Episode Notes During the 2020 elections, Virginia voters passed a Redistricting Commission Amendment. The short version: it changes how Virginia draws its political district lines. In the past, whatever party held majorities in the Virginia General Assembly approved pretty much whatever district maps it wanted to. Parties have used district maps as a political weapon to maintain their power. It’s a tool called gerrymandering. But now the map-drawing process is changing. Will Virginia's new redistricting commission help our flawed democracy? Does it go far enough? This week, we talk with Brian Cannon, former Exective Director of One Virginia 2021, the nonprofit that spear-headed the amendment. We also talk with Virginia Delegate Mark Levine, who has concerns about how this is unfolding and whether the amendment goes far enough.

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Episode 40: Redistricting reform... Will it work?

Episode Notes Virginia is a bona fide trash capital. For decades, Virginia has been the second biggest importer of trash from other states. We even accept trash from other countries. About a quarter of all the trash dumped in Virginia originates from outside the state -- nearly 6 million tons of trash per year. One state’s trash must be our state’s treasure... at least for the owners. Waste management is a surprisingly profitable enterprise, and Virginia charges no fees for out-of-state trash imports. You can thank the state’s pro-business ideology and some well-placed corporate campaign donations. So where does that trash land in Virginia? And who does it get dumped on?

39 - Where does Virginia's trash come from and who does it get dumped on?

Episode Notes Teachers across America are brainwashing our youth with “critical race theory” so that they all become woke gay communists! Or so it would seem if you consume right-wing media lately. “Critical Race Theory” has become a pejorative in today’s American conservative movement -- including here in Virginia. In several Virginia counties, school systems have been trying to educate children about the history of systemic racism in the United States, and “Critical Race Theory” has been leveled as an accusation against these efforts. So what is “critical race theory”? And how has it come to be the newest right-wing bogeyman? In this episode, we talk with Ian Mullins, professor of sociology at UVA, Peter Galuszka, Richmond-based journalist, and Amanda Moxham, member of the Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County.

38 - Why is Critical Race Theory the new right-wing bogeyman?

Tuesday, June 8, was the Democratic primary for statewide offices, and the results were fairly unexceptional. Former Governor Terry McAuliffe handily won the nomination for governor, State Delegate Hala Ayala won the nomination for Lieutenant Governor, and incumbent Attorney General Mark Herring beat out a primary challenger; meanwhile, outspoken delegates Lee Carter, Mark Levine, and Ibrahim Samirah failed to win their bids for re-nomination. All in all, a fairly clean sweep for the Democratic establishment as many progressive candidates lost out to their more moderate, corporate-friendly challengers. So what happened to Virginia’s progressive moment? Has the state already reached a new equilibrium in the post-Trump era? To answer that question, we spoke with Richmond-based journalist Peter Galuszka, as well as Brennan Gilmore, Executive Director of Clean Virginia, an organization dedicated to fighting corruption in Virginia's government.

37 - What happened to Virginia's progressive moment?

 Content Warning: in this episode, we discuss eugenics and forced sterilization, and a brief mention of rape in the back half. Eugenics is a term we associate with fascist regimes--a pseudo-scientific approach to control the qualities of humanity by choosing who gets to reproduce and who does not. And Virginia was one of its earliest adopters--the Virginia Eugenics Sterilization Act passed in 1924, and the nation's first state-sanctioned compulsory sterilization was performed on Virginia citizen Carrie Buck in 1927. In this episode, we talk with author and historian Elizabeth Catte, author of Pure America: Eugenics and the Making of Modern Virginia. In this book, she examines Virginia's history of eugenics through the land we use today: considering the experiences of Virginia's disabled, Black, Native, and other marginalized communities in the 20th century--and the reasons why this period of our history has largely gone unspoken.

36 - What's the real history of eugenics in Virginia?

 In a year of pandemic-induced upheaval, much of daily life has shifted to a series of online interactions. From public school to telehealth and even many white-collar professions--broadband internet access has gone from “important” to “mission-critical infrastructure” in the blink of an eye. But nearly a quarter-million homes and businesses in Virginia are unserved by broadband internet access, either because the infrastructure doesn't exist or it's too expensive. The repercussions in an increasingly online world are dangerous. So what can Virginia do about it? To answer that question, we turn to the experts: Dr. Christopher Ali, an Associate Professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. He specializes in Broadband Policy, Planning, and Deployment, and is the author of Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity. We also talk with Evan Feinman, the Chief Broadband Advisor for Governor Ralph Northam, to discuss Virginia's progress and its path to greater broadband access going forward.

35 - What does poor broadband access mean for Virginia?

There are many ways to influence legislators and policymakers: some write letters and call their lawmakers; others organize campaigns to march or campaign. Organized capital -- in the form of businesses and industry -- has the most influence of all. That’s where lobbying comes in. Lobbyists hold so much influence in Virginia that there's even a term for it in Richmond: a “shadow government” that dominates Virginia policy-making without a single elected official. How does this shadow government work--and why is Virginia so uniquely susceptible to their influence? How important is that influence overall? This week, we talk to Jeff Schapiro, a political columnist for the Richmond Times-DIspatch, who has covered Virginia's politics and government for over forty years. We also talk with Robert Zullo, founder and editor of the Virginia Mercury, an independent news organization based in Richmond, to learn exactly how lobbyists operate in Virginia--and what their influence means for our state laws.

34 - Does Virginia really have a "shadow government" of lobbyists?

 Virginia's gubernatorial race is just around the corner, taking place in November 2021. And with 13 candidates in the running--7 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and an independent--it's a crowded field. This week, we finish our two-part series diving into the five Democratic candidates for governor: who are they, and what do they stand for? Jennifer McClellan is a State Senator who represents Virginia's 9th District; Justin Fairfax is the current Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; Terry McAuliffe is the former governor of Virginia. We asked all three candidates plainly about their campaign strategies and their policies to help working Virginians, including: What makes you the right person for the job? What are your top priorities to help working-class Virginians -- to get them a living wage and affordable healthcare? How do you plan to win the election and then get things done once in office? The Virginia Democratic primary takes place on Tuesday, June 8th, and early in-person and absentee voting start on April 24th.

33 - Who’s running for Governor and what do they stand for? (Part 2)

Virginia's gubernatorial race is just around the corner, taking place in November 2021. And with 13 candidates in the running--7 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and an independent--it's a crowded field. This week, we begin a two-part series diving into the five Democratic candidates for governor: who are they, and what do they stand for? Jennifer Carroll Foy is a former state delegate who represented Virginia's 2nd District; Lee Carter is a delegate representing Virginia's 50th District. We asked both candidates plainly about their campaign strategies and their policies to help working Virginians, including: What makes you the right person for the job? What are your top priorities to help working-class Virginians -- to get them a living wage and affordable healthcare? How do you plan to win the election and then get things done once in office? The Virginia Democratic primary takes place on Tuesday, June 8th, and early in-person and absentee voting start on April 24th.

32 - Who’s running for Governor and what do they stand for?

 Another session of the Virginia General Assembly has come to a close. This marks the second year that the House of Delegates, the State Senate, and the Governorship were all in Democratic control. That’s the first time in decades--a change so remarkable that it inspired us to start this very podcast in 2020. So what did the General Assembly manage to pass this year? And what has the blue legislature managed to achieve more broadly with two sessions in power? To answer those questions, we talk with state Delegate Sally Hudson, as well as journalist Peter Galuszka.

31 - What did the General Assembly get done in its 2021 session?

 There's an underlying principle to Virginia politics that often goes unmentioned--it's called the Dillon Rule, and it effectively says that local governments only have powers that are explicitly granted by the state. How does this affect our local legislators and our state as a whole? To answer that question, we talk to Richard Schragger, the Parre Bowen Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and the author of City Power: Urban Governance in a Global Age. We also talk to Andreas Addison, a member of the Richmond City Council and a lecturer at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, who has dealt with the Dillon Rule as part of his legislative experience.

30 - How does the Dillon Rule limit local Virginia lawmakers?

Episode Note With the 2021 legislative session in full swing, hundreds of bills have been introduced into the General Assembly. Some have passed and some haven't -- and some are yet to be debated. A lot of these bills are written and promoted by big-money industries and lobbying groups who have the time and money to spare. But this week on Bold Dominion, we dig into two examples of citizen activists who are making a difference in the legislature. In the first half of the episode, Brennan Gilmore of Clean Virginia explains how his organization fights corruption in Virginia's government, especially as it deals with energy policy and Dominion. In the second half, we chat with Ashton Willcox, Matthew Savage, and Adrian Klaits, a group of bipartisan teenage political leaders who successfully introduced a bill that would Virginia students one excused absence every year to participate in civic engagement.

29 - How are Virginia citizens and activist groups impacting bills this year?

Episode Notes More and more, it seems like all political conversation is happening at the national level--Presidential elections, Congressional ratios, party divides and infighting. So much so that we forget just how much of our lives can be affected by our local politics right at home. Your mayor, your sheriff, your county Board of Supervisors--these are the people who decide where to build your neighborhoods and roads, how to fund public education, and what police officers focus on. That's a lot of important stuff. In this episode, we sit down with Rich Meagher, Associate Professor of Political Science at Randolph-Macon College and author of Local Politics Matters: A Citizen's Guide to Making a Difference, to discuss how local government works and the ways that we citizens can have a hand in shaping our communities for the better.

28 - Why does local politics matter so much?

Episode Notes With absurd and dangerous events going on in D.C. and the Capitol this week, it's easy to forget about the state and local legislators are soon to be meeting in Richmond, our own state capital here in Virginia. With the General Assembly meeting for its regular session in 2021, a host of important economic issues are slated for discussion as Virginia struggles to survive the pandemic and beyond. This week, we bring an interview with Delegate Sally Hudson, who represents Virginia's 57th district in the Virginia House of Delegates, discussing the legislative process this year and the way lawmakers plan to deal with unemployment across the state, among other key issues.

27 - How can the General Assembly fix unemployment (and other economic issues)?

Episode Notes 2020 has been one of the longest, most painful years in most of our lifetimes. While it's impossible to do justice to every story that struck Virginia this year, we're covering a few of the biggest changes across the state over the last twelve months. To help, we're joined by Michael Pope and Thomas Bowman of Transition Virginia, a state politics podcast covering many of the same topics. In this roundtable retrospective, we discuss the coronavirus pandemic, the state legislature's response to calls for racial justice, and the economic fallout yet to come. Happy holidays, folks. We'll see you in the new year!

26 - What happened in Virginia this year?

A state politics explainer for a changing Virginia

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