One standard response when the Thomas Jefferson Institute challenges the wisdom of electricity carbon taxes or electric vehicle mandates is, are we not worried about the looming climate crisis? The simple answer is no. Data that undercuts the entire alarmist narrative are easy to find. The premise for the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act, which...
Governor Glenn Youngkin recently flew to Louisiana to join other Republican governors in criticizing President Joe Biden’s energy policy, especially the president’s hostility to hydrocarbon fuels. Youngkin and the rest gathered at an oil refinery to make their point that oil and gas should not go away in the decades to...
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) and Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) announced today that Virginia will no longer comply with the California air regulations that will restrict and eventually eliminate the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles. The announcement is sure to set off a political and legal firestorm as fierce as last...
While there has been much celebration at the passage of a new $188 billion biennial budget for Virginia, this deal would not have been possible had there not been close to $1.06 billion in higher-than-expected tax revenue ($1.2 billion by the end of the year) to cover the massive spending...
In today’s Roanoke Times, Thomas Jefferson Institute President Derrick Max rebutted the false claim that convenience stores will have to close if Governor Youngkin doesn’t approve the expansion of skill games into convenience stores across the Commonwealth. Max wrote (links added below are not in printed version): While all retail outlets experienced...
After much political theater, the Virginia General Assembly and Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) have now compromised on a $188 billion state budget based simply on the revenue projected from current tax law, with neither tax hikes nor tax reductions. Making those revenue projections slightly more optimistic eased the path. With both sides backing...
After a month of unproductive political theater, Virginia’s leaders will finally sit down like adults and negotiate the budget. Better late than never. The message is “everything is back on the table,” which leaves the door wide open for the tax increase central to the Democrat’s demands. That deserves a quick...
The fight that is about to occur at the Assembly’s reconvened session on Wednesday is entirely about taxes, not about spending. An analysis of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposed compromise budget – done by the Democrats’ favorite financial bean counters, not by conservatives – confirms his budget comes extremely close to...
Monday was not just the near total solar eclipse in Virginia, but also the deadline for Governor Youngkin to act on the budget and the remaining bills on his desk. As our Steve Haner wrote in, Governor’s Budget Compromise Eclipses Fears of Stalemate, we are generally positive about the approximately 230 budget...
Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) is offering a compromise on the disputed state budget that gives Virginia’s Democratic legislators most of the spending they were initially demanding, especially for local schools and early childhood education. The Governor is also offering a quick path to a resolution that avoids additional months of budget...
