Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy: Your April 28, 2024 Sunday Summary...Beyer Joins the Squad, Speaker Johnson, Protests, Budget, Slots, 2025 Gov. Race, School Accountability, 250 year old cherries...and more!

1.) Is Representative Don Beyer joining "the squad?" An insightful reader pointed out that I missed the odd split votes of Congressman Don Beyer on the security funding bills passed last weekend. Voting in favor of aid to Ukraine and Taiwan, but against funding for Israel, Rep. Beyer argued that Israel's campaign in Gaza has resulted in too many civilian casualties…and Israel is a rich nation that can support itself (here). Beyer joined only 37 other members voting for aid for Ukraine and against aid for Israel -- a split vote favored by squad members AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley (here). Even Senator Kaine, who has opposed funding offensive weapons for Israel, voted in favor of aid for Israel.   2.) I took a lot of heat for my favorable review of Speaker Mike Johnson's successful week. After reading this profile (here) on the Speaker's political philosophy, faith, and belief in civility, I am going to double down -- Go, Speaker Johnson! The story of his exchange with President Biden over his facial expressions during the State of the Union speech is well worth the read.  3.) The continued growth of protests on college campuses and the increased use of antisemitic signs and slogans ("Please Keep the World Clean" with an image of a person throwing Israel in a trash can) is proof that our college campuses are raising a generation that lacks critical thinking skills and will join any movement that has an undertone of anti-Americanism. Liberty University students, however, put prayer above protests (here).

4.) Democrats are sorting out their ticket for statewide offices in 2025. Abigail Spanberger has all but cleared the field for Governor, as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has opted to run against Sen. Aaron Rouse for Lieutenant Governor instead (here and here). Republicans appear to be headed for a battle for the Governor race as both Attorney General Jason Miyares and Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears look to be exploring the race.    5.) With Governor Youngkin heading off to Europe on his third trade mission, it would seem he must have some confidence that a deal is within reach on the yet-to-be-completed budget (here). By all accounts, the budget negotiations will depend greatly on the revenue collected by the Commonwealth. In a fairly comprehensive review of the budget issues in the Richmond Times Dispatch, the main issues "on the table" are the added revenue Democrats believe is needed to meet their longer-term spending priorities mostly in education and health (here). One interesting item in this article is that Del. Vivian Watts (D-Fairfax) believes that an expansion of the sales tax could be revenue neutral if they increase the standard deduction for taxpayers -- something the Thomas Jefferson Institute has long supported (here). The problem is that Del. Watts wants to apply the digital sales tax to business-to-business transactions, something that Governor Youngkin should be firmly against! 6.) Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) approved a new budget, despite the uncertainty in Virginia funding which has been caught up in the budget impasse (here). WMATA will be increasing fares by 12.5 percent and will end the flat $2 rate for weekend and late-night rides. 7.) Slot machine… err skills game advocates continue to press the case that their survival depends on placing these addictive machines in convenience stores all across the Commonwealth (here). The skills game bill is back on the Governor's desk and lobbying on both sides continues at a frantic pace.    8.) In the Richmond Times Dispatch, Michael J. Petrilli with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute argued that Virginia's archaic "accreditation" system for public elementary and secondary schools paints too rosy of a picture of performance by using low proficiency standards and poor measures of progress (here). Governor Youngkin has made transparency and performance a priority and this summer the State Board of Education will vote on a new, more rigorous, assessment system for accreditation. This is much needed and way overdue. Sadly, we will be shocked at how bad things are once we grade our schools accurately…and stop patting ourselves on the backs while our schools are in crisis. 9.) The Hanover Board of Supervisors removed any reference to "banning" and "censoring" when it recognized a Hanover County Public School student who had received a Girl Scout Gold award for her creation of book nooks around town containing books that had been removed from the public schools for including inappropriate or sexually explicit content (here). Two thoughts -- one, I hope voters read these books and see that most have no place in our public schools and two, kudos to this young lady for her creative project (even if I disagree with her underlying views).  10.) The discovery of 250-year-old cherries, preserved in intact bottles, in the basement of Mount Vernon has me fascinated (here)! While there is gooey residue, some sodden cherries, pits, etc. -- there are actual whole cherries that smell like cherry blossoms. Cherry Cake Pops seem in order. 11.) Get your car insurance -- while Virginia was one of just two states to not require car insurance if drivers paid $500 every year to register as an uninsured driver, a new law will require all drivers to have car insurance by July 1st (here). 12.) The Washington Post ran a great report on how the energy demands of data centers (processing 70 percent of global digital traffic) are driving the push to keep needed coal power plants open, supposedly undermining clean energy goals (here). Hundreds of miles of new transmission lines will be required to carry this power from West Virginia to Northern Virginia. Regional grid reliability will depend on these plants. 13.) Speaking of reliable power, Governor Youngkin's amendments to several bills to allow utilities to seek ratepayer funding for development costs of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) were approved by the General Assembly (here). Both bills require utilities to get SCC approval to charge for development costs and cap how much can be sought (here).   14.) Governor Youngkin donated his second-quarter salary to The New School and E3 (Elevate Early Education) in Norfolk, Virginia (here). Kudos to the Governor and First Lady for their continued support of innovative programs, serving children of the Commonwealth!