Today's Sponsor: Lead Virginia

VaNews Nov. 26, 2019
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Today's Sponsor:


** Lead Virginia
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Convening leaders on issues most important to the Commonwealth, its communities and its future. Learn about making an impact through Lead Virginia in 2020. www.leadvirginia.org ([link removed])

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** FROM VPAP
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** VISUALIZATION: VIRGINIA DONORS TO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Presidential candidates have reported $5.6 million from Virginia residents. VPAP has a map plotting the donations of candidate, allowing you to drill down and get a list of donors in each ZIP code. The data is current through September 30.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** DON’T FRET ABOUT RIGHT TO WORK REPEAL, NORTHAM TELLS BUSINESS LEADERS ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

There were plenty of dire warnings during this year’s General Assembly election campaigns that voting for Democrats would mean an end to Virginia’s right to work law — that much-loved-by-business measure that says workers who benefit from union-negotiated wages and contract protections don’t have to pay union dues.


** NORTHAM DISCOURAGES REPEAL OF RIGHT-TO-WORK LAW IN REMARKS TO REVENUE COUNCIL ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam made clear to his revenue advisory council on Monday that he does not support repeal of Virginia’s right-to-work law that forbids compulsory union membership. With Democrats preparing to take complete control of the General Assembly for the first time in more than 25 years, Northam sought to reassure Virginia business leaders that the state won’t take a sharp leftward turn on an issue that has long been a political fire alarm in a pro-business state.


** NORTHAM TELLS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION VIRGINIA WILL ACCEPT MORE REFUGEES ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday to say that Virginia would welcome more refugees, pointedly declining President Trump’s offer to let states and localities veto resettlements. “Virginia’s lights are on and our doors are open, and we welcome new Virginians to make their homes here,” Northam wrote.


** VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE GIVES TAXPAYERS A GOOD BARGAIN, JLARC SAYS ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia gets a deal from its in-house law firm, the Office of the Attorney General, a study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found. The office has been a target of some General Assembly Republicans in recent years because of Attorney General Mark Herring’s decisions not to appeal court rulings against the state’s same-sex-marriage ban or redistricting, as well as its use of outside attorneys on some cases.


** JLARC GIVES GOOD REVIEW TO VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Attorney General Mark Herring’s office got mostly good reviews from state analysts, who issued a report Monday saying the office provides first-rate legal services, uses outside counsel appropriately and effectively investigates Medicaid fraud at no expense to the state. Republican lawmakers in 2017 requested the review by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the General Assembly’s watchdog arm.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** NEW HOUSE CHIEF TO REPLACE CLERK, KEY STAFF OFFICIAL ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The clerk of the House of Delegates and staff director of the House Appropriations Committee will be replaced — both by women with long careers in state government — as Democrats consolidate their newly won control of the chamber.


** STATE STUDY: CASINO GAMBLING A COMPLICATED WAGER ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Casino gambling would be profitable for Virginia and localities, such as Richmond, where they could be built, but the state faces plenty of risks — from a surge in gambling addiction to a potentially devastating blow to existing gaming operations tied to the state’s horse-racing industry — according to a long-awaited legislative study of state gaming options.


** VIRGINIA COULD GET $262 MILLION A YEAR IN TAX REVENUE FROM 5 CASINOS, STUDY FINDS ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A long-awaited report on the possible effects of allowing five casinos in Virginia found the state could get $262 million in tax revenue each year. The 200-page report, presented to lawmakers in Richmond Monday, didn’t give suggestions for how to spend that tax revenue, but proposals pitched by lawmakers in the past have included spending it on education and transportation.


** STUDY: LEGISLATURE HAS OPTIONS FOR REGULATING ELECTRONIC GAMING MACHINES ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

As unregulated gaming machines proliferate across Virginia, the General Assembly’s oversight commission presented legislators with options Monday for how to respond. The rapid spread of the machines in restaurants and convenience stores over the past two years has hurt Virginia Lottery sales, which means a reduction in profits that go toward public education.


** STUDY SHOWS VIRGINIA CASINOS WOULD BE VIABLE ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A new state study shows a series of five proposed gaming casinos would be viable in Virginia, with the Bristol Resort and Casino forecast to generate more than 1,000 direct jobs and $130 million in annual revenue. Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission unveiled those and other details Monday in a comprehensive 202-page study of the U.S. gaming industry, casino regulation and potential impacts.


** WILL THIS BE THE YEAR VIRGINIA IMPOSES A PLASTIC BAG TAX? ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

As localities all around the U.S. move to discourage the use of plastics, Virginia will once again mull taxing an item so common that most people encounter it every single day: the plastic bag.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS WERE TOP DONORS IN VIRGINIA’S ELECTIONS. NOW, THEY WANT RESULTS ([link removed])
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By DANIELLA CHESLOW, WAMU

Virginia Democrats swept into power in the state’s General Assembly on campaign promises to tighten gun laws. But another force went almost unnoticed: environmental groups, whose donations made them the largest single-issue donors in this year’s elections. They gave $6 million, mostly to Democrats, which is more than gun control and abortion rights advocates combined. Now, these green groups want sweeping change.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** IN NORFOLK, BLOOMBERG BLASTS TRUMP FOR NAVY LEADER’S OUSTER ([link removed])
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By BEN FINLEY, Associated Press

New presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg traveled to the city that hosts the world’s largest Navy base on Monday and blasted President Donald Trump over the recent ouster of the nation’s Navy secretary. For the first stop of his Democratic campaign, Bloomberg went to Norfolk, where he criticized Trump over the firing of Richard Spencer.


** NEWLY DECLARED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MICHAEL BLOOMBERG MAKES A STOP IN NORFOLK ([link removed])
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By RYAN MURPHY AND ROBYN SIDERSKY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A billionaire, a delegate-elect and three dozen reporters walk into a diner. It sounds like a setup for a joke, but former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg was all business Monday as he launched his presidential campaign in Norfolk, less than 24 hours after announcing he was stepping into the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination.


** BLOOMBERG DEBUTS RUN IN NEWLY BLUE VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By JIM MORRISON AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Mike Bloomberg made the first stop of his newly declared presidential campaign at a diner here Monday, appearing in a state that he knows well and where his money helped deliver big wins for Democrats earlier this month. Bloomberg aimed to demonstrate his political strength by showing off one of the candidates he funded this fall, Del.-elect Nancy Guy of Virginia Beach.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** CASINO REPORT FOCUSES ON FISCAL, ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF OPERATION, ALSO INCLUDES EFFECTS ON PROBLEM GAMBLING ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

A casino in Danville would generate about $190 million in annual revenue and $51 million in gaming tax money for the state and deliver nearly 1,600 direct casino jobs paying an average annual salary of about $33,000, according to a state draft report presented Monday afternoon.


** JENS SOERING AND ELIZABETH HAYSOM, CONVICTED IN SENSATIONAL 1985 DOUBLE MURDERS, RELEASED BY VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom, onetime classmates and lovers at the University of Virginia convicted decades ago in her parents’ brutal killing, have won release from prison. The surprise decision Monday by the Virginia Parole Board slapped a coda on a 1985 murder mystery that rocked the state and drew national attention, long before tabloid television turned sensational crimes into regular fare.


** JENS SOERING, ELIZABETH HAYSOM GRANTED PAROLE IN 1985 SLAYINGS OF HER PARENTS IN BEDFORD COUNTY ([link removed])
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By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom — who were convicted in the horrific 1985 slayings of Haysom’s parents — were granted parole Monday and will be released to immigration officials for deportation to their home countries of Germany and Canada, respectively.


** ALBEMARLE WOMAN DIES IN PRISON SERVING SHOPLIFTING SENTENCE UNDER VIRGINIA'S 'THREE STRIKES' LAW ([link removed])
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By FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

When her mother died, Donna Armstrong Reed wrote from prison that the loss was so painful she feared she would die, too. Two years later she did, on the night of April 16, 2018, at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, still serving a three-year sentence for shoplifting $45 worth of suntan products.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** NORTHAM APPOINTS PETER FARRELL TO VCU BOARD OF VISITORS ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam appointed Peter Farrell, a former lawmaker and a son of Dominion Energy CEO Tom Farrell, to the governing board of Virginia Commonwealth University. Peter Farrell of Henrico, a Republican, was elected to the House of Delegates in 2011 and opted not to seek re-election in 2017.


** U.VA.’S ENDOWMENT REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH OF $9.6 BILLION IN 2019 ([link removed])
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By RACHEL ZENTMAYER, Cavalier Daily

At the end of the 2019 fiscal year this past June, the University posted their endowment value at $9.6 billion — a figure that has grown about 1 percent since its $9.5 billion evaluation at the end of the 2018 fiscal year. Despite slower growth in the last year, the University consistently places in the top five of highest endowed public universities — ranking third in 2016 behind the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Texas A&M University at College Station according to Business Insider.


** LOCAL
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** IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE DENSITY, AMAZON PLEDGES $20 MILLION FOR ARLINGTON AFFORDABLE HOUSING ([link removed])
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By PATRICIA SULLIVAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Amazon is offering $20 million to the Arlington County Affordable Housing Investment Fund in exchange for being allowed to build a bigger headquarters complex in the county than zoning allows.


** HUNDREDS ATTEND SUPERVISORS' MEETINGS GRAPPLING WITH SECOND AMENDMENT ISSUES ([link removed])
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By YANN RANAIVO, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

More than 800 people packed Montgomery and Pulaski counties’ board of supervisors meetings Monday night to either hear or speak about a demand that each locality join the growing roster of municipalities that have declared themselves so-called Second Amendment sanctuaries. “I will never comply with any law that infringes on my Second Amendment rights,” Fairlawn resident Gary Hughes told the Pulaski County board during public comment.


** HUNDREDS OF RESIDENTS TURN OUT TO SUPPORT 'SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY' IN BEDFORD COUNTY ([link removed])
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By SHANNON KEITH, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Bedford County Board of Supervisors announced its intention to pass a resolution declaring Bedford County a “Second Amendment Sanctuary,” which a growing number of counties across Virginia are doing following the Nov. 5 statewide election. Hundreds of residents attended the board of supervisors meeting on Monday to voice concerns their gun rights will be infringed by Gov. Ralph Northam and Democratic legislators who gained a majority in the state legislature after the election. About 200 residents were packed in the boardroom Monday night and about 200 more spilled out of the meeting room and into the lobby outside.

Today's Sponsor:


** Lead Virginia
------------------------------------------------------------

Convening leaders on issues most important to the Commonwealth, its communities and its future. Learn about making an impact through Lead Virginia in 2020. www.leadvirginia.org ([link removed])


** EDITORIALS
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** 'SYMBOLIC' MAYBE, BUT ‘RED’ AMERICA DRAWS A LINE ON GUNS ([link removed])
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Winchester Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

It may simply be “symbolic,” a “sign of protest” — but, in many ways, the same could have been said of the Boston Tea Party. Of course, the movement of which the Tea Party exemplified was further along than that of “Second Amendment Sanctuaries.” And, to be sure, the situation and circumstances were different — a group of colonies (subordinate states, really) rebelling against the supreme power. There’s a whiff of this here — in the nine Virginia counties


** NEW MAJORITY’S PRIORITIES ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The rush to pre-file legislation this month is indicative of Democrats’ priorities leading into the session. Come January, Democrats will have a 21-19 advantage in the Senate and will likely see a 55-45 edge in the House, permitting Democrat Nancy Guy keeps a 27-vote lead over Del. Chris Stolle in the 83rd District. A recount on the matter is expected. The party’s majority, however, does not mean it should take a free run on the legislative process.


** WILL DEMS GUT DILLON RULE? ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

There are many repercussions looming in the Democrats’ upcoming takeover of Virginia’s General Assembly. With majorities in both houses and control of the governor’s mansion, high on the list of potential losers is a legal precedent handed down by an Iowa judge 151 years ago. Dillon’s Rule (or the Dillon Rule, as it’s best known to Virginians), the work of Iowa Supreme Court Judge John Forrest Dillon in 1868, says no locality can do much of anything that isn’t permitted by the state legislature.


** SHIPPING CONTAINERS AS HOMES? LET'S INNOVATE WITH WHAT WE HAVE ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

As communities across Virginia grapple with affordable housing issues, the search for solutions should be a bold one. Back in May, the Greater Richmond Convention Center hosted “HousingX: Rethink the Box.” The “un-conference” highlighted new ideas in affordable housing construction, design, materials, finance and land use planning. The City of Richmond was a valuable partner, becoming the first commonwealth locality to use shipping containers as a raw material for affordable homes.
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