Summarizing the 2023 General Assembly Session: Bills Passed and Failed: Here Legislator "Batting Averages": Here Delegate Turnover: Here Senate Turnover: Here Number of General Assembly retirements so far: 21 Number of Years of Service: 363 What adversaries really think about each other: Here Meanwhile … 1.) The General Assembly may not have finished the budget, but they did pass a deal on Dominion Energy's profit margin and to take regulation of the company out of the hands of a politically-influenced legislature. In case you missed it, Senior Fellow Steve Haner offered his take on the subject last Sunday (here). Expect the return of real oversight, but not an immediate rate reduction. But much depends on whether the legislature appoints State Corporation Commissioners in the reconvened April session (here). 2.) Dominion, of course, has been at the forefront of supporting the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which seeks to end the use of fossil fuels in favor of wind and solar. This will, of course, put increased demand and stress on the electric grid as Virginians are forced to abandon gas-powered vehicles in favor of more electric vehicles. Aside from the likelihood of California-style state-ordered electric reductions (here) and grid collapse (here), the challenges of electric vehicles are being underscored in numerous reports, from ABCNews (here), to Motor Trend magazine (here) and The New York Times (here). So, too is the challenge of just plugging the grid in (here). Undeterred, Senate Democrats repealed the law requiring all new vehicle sales to become 100 percent electric by 2035. 3.) And, increasingly, localities are questioning the extent to which they want their farmland and scenic views covered by solar panels (here, here, here, here, and here). 4.) Bluntly, the math doesn't work, and we suspect green advocates are deficient in math instruction that emphasizes science-based learning. Virginia will soon consider new math Standards of Learning, and we set our new Visiting Fellow Rick Nelson, former president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, to work on exposing the creeping use of Common Core instruction and why Virginia's new standards must retain their science base (here). 5.) Math standards will be the next "Curriculum War" after History standards (still to be played out in Virginia). The Left consistently tries to claim it is offering "true history", but over at the American Enterprise Institute, Rick Hess debunks their claim as repackaging factually suspect polemics (here). Those polemics run hand in hand with utilization of critical race theory. In Newsweek, University of London Professor Eric Kaufmann points out that "nearly all American children encounter pseudoscientific concepts drawn from critical race and gender theory in school," even Republican and private school kids (here). His article is drawn from a report by the Manhattan Institute (here), concluding that such critical social justice concepts are having a significant impact in shifting children to the political left. 6.) Professor Kaufmann's conclusion is that only reform of curriculum content will stop the trend. Another solution is to have more professors like the University of Virginia's James Ceaser (a former Jefferson Institute speaker). In Bacon's Rebellion, Jim Bacon reports here on Ceaser's "refusal to give the DEI Loyalty Oath." 7.) Issues will become worse as school systems increasingly permit monopoly union contracts through collective bargaining that is now rapidly spreading in Virginia. In Richmond, the Teamsters Union (self-described "champions of freight drivers and warehouse workers") will now represent Richmond principals in contract negotiations (here), which we're certain will place a real emphasis on education quality. In Loudoun County, the school board is heading down the road to collective bargaining in a process the Acting Superintendent says will cost $35 million and require 14 positions to supervise (here and here). And both Charlottesville City and neighboring Albemarle County are also closer to collective bargaining (here).
8.) Why do elected officials support collective bargaining? Look north to Chicago (here), where the mayoral run-off will pit the former reformist school superintendent Paul Vallas against former union organizer Brandon Johnson. Johnson so far has received $2,489,154 from the teachers unions, $1.3 million from other unions and $200,000 from everybody else. With that kind of money from what amounts to the nation's "third party," aspirations run high with politicians of the Left. 9.) To further warn of the dangers of public employee collective bargaining, the Thomas Jefferson Institute will be hosting appearances by Philip Howard (a past and now future Jefferson Institute speaker), author of NOT Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions on April 25. You'll receive your invitation soon. 10.) Of course, we might understand it if principals in Norfolk wanted the burly Teamsters Union to represent them. There, Norfolk prosecutor Ramin Fatehi – one of many helped into office with George Soros' money (here) -- has fought "explicit and implicit bias, mass incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the criminalization of poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and substance-use disorder." Actual crime? Not so much. Jim Bacon summarizes, with links to additional articles, here. The Left's response to crime is a loser. Even Joe Biden is getting the message (here). 11.) The Roanoke College poll is out (here) and, as expected, there's great interest in the presidential "horserace" and personality rankings (here). Governor Glenn Youngkin's approval is up (57-35), Joe Biden's is down (38-56), in Virginia Youngkin beats Biden for president (54-39), Virginia is on the "right track" (55-39), the United States is on the "wrong track" (27-69), economic issues are the top (46 percent economy, inflation and jobs) and crime as an issue is rising (up five points since December). Few reported on the fact that only 17 percent have "a great deal" of confidence in public schools "to act in the best interests of children," and by 47-41 percent Virginians feel K-12 public schools are having a "negative effect on the way things are going in the country." Finally … Only a few have served our nation at the highest levels in the legislative, executive and judicial branches … and one of them turns 100 on Thursday. For us, these moments define the best of politics. Happy Sunday, Everyone. And Happy Birthday, Senator! Cordially, | 
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