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Virginia deserves a comprehensive gun violence solution
By Valerie Slater Virginia communities deserve a comprehensive solution to the increase in violence that has come in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Richmond just suffered the highest number of homicides in 15 years, and cities around the commonwealth are similarly struggling. This violence disproportionately impacts communities of color, whose voices must also come first […]
Elected leaders need to stand up for election officials
By Chris Piper In 2018, when I was appointed commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, our focus was combating foreign interference in our elections, protecting our election systems from foreign attack and beginning to understand how social media was influencing our elections with mis/disinformation. But as I close out my term as commissioner, that […]
Partisan policies didn’t raise gas prices, and partisan sniping won’t lower them
By Hugh Jackson In 2020 the price of oil crashed, even falling to less than zero one day. Traders actually had to pay buyers to get them to take oil contracts off their hands. Oil companies would prefer not to sell oil unless they can make money off it. Oil companies are just funny that […]
Attacking climate action is bad policy, even worse politics
By Christopher Leyen A recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that we will see as much sea level rise in just the next three decades that we’ve experienced in the last century. In Hampton Roads, which is already seeing the fastest rate of sea level rise on the East Coast, an […]
Want to help those impacted by inflation? Pass a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit in Virginia.
By Addison Hunter Families across Virginia are facing the highest inflation rates in 40 years. Prices have increased across the board: Over the past year, a gallon of milk increased in cost by 26 cents, and gas went up by 83 cents per gallon. All the while, the cost of rent and energy bills have […]
If General Assembly doesn’t act, home care agencies could be hit hard
By Tim Hanold The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally shifted our perception of health care and upended its delivery. While there was a necessary focus on hospital capability, too often services in the home failed to receive the critical attention it deserved. As hospitals reached capacity, home health agencies met the demand as the most cost effective […]
‘We the people’ are in dangerous territory
By Jay Bookman The state of our union is precarious. It is precarious not because of some outside threat – outside threats we can still handle. It is precarious because we have forgotten our way, because we find ourselves increasingly seduced by a perverted, stunted and selfish notion of freedom. It is precarious because some […]
Waste Management’s ‘bait-and-switch’ sustainability continues to harm communities
By Charles Mullis and Mary Finley-Brook We need to rethink waste. The waste sector is booming and market forecasts are bullish even as landfills are getting bigger. Runaway waste flows profit already-too-wealthy investors; for example, Bill Gates is a leading shareholder of both Waste Management and its major competitor, Republic. Meanwhile landfill operators continue a […]
How the Ukraine invasion could affect you: Higher food, gas prices, risk of recession
By William Hauk Americans may be tempted to view the war in Ukraine as an unfortunate, but far away, crisis. As an economist, I know the world is too connected for the U.S. to go unaffected. On Feb. 22, 2022, President Joe Biden warned Americans that a Russian invasion of Ukraine – and U.S. efforts […]
Hold the line. Our future depends on it.
By Kate West As a climate advocate in Virginia, the election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin was a disappointment of immeasurable proportions. For me and so many of my fellow Virginians, it was tragic that someone with some extreme policy positions is now at the helm of our state after years of great progress. Based on […]
Remember that living in a divided America is nothing new
By Janice Ellis We are the United States of America. At least, that is who we have always claimed to be. But are we? Have we ever been? Considering where we are today, and the state of our public discourse, it begs the questions. The brazen and hateful divisions playing out in almost every aspect […]
Governor’s schools bill is bad policy and in bad faith
By Akshay Deverakonda and Carrie Kahwajy A new bill seeks to deprive local school boards of the tools needed to achieve diversity at governor’s schools throughout the commonwealth. This regressive bill, which has passed Virginia’s House of Delegates and is now in the Senate, must be defeated. The bill defines “proxy discrimination” broadly when it […]