The Jefferson Journal
Commentary
There is a difference between redistricting and rigging. One is a constitutional necessity. The other is political temptation. Right now, Virginia stands at the crossroads between the two. On April 21st the voters will decide which way we turn. Using current congressional delegation data and 2024 presidential vote totals, we can measure fairness in a straightforward way: compare a party’s statewide...
Key energy legislation poised to pass the 2026 General Assembly will increase your future electricity bills, not lower them. They will worsen price increases already caused by the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which passed the last time Virginia was under one party control. As the Assembly crosses its first deadline, with...
In a dizzying display of power, the Democrats in the General Assembly voted this week to assign Virginia’s electoral college votes to the Presidential candidate who wins voter-dense urban and suburban areas in other states nationwide. They also voted to approve a gerrymandered congressional map that will give progressive and populous Northern...
Today, a Senate committee is scheduled to take up the bill directing Virginia’s two investor-owned utilities to propose huge battery installations that will cover square miles of ground, cost ratepayers billions of dollars, and produce zero energy to power our homes and businesses. The bill has Governor Abigail Spanberger’s endorsement....
Virginia’s restaurant and lodging sector is still in a fragile post-COVID recovery, yet local governments across the Commonwealth are piling on new and higher taxes that make affordability worse for families and survival harder for small businesses. A new statewide analysis of meals, lodging, and related sales taxes across all...
In today’s The Virginian-Pilot, Thomas Jefferson Institute Senior Advisor and Former President Chris Braunlich discusses Virginia’s participation in the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC) for K-12 students which, starting in 2027, will give taxpayers a dollar for dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship...
Governor Abigail Spanberger’s major campaign pledges to lower electricity bills have already been crushed by the harsh reality of last week’s Winter Storm Fern. Virginians everywhere are about to see their highest energy bills ever, and the energy sources Spanberger wants us to adopt were all but useless during the crisis. Day...
Governor Abigail Spanberger campaigned on a promise to sign “paid family and medical leave” when it reaches her desk. But popular vote-getting concepts often ignore the damaging impact such policies have once they are implemented. Virginia’s proposed paid family and medical leave program (SB2)/(HB1207) is a case study in how...
Governor Abigail Spanberger so far is no more clear on her tax and spending priorities than Candidate Spanberger was, but her fellow Democrats in the General Assembly are laying out a smorgasbord of tax increase options for her. Would she like a major “tax the rich” approach? Start with Delegate...
A free heat pump for thousands of Virginians who are now using oil or propane to heat their homes, paid for by Virginia’s general population of electricity ratepayers. That is the goal of legislation that passed its first hurdle in a House of Delegate subcommittee Tuesday on a bipartisan vote....