With a near 50/50 balance of power between Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly, Governor-elect Ralph Northam will be in a much better position than his predecessor Terry McAuliffe to enact Democratic priorities. And what are those priorities? As he told NBC 4, Medicaid expansion tops the list. Said...
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this expansion is already more than 8 years long–only 18 months short of the record 120-month expansion that occurred from March 1991 to March 2001. A few analysts are concerned about a recession occurring over the next year or two. From our view, the...
If we continue to burn coal to generate electricity, we might destroy the Earth’s capacity to support life. If we switch to natural gas, then fracking might poison the water and set our faucets on fire. Biomass sounds good, but burning it also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Hydroelectric...
The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy recently released a Handbook on Healthcare Reform, a collection of 17 essays by practitioners and public policy specialists offering reforms for healthcare in Virginia (here). The essays focus on several issues, including three issues likely to come before the General Assembly in January:...
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) issued a press release on September 5 of this year claiming that “Metrorail and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) boost state revenues by $ 600 million (here). This “revenue boost” shows that Virginia’s investment in rail transit provides a 250 percent return on investment, according...
The percentage of young people (ages 16 to 25) participating in Virginia’s workforce has been sliding over the past 15 years, while the percentage of old-timers (65 years or older) in the workforce has been increasing. The percentage change of geezers in the workforce increased 59% between 2001 and 2016,...
For many years, I’ve been skeptical of a vehicle future dominated by all-electric vehicles. Not that zero-emission cars wouldn’t be great (assuming a low- or zero-emission electricity supply). It’s just that most of the media and consulting firm hype seemed so over the top, ignoring real problems such as low...
State Attorneys General Curtis Hill, IN, Josh Hawley, MO, Leslie Rutledge, AK, Wayne Stenehjem ND, Sean Reyes UT, and many others have filed Bills of Complaint against California and Massachusetts in the United States Supreme Court in an effort to defend agriculture. (What a Christmas present!) Purdue University, through Jayson...
A new “Healthcare Handbook” released by the Thomas Jefferson Institute offers a collection of 17 essays by practitioners and public policy specialists offering reforms for healthcare in Virginia. The essays especially focus on several issues, including Medicaid expansion, reform of Certificate of Public Need laws, and “Right to Shop” laws.
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The elections this fall brought a philosophical sea change to the General Assembly. The dynamics have changed. But critical issues remain and good ideas can hopefully prevail if the goal is to truly improve Virginia in a few critical areas. Medicaid expansion will be major issue confronting the General Assembly....
