Dear Friend of TJI,
"They want to be a brick wall, let 'em be a brick wall. But they don't run the place." -- Virginia House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore Responding to Senate Democrats' claims they represented a "brick wall" to General Assembly Republicans.
Meanwhile ... 1.) Board appointments made when the General Assembly is not in session are submitted when the GA returns. When Senate Democrats refused to confirm Youngkin appointee Andrew Wheeler as Secretary of Natural Resources, House Republicans retaliated by refusing to confirm 11 of Ralph Northam's board appointments made over the past 10 months. Most of those are on boards that have become heavily politicized during the McAuliffe-Northam years (here), among them the Board of Education and the Air Pollution Control Board, which is responsible for taking Virginia into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
But news media missed the big story: The House refused to confirm three appointments to the Education Board. But two of those were up for confirmation only because Northam failed to submit them last February -- they should have been confirmed a year ago when Democrats controlled the General Assembly. Because Northam failed to do so, Youngkin now has the option for three immediate appointments to the Board, and will be able to make two in the normal rotation come June.
It means Youngkin appointees will hold a majority in July 2022, instead of July 2023 and that the business of restoring academic and accreditation standards will begin this July in a year the History standards (for starters) are due for revision. Sometimes victory comes when your adversary simply doesn't show up.
2.) February 4th ended with a communication from the Fairfax County School Superintendent making several claims in support of mandatory masking. The letter cited no evidence, which surely should have earned a poor grade in the category of “persuasive writing.” By Monday, one parent wrote back, taking issue with claims that “forced masking of children saves lives” and “forced masking of children is popular.” The parent ended by warning “In the coming days, I will ask the Governor to either send down special legislation or amend existing legislation so as to end the Forced Masking of Children.” Oh ... did we mention the parent was Democratic State Senator Chap Peterson? (here) 3.) Peterson cited a January 26 Atlantic Magazine article (here) by infectious disease scientists arguing against masks at schools. He might also have cited a February 9 article by someone who, 23 months ago, demanded “cancel everything” and now argues “Open Everything.” (here). 4.) But politicians are guided by public opinion polling and the recent ones indicate clearly the nation has turned a corner (here, here, and here). By Tuesday, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt reported that Democratic Governors in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon had announced the end of their mask mandates (here). That same day, it was reported that efforts to overturn Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order leaving mask decisions up to parents was denied on procedural grounds (here). 5.) By Wednesday it was reported that “Democrats in Virginia’s Senate signaled support ... for making school masks optional by July, a turnaround after weeks of howling against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to end mask mandates right away,” as Peterson kept the promise he made, working with Youngkin and Republican Senator Siobhan Dunnavant to secure approval of an amendment to a school-related bill (here). Nine Democrats crossed over to support the amendment, 6.) Some school systems did not get the memo, however, as Loudoun County School Security appears to have instructed principals on how to get warrants for unmasked students (here). Over at National Review, senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty declared the Governor “Youngkin the Conqueror.” (here). 7.) Final passage of the bill to which the amendment was tagged came on that same day, but in the overnight seven Democrats had flipped back to the pro-mask mandate side, with only Peterson and Lynwood Lewis voting for the bill (here). Who flipped and why? Blogger Kerry Dougherty names names and has suspicions (here). 8.) The bill now moves over to the House of Delegates and would customarily take effect July 1. To enact it earlier would require an 80 percent favorable vote for an “emergency clause.” But oh-so-clever House Democrats last year enacted a rule that allowed a Governor’s “emergency clause” in an amendment to take effect on a simple majority. When they took over, House Republicans did not change the Democrats’ handiwork. This is called being “hoisted on your own petard.” This will probably end up in the courts. 9.) Youngkin scored a victory, too, with legislation giving parents a final say over explicit curriculum materials, thanks to support from Lewis and Democrat Monty Mason in the Senate (here). 10.) On education choice, not so much, as bills are being mowed down by Senate committees, leaving only two versions of the college partnership lab school idea (which we first drafted in 2007 for the head of the Legislative Black Caucus who wanted to see additional educational opportunities). More “innovative” than “choice,” the legislation would open up for students something more than solely traditional public schools. The progressive Virginia Mercury has the story here. 11.) Those who try to position education choice as racist, however, have a hard time when confronted with the true story of Virginia Walden-Ford – a Black woman who overcame adversaries (Black politicians and the teachers union) to create such a program in her home town of Washington, DC. Watch the trailer here. Available on Netflix here. Former Virginia Secretary of Education (and Jefferson Institute Board member) Gerard Robinson interviews the real-life “Miss Virginia” on his podcast here. 12.) Turning to energy affordability and reliability, Institute Senior Fellow Steve Haner warns of the Clean Energy disaster arriving in Virginia by 2050 here. Over in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Virginia’s former climatologist makes the point that RGGI and the Virginia Clean Economy Act are climatically meaningless here.
13.) And in a week in which inflation hit its highest mark in 40 years (here), its impossible not to note that inflation is overwhelming wage increases (here), driving “real” wages down (here). A chart worth looking at here. Happy Sunday, Everyone. It's never "just a Bill.'
Cordially, | |
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