| Dear Friend of TJI,
1.) After a brief revolt, Speaker Mike Johnson was re-elected to Speaker of the House. While there has been some controversy as to the attribution of a prayer he linked to Thomas Jefferson, Speaker Johnson's acceptance speech was a primer on "America First" Republicanism. It was a powerful and well reasoned vision for America -- well worth a watch on the link at the end of this Sunday Summary.
2.) A lot of new Virginia laws came into effect on January 1, 2025 -- from a 41 cent increase in the minimum wage, to a doubling of mandated car insurance crash coverage levels, to higher pay for court appointed counsel. The full list is nicely summarized in Fairfax Now. Overall, a long list of government intrusion and mandates. We can do better.
3.) The state of Texas joined the long list of states doing away with their annual auto safety inspections. As the GAO has reported, these inspections do not improve safety. Virginia should join the 36 states that do not require these costly and time consuming inspections as our Joshua Devamithran recently urged.
4.) Georgia and Rhode Island repealed their car taxes. Governor Youngkin has a plan to provide car tax relief to low income workers. We have written that car taxes are an inefficient way to collect revenue and they hurt the poor the most. While we support the Governor's amendment, we wish it went further!
5.) The flag of the Commonwealth of Virginia flew over the city of Gwangju, South Korea in opposition to President Yoon Suk Yeol and in support of his arrest on insurrection and power abuse charges. According to Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-Jung, the Virginia motto "Sic semper tyrannis" (thus always to tyrants) on the flag made it a timely gift from the Governor of Virginia.
6.) Gambling news: Virginian's spent a record $761 million on sports betting in November. Over 100 national security leaders, including defense and intel officials have warned that a casino in Northern Virginia posed an "unacceptable health and national security hazard."
7.) Race for Virginia Governor continues to heat up as former Representative Denver Riggleman, who endorsed Rep. Abigail Spanberger for Congress two years ago, is mulling a run as an independent (he is also mulling running for Lt. Governor instead). Also, Representative Bobby Scott continues to mull a primary challenge to Representative Spanberger. This could be an exciting year for elections if you are a political junkie like me!
8.) In an odd commentary in the Richmond Times Dispatch, Lauren Grob praises Governor Youngkin's new public school accountability framework, but then attacks it for being a hidden plan to undermine public schools. So, she likes the accountability, but worries that the accountability will undermine schools? Sounds like this self described "liberal who works in education policy" -- knows that the light of true accountability will be an eye opener for most parents. As our Chris Braunlich wrote, we need to shine a light on our public school performance -- as the gap in performance of our low-income and African-American students is unacceptable. Hiding this gap is not the answer!
9.) Schools are preparing to implement Gov. Youngkin's cell phone ban, although safety continues to be a key parental worry according to a story in Cardinal News. As a former Principal who implemented a no cell phone policy in my school, I know first hand that cell phones harm school culture, are used for bullying, porn, and cheating and can actually reduce safety. That being said, I wish parents had a choice in the school they send their children to -- until then, we support common sense policies that improve learning and school culture.
10.) While drone sightings are in the news, Virginia had its own drone story as a Chinese student's drone got stuck in a tree near Newport News shipbuilding. An FBI investigation found photos of classified military equipment and the student was sentenced to six months in prison. How have we let President Biden continue to be asleep while China is clearly spying over sensitive installations?
11.) Virginia Democrats in Richmond continue to push the concept of creating an entity to override local opposition to large scale solar farms. This takes green extremism to a new level -- overriding local zoning and regulations would be a massive increase in state power. The Virginia Clean Economy Acts requirement to entirely eliminate carbon based energy is not currently possible, as noted by our Steve Haner.
12.) Power generation and data centers continue to dominate the work of the State Corporation Commission after the release of a troubling report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission showing that energy demand is quickly outpacing supply. The impact and legacy of Governor Youngkin's "all of the above" energy strategy may well rest on the development of small modular reactors or the implementation of the recently announced first commercial nuclear fusion plant. Our Steve Haner has rightly noted that the real answer lies in the approval of more natural gas generation.
13.) Virginia Business ran a great article on what to expect in the upcoming General Assembly. As we have noted, energy and gambling will be key issues debated, along with housing and some constitutional amendments on abortion and other social issues.
14.) Of course, the special elections scheduled for this week will impact control and direction of the General Assembly. Will Republican momentum shift control of two key seats, or will the blue Democratic wall in Virginia hold firm? Either way, if you live in the 32nd or 10th Senate Districts, or the 26th House District, be sure to vote! | 
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