The Issues

Economic Freedom

Richmond’s Proposed Cigarette Tax is Bad Policy

Last year, the Richmond City Council considered an 80 cent per pack increase in the cigarette tax. After several public hearings and careful consideration of the shortcomings of this proposal,...

Mike Thompson
April 18, 2019

How Toll-Financed Interstate Reconstruction Could Address Two Major Problems

The two largest problems facing America’s highway system are (1) the need to reconstruct and modernize the aging Interstate highway system and (2) the need to start replacing per-gallon fuel...

Jefferson Forum
April 18, 2019

Impact of Cigarette Tax Increases on Local Government Budgets, 2019

A new study, The Impact of Cigarette Tax Increases on Local Government Budgets, concludes that such tax increases hurt low income users and small business sellers the most. The study...

Jefferson Forum
April 8, 2019

Will The “Taxpayer Relief Fund” Become a Sham?

The Taxpayer Relief Fund to be created with the residual dollars from the 2019 state tax legislation on conformity has not seen the first dollar deposited and Governor Ralph Northam...

Stephen D. Haner
April 3, 2019

How to Fund I-81 Improvements: Six Principles to Consider

Just prior to yesterday’s Veto Session, Governor Ralph Northam was pitching another plan to raise money for improvements to the Interstate 81 corridor: (1) Increase the statewide diesel tax to...

Jefferson Forum
April 3, 2019

The State of Taxaginia: Taxes Times Four

Wealth taxes are all the rage now in national discussions, with Democrats usually getting battered for proposing one. But as final versions of the income tax bill moved around the...

Stephen D. Haner
March 21, 2019

Answering Populist Critiques of Tolling and P3s

(Editor’s Note: As Virginia increasingly turns to toll lanes to improve major transportation arteries, pushback has come from both the political right and left. Virginia is not alone in this,...

Jefferson Forum
March 21, 2019

Express Toll Lane Networks Proliferate

Networks of variably priced express toll lanes (ETLs) are being developed in more than a dozen large metro areas, and their impact is starting to be reflected in the congestion...

Bob Poole
March 20, 2019

Participation Rate for People in Their Prime Working Years is Growing

In Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s semiannual monetary report to Congress last month, he said he was encouraged by the “solid” increase in the labor force participation rate over the...

Jefferson Forum
March 19, 2019

Jefferson Forum concentrates on policies that affect everyday life in Virginia

Economic Freedom

Lower taxes and fewer regulations

Education Freedom

More choices for Virginia families

Energy Freedom

Reliable, affordable energy

Worker Freedom

Protecting Virginia’s right-to-work tradition

These are the building blocks of a more competitive and prosperous Virginia.