McDonnell punishes VCU for tuition increase

VRS reform remains a possibility; governors proposal is likely a starting point
Vivian Paige’s post regarding the Virginia Retirement System prompted me to seek clarification from Del. John Cosgrove as both a blogger and his constituent. When she boldly proclaims the reform is “not gonna happen”, she’s jumping to conclusions about Cosgrove’s remarks. On Friday, the Governor proposed as a Budget amendment: Reform of Virginia’s Retirement System (VRS) requiring all State Employees to contribute 5% to their Retirement plans. The reforms will pu...

Paterson Fined $62,125 Over World Series Tickets
The state Ethics Commission has fined Gov. David A. Paterson $62,125 for soliciting and accepting five free tickets to the 2009 World Series from the New York Yankees. The Commission on Public Integrity noted that the Yankees have “myriad and continuing” issues before State Government, including Real Estate, stadium development and tax matters, creating a clear Conflict of Interest for Mr. Paterson. In its finding, the commission also concluded that the Governor had lied about his accep...

What We Have Is a Failure of Leadership
The chasm between fictional campaign promises and factual results when Republicans get elected to office and are forced to govern never ceases to amaze me. For example, consider the contents of Bob McDonnell's proposed amendments to the 2010-2012 Budget. All Republicans, McDonnell included, portray themselves as fiscal Conservatives and guardians of the public purse when they run for office. Ah, but once there they do stuff like McDonnell's latest "transportation plan." Virginia has no real rev...

Anticipating higher revenues, McDonnell outlines spending priorities
Anticipating a slightly brighter Budget outlook for Virginia over the next two years, Gov. Bob McDonnell is pushing to spend more on Economic Development, transportation, and Higher Education -- a far cry from the extensive budget-ax wielding that has characterized General Assembly sessions of the past few years. Following a lean 2010 session in which the state was forced to close a $4.2 billion shortfall in the current two-year budget, McDonnell expects state revenues, driven by stronger-than-...

Fixing California governance in the New Year
Jim Sanders of The Bee Capitol Bureau has compiled this list of proposals for altering State Government -- from legislative practices to the initiative process -- that will be on the table in January. LEGISLATURE • Senate Bill 18, to restrict gift-giving to legislators from firms that hire Lobbyists. (Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo) • Senate Bill 19, to create a "Do Not Call" list for voters who do not want to receive prerecorded "Robocalls" from Candidates. (Sen. Sam Blakesl...

Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - December 19, 2010
With "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the DREAM Act each put to bed, the Sunday shows shifted focus squarely to the New START arms-reduction treaty with Russia. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) claimed that Condaleeza Rice wants the Senate to amend the treaty, but Rice actually called for changes to the resolution of ratification — a move more in keeping with the Senate's "advise and consent" role. Furthermore, Kyl's underlying concerns about Missile Defense are not grounded in fact; the...

VEA President Kitty Boitnott says Virginia teachers have gone three years without raises
The General Assembly must approve a new state Budget in the coming months, and public School Teachers are lobbying for a 3 percent pay boost, saying they have gone three straight school years without a raise. Leaders of the 60,000-member Virginia Education Association, the state’s largest organization of teachers, announced their aim at a Dec. 8 news conference. They said low pay, increased work demands and diminished education budgets are driving Veteran teachers to a "breaking point...

Highlights of Gov. McDonnell's proposed budget
Major provisions of Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposed Budget: —Collect an additional $337 million in general fund taxes and transferred reserve cash. —Use $191 million in cuts, consolidations and efficiencies recommended by a government reform and restructuring commission. —Add $3.7 million for College Tuition and grants. —Cut Virginia Commonwealth University's Tuition revenues in half in 2012 unless it moderates rate increases of 24 percent this year and trims operating cost...

Sheheen Files Package of Government Reforms
-Create a Department of Administration to replace all the administrative duties currently being carried out by the Budget and Control Board. Dissolving the board has been the hallmark of outgoing Gov. Mark Sanford’s tenure, and, as a result, the board has come to be known as a symbol of government Bureaucracy. The director of a new Administration Department would report directly to the Governor. -Require new state budgeting standards that assign Tax Dollars to programs based on...

U.S. students crossing the pond for college
When Adelaide Waldrop learned that she had been consigned to the wait list at each of the four universities she wanted most to attend, it was as if all the excitement had drained from her collegiate quest. Then she remembered her wild-card school: the University of St. Andrews, the medieval cobblestone campus in Scotland. Now Waldrop, of Silver Spring, is a St. Andrews sophomore, one of a growing number of American Students who enroll at top-ranked British universities, which offer the prest...

Columbia News
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, kicked off a year-long series of “Conversations with the Country” at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum on April 18. In his address, he emphasized both the proper strategic role of Military power in U.S. Foreign Policy and the importance of investing in the nation’s Military Veterans through Higher Education, career opportunities and support services. “This is the beginning of an effort to connect with communi...

N.Y. gov marks up B- on his way out
As New York Gov. David Paterson prepares to leave office at the end of the month, he’s giving himself slightly better than average marks for his nearly three years at the state’s helm. Paterson, who was elevated to the governorship in 2008 following Eliot Spitzer’s Resignation amid a Prostitution Scandal, told The New York Times he would give himself a grade of B-. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 “Some things went well, some things went not so well,&...

Universities 'face 6% budget cut'
Universities in England are expected to face cuts of around 6% on last year's funding, as their Budget allocations for 2011-12 are unveiled. This is likely to mean a reduction of £300-400m in the total grants given to universities this year. But the settlement will not include the expected teaching Budget Cuts of up to 80% that universities hope to replace with annual fees of up to £9,000. These are not planned until the new fees regime is introduced in 2012. This year's ...

Metro: America's Most Expensive Subway
According to my analysis of National Transit Database data, we Metro users pay more in fare per passenger mile than any other heavy rail system in America, and have faced a staggering increase far outpacing the rest of the nation's systems. Passengers also shoulder 63% of the operating costs of Metro, the third highest in the nation. On top of that, there is virtually no benefit to being a local. No monthly passes exist for Metro. For the vast majority of commuters, they pay the sticker price t...

Herdt: Only 69 sunsets in Brown's 'first 100 days'
Although Gov.-elect Jerry Brown won’t be sworn in for another three weeks, the clock has already started ticking on his first 100 days. The reason: If Brown is to orchestrate any meaningful agreement to close a $28 billion state Budget shortfall without damaging The Economy and also cutting education and other services below a level most Californians could tolerate, he will have to put a revenue-raising alternative before voters in a Special Election in June. As Brown is already doing his ...

Your Opinions
A Brookings Institution analysis showing Milwaukee as one of the top segregated cities in the nation is not surprising and puts words to what is often unspoken in polite company (Page 1B, Dec. 15). To simply dismiss the findings as more historical artifact than societal behavior (Racism) only adds insult to injury. It conveniently enables lack of accountability by the region to reverse the course. One does not need much imagination to see the nefarious thread between the demographic segregatio...

Santa Bob Plays Grinch to State Employees
Since becoming Governor, Bob McDonnell has blithely promised Virginians that they could have free transportation fixes and free increased graduation numbers from colleges and universities. He even magically pulled a phony "Budget surplus" out of his Santa hat and gave a small Salary Bonus to State Employees, in spite of hiding away a $620 million IOU to the state Retirement System (VRS). Alas, now Santa Bob has been forced to become the Grinch, thanks to a blistering report by JLARC stating that...

Public stations make an easy target for governor
Gov. Bob McDonnell was made for Public Broadcasting. His speaking style doesn't lend itself to the 15-second sound bites that drive Cable News shows. He's worn out several of my tape recorders over the years. He's a policy wonk who can think past staff-generated talking points (if he wants to). He's got a soothing National Public Radio voice like Scott Simon and Liane Hansen that turns the most acidic bad news into chamomile tea. So why does McDonnell have it in for public radio and television? ...

LCB's epic run might be near end
Some say that selling the system may net $2 billion. Corbett strongly favors it. HARRISBURG - For nearly 80 years, the government-run liquor store in Pennsylvania born after Prohibition has been nothing if not a survivor. It has dodged multiple Assassination attempts by three aggressive and popular governors. It has weathered a torrent of complaints, criticism, and scorn by its patrons. Yet no one has been able to write its obituary. But 2011 may usher in a different outcome for the state Liquor...

LCB may be near end of epic run
HARRISBURG - For nearly 80 years, the government-run liquor store in Pennsylvania born after Prohibition has been nothing if not a survivor. It has dodged multiple Assassination attempts by three aggressive and popular governors. It has weathered a torrent of complaints, criticism, and scorn by its patrons. Yet no one has been able to write its obituary. But 2011 may usher in a different outcome for the state Liquor Control Board and the 620 wine and spirits stores it runs: Gov.-elect Tom Corbet...

Queen Chrissy blows it: NO ONE should be off the table to fix the budget, including state employees and teachers.
Proving she's a clueless idiot when it comes to governance, Queen Chrissy has arbitrarily decided that the prima donnas working for the state won't have "to sacrifice more than they already are to balance the State Government Budget next year." What these people don't understand is that they have "sacrificed" next to nothing. The hundreds of thousands unemployed and the Taxpayers shafted by Chrissy's reign... they are the one's who've "sacrificed" to balance her fricking budget. State Employees ...

University System official says out-of-state tuition covers costs
As leaders of the state's public Higher Education system mulled whether to bar Illegal Immigrants, money was on their minds. Is this financially troubled state paying for illegal immigrants to go to college? they asked. They're not, according to a State Board of Regents fact-finding committee. Illegal immigrants pay out-of-state Tuition, and "every Student paying out-of-state tuition actually covers more than the cost of instruction," Regent James Jolly said in a newsletter is...

America's biggest rip-off: college tuition bubble and student debt escalate
The financial magazine Forbes recently blew the whistle on how skyrocketing College Tuition is ripping off the public. Thanks to some colleges’ greed, and the federal and state Financial Aid subsidies that reward Tuition increases, “Higher Education’s price-earnings ratio looks like Nevada housing circa 2007″ at the height of the Real Estate bubble. “The financial data are making a College Education tougher and tougher to defend.” And ...

VDOT to regions: We're the deciders
Wehn state agencies get a scolding from legislative auditors, they usually respond with a polite note expressing appreciation for the suggestions and promising to do better. But last week the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission hit a nerve with its report on transportation planning. The Virginia Department of Transportation filed a 30-page response complete with charts, graphs and a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation. Here's what made VDOT go berserk: "Opportunities exist to more fu...

President Obamas Weekly Address
In his weekly address, President Obama praised the recently passed tax bill and encouraged Congress to ratify the New START Treaty. “Instead of a New Years Day tax hike on the vast majority of Americans, two million Americans who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own will now know with certainty that they won’t lose their emergency Unemployment Insurance at the end of the month. Eight million College Students who’d otherwise face a Tuition hike next semester wi...