Ranking 28th out of 50 on any list may not be something to brag about, but for Virginia, it represents a degree of improvement.

Virginia Republican lawmakers are crying foul over a deal reached this week on the state’s two-year budget. 

Virginia prides itself on being a state that has a balanced budget. But, that doesn’t mean the Commonwealth is without debt. Michael Pope reports.

The 2020 Financial State of the States report surveys the fiscal health of the 50 states prior to the coronavirus pandemic. This data is released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting.

Representative Abigail Spanberger is calling on Congress to include new measures that will protect taxpayer dollars in funding packages for the future, according to a news release. 

How large could the shortfall in state government general revenues be, amidst the coronavirus and related crises? 

You’ve got Oregonians seeking to cascade into Idaho, Virginians who identify as West Virginians, Illinoians fighting to escape Chicago, Californians dreaming of starting a 51st state, and New Yorkers who think three states are better than one.

Virginia Democrats are poised to legalize collective bargaining for government employees. In November Democrats brought Richmond under their total control for the first time in more than a quarter-century. 

In 378 U.S. counties, voter registration rates exceed 100% of the adult population, meaning there are more voter registrations on file than the total voting-age population

Before the $21 million allegedly went missing, before the sheriff put his gun in his mouth and fired, before Tuesday’s announcement that the entire top tier of the Warren County government had been indicted, there was the dream.

Budget officials in Washington are considering an accounting tweak that could harm people who live in poverty.

“… Bill Bergman at the non-profit group Truth in Accounting says Virginia is actually in pretty good shape compared to other states. ‘When you look across the 50 states, older states tend to be in worse shape, and Virginia is one of those states that is actually an old state but is also in relatively good shape,’ says Bergman.”

“…Not having much wiggle room, the Virginia Retirement System, or VRA, can find itself in a heap of trouble if faced with only 5% annual returns for the next five years. … Compared to other states, Virginia is not as vulnerable as states like Illinois, New Jersey, and Kentucky.”

Over the past year or so, Virginians have learned remarkable things about the debt and liabilities lurking in the balance sheets of local governments and quasi-state authorities. Distracted by the Washington Metro’s massive capital spending shortfall, Northern Virginians found out recently that the mass transit system had piled up $3.5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities while nobody noticed. 

Virginia ranks third in the country for fiscal transparency, according to a comprehensive annual financial report released by Truth in Accounting, a non-profit focused on fiscal transparency and accountability.

I’m not sure how Virginia’s Secretary of Finance, Aubrey Layne, sleeps at night. He is by nature a fiscal conservative, and he was in frequent touch with the rating agencies that threatened earlier this year to downgrade Virginia’s prized AAA bond rating. 

Here is more confirmation, as if any were needed, that the Commonwealth of Virginia is running hidden deficits in the form of unfunded pension and retiree healthcare liabilities… Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit devoted to transparency of government finances, gives Virginia a grade of “C” for its financial practices.

A recurring theme of Bacon’s Rebellion is that billions of dollars of liabilities lurk in the balance sheets of Virginia’s state/local government and quasi-governmental organizations — from the $20 billion unfunded pension liability of the Virginia Retirement System to the $3.5 billion unfunded pension liability of the Washington Metro system.

Called stress test reporting, this new practice can show policymakers how adverse economic scenarios could affect retirement system investments and state budgets.

Stress tests help policymakers plan for the next recession