Comstock Challengers Count on ‘Blue Wave’
The six Democrats vying to unseat Barbara Comstock face off at Colvin Run Elementary.
Opinion: Editorial: Expansion of Health Care in Virginia?
After years of hoping, it’s possible Medicaid expansion will come on April 11; say a prayer.
Budget Brinkmanship in Virginia
Lawmakers poised to leave town without passing budget.
Budget showdowns are rare in Virginia, but not unprecedented. Back in 2004, Gov. Mark Warner clashed with Republicans over a sales tax increase. Then in 2014, Gov. Terry McAuliffe engaged in brinkmanship over expanding Medicaid. Now lawmakers are poised to end the session once again without passing a budget.
Opinion: Editorial: Hope for Expanding Health Care
Just say yes to $400 million, thousands of jobs and health care for 300,000.
Mixed Success on Menstrual Equity in Virginia
Increased availability behind bars, but no tax breaks during back-to-school week.
Several lawmakers from Northern Virginia arrived in Richmond this year hoping to push a cause known as menstrual equity — making sure that feminine hygiene products are affordable, safe and available. But success has been mixed.
Virginia Senate Might Torpedo Medicaid Expansion
Democrats still need to flip one more GOP senator to make it happen.
Usually it’s the state Senate that leads on progressive issues, and the House of Delegates kind of drags its feet. Not this year.
Gun Debate on Lockdown in Virginia
Democrats unable to gain traction on reform, despite new numbers in House.
When lawmakers arrived in Richmond last month, Democrats were hopeful that they would be able to use their new numbers to gain some traction on the gun debate. Now that the session is half over and the nation is reeling from yet another mass shooting, very little of their agenda has been accomplished at the Capitol.
View from Coffin Corner
Extreme position on House floor enjoys a storied history.
As a freshman delegate in 1978, Ken Plum was assigned a desk in the far corner on the Democratic side of the House of Delegates — seat 17. It wasn’t the best vantage point in the House because about a third of the Republican members were totally out of view. The senior members took the seats at the back of the chamber near the center, sticking Plum in the corner.
Virginia Lawmakers Play Whack-A-Mole with Predatory Lenders
Senate panel takes action limiting one kind of high-interest loan, leaving loophole for another.
By this time next year, high-interest lenders may be prohibited from making consumer finance loans — at least ones they find profitable at 200 percent interest. So that loophole may be closed by the end of the General Assembly session. But it seems likely lawmakers will leave Richmond this year creating no restrictions on open-end lines of credit, raising concern among some that lawmakers are playing a game of whack-a-mole.