The Jefferson Journal

Commentary

Stephen D. Haner
September 20, 2021

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the (Richmond) Council hereby commits to working with the City’s Administration on an equitable plan to phase out reliance on gas and shift to accelerated investment in City-owned renewable energy and hereby recognizes that the continued operation of the City’s gas utility is an obstacle...

Jefferson Forum
September 14, 2021

THURSDAY, SEP. 16,  9:30 AM – 11:30 AM EDT. *If you don’t see the video stream yet, refresh this page after 9:30 am on Thurs, Sept. 16.

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Stephen D. Haner
September 2, 2021

Republican nominee for governor Glenn Youngkin is proposing to reduce Virginia taxes in much the same way Governor Ralph Northam has raised them:  Several individual proposals, some not all that large, which accumulate into a significant change. As Northam ends his term, his attitude seems to be, what tax increases? ...

Stephen D. Haner
August 27, 2021
A group of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts residents have filed suit challenging the pre-construction environmental review on a massive offshore wind complex planned off its shores. The issues raised may have a direct impact on the similar wind energy project planned off Virginia Beach...
Stephen D. Haner
August 11, 2021

Next month, Dominion Energy Virginia customers will begin paying Virginia’s first direct carbon tax on their bills. The amount they pay to buy carbon dioxide allowances from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will not be listed on the bill separately but will produce a noticeable bump in price. Not long...

Stephen D. Haner
August 5, 2021

Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon the War on Fossil Fuels will be fought in the equipment room or garage of your house. A push to prohibit new natural gas connections and remove existing home gas services is inevitable if Virginia’s current leaders are serious about zero carbon emissions...

F. Vincent Vernuccio
August 2, 2021

Local government leaders are negotiating with union executives who have not been officially recognized by public employees they claim to represent. Counties in northern Virginia are taking steps to allow public sector collective bargaining. But they are doing it with the support of union executives – not a groundswell of...

Stephen D. Haner
July 27, 2021

In 1972, a Virginia taxpayer needed a taxable income of $12,000 before the state’s maximum income tax rate kicked in. Adjusted for inflation, that threshold should be $78,000 today There has been one adjustment since, to $17,000 in income before the maximum rate is now applied.  Adjusting that for inflation...

F. Vincent Vernuccio
July 19, 2021
A bill under active consideration in Congress would allow unions to get Virginia workers fired for not paying union fees. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, among many other things would end right-to-work laws in Virginia and in 26 other states....
Stephen D. Haner
July 14, 2021
Virginia ranks #1 in the “Top States for Business 2021” ranking produced by the business network CNBC, but it is important to dig into the ten measurement categories....