By Ali Ahmad, Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment Over the last four years, I served as a senior aide to former Governor Glenn Youngkin, including as Policy Director and Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy. One of my main roles was in support of the Governor’s weighty responsibility...
As the Virginia General Assembly enters the final weeks of its 2026 session, a wave of new labor mandates is about to reach the Governor’s desk, two of which she has promised to sign, and one she seems inclined to support as well. House Bill 5 (Paid Sick Leave), Senate Bill 2 (Paid...
The Senate and House of Delegates’ financial committees met on Sunday to approve competing sets of amendments to the next Virginia budget, neither proposing any general tax increases. The Senate version included modest tax reform: a small taxpayer rebate for this year and an increase in the income tax standard...
The Supreme Court’s decision in Learning Resources v. Trump is a landmark reaffirmation of one of the Constitution’s most fundamental principles: the power to tax belongs to Congress alone. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution explicitly vests in the legislative branch the authority “to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” Tariffs...
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...
