afpbusiness

I can’t drive … 70?

Proposal to increase speed limit passes General Assembly Staff Report News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposal to increase the speed limit in Virginia to 70 mph in rural and less populated areas was approved today by both chambers of the General Assembly. The measure received broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. [...]


Marrow: Obama, Dems no better than GOP

   Story by Chris Graham freepress2@ntelos.net See if you can guess who updated their Facebook status this way over the weekend. “A year later is has become abundantly clear that Obama and the dems are no better than bush and his republican sleaze. They are all corporate wh@#es, liars and thieves. The only difference is [...]


Challenges ahead for state lawmakers

  Column by State Sen. Creigh Deeds www.creighdeeds.com The General Assembly convened on Jan. 13. Twenty new members of the House of Delegates were sworn in, reflecting in large part the Republican sweep of the elections in November. Two new senators were sworn in, both vacancies created by the November election. Sen. Ken Stolle from [...]


Legislating in troubled times

   Column by State Del. Ken Plum www.kenplum.com Thomas Jefferson referred to the orderly transfer of power in government as a “bloodless revolution.” Such a revolution occurred in Mr. Jefferson’s Virginia last week as Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine ended his constitutionally-limited one term, and former delegate and Attorney General Robert McDonnell took the oath [...]


Speaker announces ethics subcommittee

   Staff Report News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net Virginia House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, announced today the creation of a special Subcommittee on Ethics to develop an update to the General Assembly’s conflict of interest rules and lead consideration of all bills introduced into the House in the 2010 legislative session relating to conflicts of interest. [...]


Deeds: Work to do to balance state budget

   Column by Creigh Deeds www.creighdeeds.com Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 will be the commencement of the 2010 session of the General Assembly. This is the 60-day session when the biennial budget is adopted. This will be a tough time for Virginia government, those responsible for managing it, and those who depend on state services. In [...]


Charter school debate

   Column by Ken Plum www.kenplum.com Among the topics that are likely to be fiercely debated this legislative session are revisions to Virginia’s charter-school law. The Center for Education Reform, advocates for expanding charter schools, recently gave Virginia a failing grade on its charter school law (www.charterschoolresearch.com). An idea of what the Center feels is [...]


Focus | Democratic divide

Battle brewing between progressives, centrists over direction of party Story by Chris Graham freepress2@ntelos.net The 2001 election that ushered in the Democratic Decade in Virginia gave power in Democratic Party circles to the centrists in the mold of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine who led the mini-revolution that fall. The model that they laid out [...]


The Speaker of the House

  Column by Ken Plum www.kenplum.com On January 12, 1978, the second day of business in the House of Delegates, Speaker John Warren Cooke rapped the session to order and called on the Gentleman from Fairfax, Mr. Plum, for purposes of a motion. I heard my name called, and I was petrified. It was my [...]



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