Ken Plum: Higher education funding squeeze
A favorite target for budget cutters in Virginia and other states during the economic recession has been higher education.
While public institutions of higher education rely on state funding, there are other sources of funds available to them, the most obvious being tuition and fees. As the number of wealthy alumni grows, there is the potential for increased endowments.
Fundraising campaigns at the University of Virginia, for example, have goals in the billions of dollars and exceed many private institutions. Contracts with the private sector and government agencies help to grow university research budgets. Read more
Ken Plum: Reversing bad fortune
The Virginia General Assembly is not having a very good year. After making the national evening news shows and late-night comedy programs for weeks about which ultrasound to require of women, the Assembly joined many other states in passing voter suppression bills that might affect the outcome of the presidential election. Read more
Ken Plum: Balancing the state budget
Adjourning a 60-day legislative session without approving a biennial budget may seem like Washington-style failure to some, but to those who work closely with the process taking more time to balance the budget reflects the realities and limitations of the tremendous task involved. Contrasted to federal budget-making, there are no continuing resolutions or the ability to print or borrow money.
Budget-making reform a couple of decades ago requires the Governor to present his budget in mid-December before the holidays; but with the General Assembly meeting in early January, the amount of time to balance the budget is less than three months for two very different legislative bodies and the governor to agree. The state Constitution requires that the budget must be balanced. The amount of money we are talking about is nearly $85 billion for a two-year spending plan. Read more
Ken Plum: Overreach
If a single word or phrase can describe a General Assembly session, the 2012 meeting of the state legislature would be known for “overreach.” Governor McDonnell and Lieutenant Governor Bolling warned the Republican majority before the session got underway that there was a need for legislators to be careful to not overreach with their new-found power. Few paid attention to this good advice until the legislature was caught in the mire of overreaching. Read more
House restores full funding of Alicia’s Law
On Thursday afternoon, Del. Mark Sickles (D-Franconia) introduced a budget amendment that restores full funding for the critically important Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Act. The budget amendment was necessary to restore $1.3 million in funds raised by the $10 court fee imposed on those convicted of misdemeanor and felony crimes. Del. Sickles was joined in Richmond by Alicia Kozakiewicz, the woman for whom the law is named. Read more
Bell wins re-election in landslide
Incumbent Republican Dickie Bell won re-election in the 20th House District by receiving 69.8 percent of the vote in his race with Democrat Laura Kleiner.
Bell, a former Staunton City Councilman and Augusta County schoolteacher, was strongest in Augusta County, where he won 82.8 percent of the votes against Kleiner, a recent Mary Baldwin College graduate.
Bell won majorities in every locality in the 20th, which was redrawn in the 2011 legislative redistricting to add Waynesboro and Nelson County. Bell garnered 72.4 percent of the vote in Waynesboro and 66.4 percent of the vote in Staunton, where he had won four elections to City Council before running and winning in the 20th House District race in 2009.
Kleiner performed best in Democrat-friendly Nelson County, though she still fell short of a majority in Nelson, getting 44.1 percent of the vote there.
Ken Plum: Repeating Virginia’s history
Posted by afp on May 16, 2012 · 1 Comment
I have been meeting with more than 80 students at the JoAnne Rose Gallery in Reston. All are retired and enjoy learning for the sake of learning. Only a few were born in Virginia, but most have lived here for a very long time. They want to know more about how the way things are in Virginia got to be that way, especially in instances where Virginia is so different from other states. Read more
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