the higher costs created by the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) detailed on their electric bills. Look at the recent bill and all that transparency is gone and the VCEA costs are now hidden. Compliance...

Stephen D. Haner
February 21, 2025

The Questions Not Asked: What Does This Cost? Will Electricity be More Reliable? The Virginia General Assembly has approved a long list of bills to double down on its previous commitment to ending the use of hydrocarbon fuel in Virginia. It ignored warnings from the regional electricity marketplace, the Virginian...

Derrick A. Max
February 20, 2025

Senator Mamie Locke (D-Hampton) and the Progressives in the General Assembly have again sent a bill to Governor Youngkin’s desk requiring doctors in Virginia to complete training in “unconscious bias and cultural competency.” Last year, when Governor Youngkin vetoed a similar bill, Sen. Locke took to X (formerly Twitter) to smear the Governor:...