The Virginia General Assembly, the oldest lawmaking body in the New World, has reached a halfway point in its 2024 session.
With the legislature tilting slightly Democrat in both the House of Delegates and State Senate, Governor Youngkin, sadly, can’t enact most of his agenda during his remaining years in office. But there’s a silver lining: he has veto power and is expected to block bad Democrat legislation that comes his way.
Of the bills that survived or died in session thus far, three items are worth discussing.
More Virginians Will Salvage Wildlife Roadkill
A bill that has garnered surprisingly bipartisan (and near-unanimous) support is Delegate Tony Wilt’s House Bill 1025 to reform roadkill claim laws.
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It’s garnering a lot of attention, and for a good reason: meat is expensive these days, and roadkill if kept intact, is quite delicious. Yet, salvaging roadkill isn’t unusual. Most states- except Texas, of all places - allow their residents to claim roadkill but with certain caveats.
Current Virginia law says only drivers who hit whitetail deer and black bears can claim roadkill after reporting the incident to the appropriate officials and only during hunting seasons. If unclaimed, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) simply tosses the meat in landfills. Now that HB 1025 is crossing over to the State Senate after passing with a 98-0 vote, it likely awaits a good fate here. As of this writing, it cleared a Senate committee by a 14-0 vote.
Should HB 1025 reach Governor Youngkin’s desk, it would allow non-drivers to also claim roadkill beyond the permitted species (deer and bear) to include turkey and elk, and by permitting claims during non-hunting seasons too.
Roadkill, it’s what’s for lunch and dinner! Count me in as a supporter of this reform.
Supercharging Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
In addition to maintaining our reliance on fossil fuels, nuclear is the only serious (and scalable) clean energy source out there. It’s already an integral part of Virginia’s electric grid, responsible for 30% of Virginia’s utility scale electricity generation— second after natural gas (54%). Per the Virginia Department of Energy, two power plants - Surry and North Anna power stations —supply this abundant source of energy.
Developing small modular reactors is a smart policy. And it’s a major priority of Governor Youngkin’s 2022 Virginia Energy Plan—a preferable plan to Ralph Northam’s atrocious Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), more affectionately known as Virginia’s Green New Deal.
According to the IAEA, small modular reactors are nuclear reactors that can power upwards of “300 MW(e) per unit” or “one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors.” SMRs have multiple industrial applications, including power generation, heat processing, and desalination.
The bill’s language states our two major utility companies, Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy, could “State Corporation Commission at any time for the approval of a rate adjustment clause for the recovery of small modular reactor project development costs for up to one small modular reactor facility.” Slightly different versions of the bill passed, with an amended one potentially ending up on Governor Youngkin’s desk before the end of the session.
Radical environmentalists are, ironically, up in arms about this bill potentially passing costs to consumers but not when costs are shouldered to ratepayers to develop unreliable, intermittent utility-scale solar and wind. They argue nuclear power isn't renewable (a preposterous claim).
I'm all for if SMRs can be developed here without burdening ratepayers. But opposition is not simply about costs; hypocritical environmentalists would rather see nuclear killed to perpetuate the solar and wind grift over an actually environmentally-friendly, reliable power source.
Unpopular EV Mandate Tying VA to CA Vehicle Standards Left in Place
With the American public souring on electric vehicle (EV) mandates, one would think the General Assembly would nix this holdover Northam-era law. But alas, they didn’t. Instead, as expected, Virginia Democrats killed three bills that would have untethered us from California vehicular emissions standards earlier in session.
I submitted a statement on behalf of Independent Women’s Voice praising efforts to unyoke Virginia from California EV mandates, stating, “Untethering Virginia from California’s emissions regulations and electric vehicle mandates is good policy. Virginians, like their fellow Americans, aren’t warming up to forced EV adoption. Phasing out sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035 is an unworkable goal that presents risks to energy safety. Drivers are skeptical of purchasing EVs – citing range issues, high costs, and long charging times. That’s why Virginians should choose the best car for them and their families.”
A recent poll found that 57% of Virginians want the EV mandate repealed, with 30% supporting it and 13% conveying indifference.
Even the Richard Times-Dispatch conceded the mandate to make Virginia’s vehicle fleet 100% EV by 2035 is unworkable. Is there any actual market demand for EVs in America, much less in Virginia? Hardly. The Department of Energy reports only 56,000 EVs have been sold here.
A 100% EV fleet is a pipe dream here in Virginia and elsewhere across the U.S. But Democrats, like car manufacturers, will soon learn forcing behaviors results in the opposite intended effect.
