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Waddell: Support academic freedom, but don’t deny oversight
State Sen. Mamie Locke’s guest column in the May 4 paper, “Youngkin administration actions undermine academic freedom,” is on target in saying that “higher education … is about equipping students with the tools to navigate complex issues, not indoctrinating them with a particular ideology,” and that students deserve a comprehensive education that “equips them to think critically.” I applaud and join in those sentiments, for there is no greater threat to our country right now than our inability to think dispassionately and carefully, to admit the possibility that our beliefs may not be 100% right, and to negotiate with ourselves.
DuVal: New K-12 accountability standards must also address disparities
Virginia’s business community is keenly aware of the vital role that education plays in driving economic development and preparing a well-trained, qualified workforce. Our students of today are our workforce of tomorrow. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the largest business advocacy organization in the commonwealth with more than 30,000 members, has long supported policies that strengthen our education-workforce system to bolster Virginia’s economic growth and business climate. Simply put, to be the best state for business, Virginia must be the best state for talent.
New budget agreement shows state officials aren’t serious about flooding
How will Virginia defend vulnerable communities, including those in Hampton Roads, from rising seas and recurrent flooding? That question, asked time and time again in recent years, will have more urgency in the wake of the budget agreement brokered between lawmakers and Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week. Democratic negotiators agreed to remove language from the budget they approved in March that would return Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate, market-based emissions reduction compact that has generated more than $800 million for flooding projects and energy-efficiency programs.
Legislators slash funding for Health Wagon amid reports CEO’s compensation package nearly doubled in 2 years
Legislators have pulled more than $800,000 from the state budget that had been earmarked for St. Mary’s Health Wagon, a free clinic in Southwest Virginia whose top executive was recently compensated more than $520,000, a sum that nearly doubled over two years and places her compensation far beyond the salaries of comparable executives in wealthier regions of Virginia. The Health Wagon has received state funding consistently since 2006, and an earlier version of this year’s budget included another allocation for it. However, state budget negotiators removed this allocation after reports surfaced that leadership, including CEO Teresa Tyson and clinical director Paula Hill-Collins, as well as other Health Wagon employees, earned outsized compensation packages in recent years.
Carilion Clinic cleared in tainted instrument probe
Investigators received an anonymous complaint last summer tipping them off that Carilion Clinic’s two largest hospitals were struggling with a months-long spike in surgical instruments with blemishes, stains, spots and debris. Tainted surgical instruments were found on the front lines of care, including in trays awaiting use in heart procedures, and pulled before use. When surgeons had too few clean instruments to operate, patients waited. While the health system showed that no blemished instrument ever touched a patient and few surgeries overall were delayed, inspectors working on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services put a condition into effect known as “immediate jeopardy.” The reason: a breakdown in infection control.
Virginia budget includes funds for education, toll relief and flood control
Legislators released the details of a two-year state budget plan Saturday that would nix a potential new tax on digital goods while still providing large investments in education. After months of conflict, House Appropriations Committee Chair Luke Torian announced Thursday that budget negotiators had struck a deal with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin that left Democrats’ spending priorities intact despite killing off the digital tax — which the governor opposed — that was expected to bring in more than $700 million for the state. “It looks like it’s a true compromise to me,” said Del. Barry Knight, a Virginia Beach Republican and former budget committee chair.
In 7th District primary, Republicans debate party’s future
Clashes among Republican factions in the 118th Congress are playing out in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, with money and endorsements flowing to rival candidates in a GOP primary from the party's establishment and most conservative wings in the House of Representatives. The 7th, based in Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, is a pivotal political battleground in the outer Northern Virginia suburbs and countryside for control of the House in a presidential election year.
Budget details revealed: No new tax increases, no additional tax relief, more than $2.5 billion in K-12 funding
Less than 48 hours after the General Assembly’s budget negotiators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin struck a deal on a spending plan for the next biennium, the legislature’s money committees on Saturday morning released the details of the proposal that lawmakers will weigh when they return to Richmond for a special session on Monday. In its core, the $188 billion budget for fiscal years 2024-26 is identical with the conference report that the Democratic-controlled legislature approved by a bipartisan 62-37 vote in early March.
Facilities run by Virginia’s behavioral health agency don’t comply with parts of disability rights law, audit finds
Unannounced inspections of the 12 facilities run by Virginia’s behavioral health agency last July found many Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance issues, per a new audit, including that most had inaccessible restrooms and paths from parking areas. The office of Virginia’s inspector general looked into whether the state-operated facilities overseen by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) complied with some requirements of the federal law prohibiting discrimination based on disability.
Port of Virginia details major expansion projects, including becoming deepest port on East Coast
The Port of Virginia plans to complete a number of massive infrastructure projects by mid-2027, including becoming the East Coast’s deepest port by August 2025, said Stephen Edwards, the Virginia Port Authority’s CEO and executive director. Speaking Thursday at the State of the Port event in Virginia Beach, Edwards said the $1.4 billion in infrastructure projects come as port officials look to do more business with regions such as the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. “The Port of Virginia is ready to capitalize on this opportunity that favors East Coast ports over West Coast ports,” Edwards said.