News

In the last 20 years, Virginia’s manufacturing sector has declined by 46%. 

Given the fierce competition worldwide to attract businesses, state lawmakers are examining whether it makes sense to restructure the Commonwealth’s state and local tax system to remove financial hurdles to doing business here.  

The Virginia General Assembly is losing another of its longest serving members and a single word added to a piece of legislation has made a complicated new law even more complicated.

Those stories were among the most clicked during the last week on Virginia Public Access Project’s VaNews link. Fred Echols reports.

VaNews is a free public service of the Virginia Public Access Project and can be found at vpap.org.
 

Opposition has continued to legislation that requires a new statewide school division to take over underperforming schools until they turnaround—even after Governor McDonnell proposed amendments last week. 

State lawmakers are again taking sides in the battle over abortion. 

Governor McDonnell is now asking legislators to impose a limit on insurance policies to be sold here through a federal exchange – a place where Virginians who don’t have coverage through work or school can buy it.

In 2014, Virginians will be able to buy health insurance through a federally run exchange.  Some consumers will be eligible for tax breaks to help cover the cost of a policy, and for that reason organizations like the Family Foundation want to exclude abortion from coverage.  

The U.S. attorney’s office is investigating a Richmond area company that makes face cream and nutritional supplements. 

It’s called Star Scientific, and a complaint was filed in federal district court alleging the firm made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose potentially illegal transactions. 

The company says it has done nothing wrong. 

Meanwhile, reporters are finding links between Star Scientific and two of Virginia’s top political leaders – Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.