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Bipartisan bill seeks to demonopolize state electric energy market
State Dels. Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, and Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, held a press conference Tuesday to announce a bipartisan legislative effort to demonopolize Virginia’s electric energy market. The Virginia Energy Reform Act — which does not yet have a bill number —would establish a competitive market for electricity retailers; r[...]
State Democrats unveil 2020 legislative agenda
Gov. Ralph Northam and the leaders of the state legislature’s new Democratic majority unveiled their 11-point ‘Virginia 2020 Plan’ for the General Assembly session that begins Wednesday. House Speaker-designee Eileen Filler-Corn, incoming Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, incoming House Majority Leader Charniele Herring and incoming Senate Caucus Chair Mamie Locke announced the plan with […][...]
Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services names chief deputy
Ellen Montz was named chief deputy for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) as of Jan. 3, DMAS announced Tuesday. Montz will be second-in-command for the agency, which oversees the state’s Medicaid program and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). She will maintain her role as the agency’s chief health economist and director […]
Northam proposes Election Day state holiday
Gov. Ralph Northam announced legislative proposals on Monday to allow early voting during the 45-day period before an election and to make Election Day a state holiday by abolishing the state’s longstanding Lee-Jackson Day, which honors the birthdays of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Virginia currently requires voters who wish to […]
Unemployment remained low for November in metro areas
Although not each individual city or county fell under a 5% unemployment rate in November 2019, Virginia’s 11 major metropolitan areas recorded unemployment rates below 3%, according to data released Friday by the Virginia Employment Commission. Statewide, the locality with the lowest unemployment was Arlington County, at 1.7%. Buchanan County in far Southwest Virginia had […]
A new voice
For the first time since 1993, Democrats are in charge of Virginia’s legislative and executive branches. Back then, Gov. L. Douglas Wilder was serving the last year of his four-year term and Thomas Moss Jr. of Norfolk was the speaker of the House of Delegates. Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, faces a totally different lands[...]
Approaching equality
Women may make up more than half of Virginia’s population, but their presence in the statehouse has always fallen far short of parity. This year’s election brought a seismic change, however. Rachel Bitecofer, assistant director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University, says that women now hold [...]
Advice for Dems from “America’s Dad”
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine has “a little window” into what it looks like when the balance of power shifts in a Virginia legislative body. He was Virginia’s governor in 2007 when Democrats took control of the state Senate. That wasn’t nearly as seismic a change as Virginians will witness this General Assembly session when Democr[...]
The New Dominion
When the 2020 Virginia General Assembly is gaveled into session at noon on Jan. 8, for the first time in the state legislature’s 401-year history, the person wielding that gavel will be a woman. The ascension of Del. Eileen Filler-Corn of Fairfax to speaker of the House of Delegates will likely be the most visible of [&hellip[...]
Melissa Baker to become first female Virginia State Parks director
Melissa Baker will become the first female Virginia State Parks director in the system’s 83-year history, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday. Baker comes from the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, where she served as director. She oversaw the state’s park system and administered grant programs. She has also work[...]
State, CSX announce $3.7B in passenger rail improvements
The state and Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX Corp. announced Thursday they would invest $3.7 billion in improving train service between Richmond and Washington, D.C., including building a new bridge across the Potomac River dedicated to passenger and commuter rail. The improvements are set to start in the second half of 2020 an[...]
New bus routes will connect Danville to D.C., Martinsville to Richmond
The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation will launch two new Virginia Breeze intercity bus service routes connecting Danville to Washington, D.C., and Martinsville to Richmond in spring 2020, the department announced Tuesday. The 2-year-old Virginia Breeze, funded by the federal Rural Transit Assistance 5311 Pro[...]
