Our episode about everything passenger rail in Virginia. From the history of rail in the state, to why our trains aren't as fast as Europe's, to some of the improvements to the rail system on the horizon, we discuss the ins and outs of rail travel in the Commonwealth.

Special thanks to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and the C & O Historical Society!

Sources https://www.amtrak.com/amtrak-history-1970s https://www.aar.org/chronology-of-americas-freight-railroads/ https://enotrans.org/article/amtrak-at-50-the-rail-passenger-service-act-of-1970/ https://vapassengerrailauthority.org/amtrak-virginia-sets-all-time-record-with-2024-ridership/ https://www.vre.org/assets/1/6/2024_CEO_Report_May.pdf https://www.vre.org/about/ https://www.vre.org/assets/1/6/VRE_FY_2025_Budget.pdf https://www.wmata.com/about/history/ https://wmata.com/initiatives/budget/upload/Remediated-FY2025-Approved-Budget-FINAL.pdf https://virginiamercury.com/briefs/va-transportation-board-approves-railway-sale-to-support-southwest-va-passenger-rail-expansion/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_Forge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleghany_County,_Virginia

The General Assembly session is just about wrapped up for the year. The Democrat- controlled house sent Republican Governor Youngkin 916 bills to consider. On Sunday, Youngkin signed 599 bills into law, vetoed 157 bills, and sent 159 bills back to the General Assembly with amendments. On this episode, we talk about a few of these new laws taking effect soon in Virginia. https://virginiamercury.com/2025/03/25/youngkin-unleashes-veto-storm-to-drown-progressive-legislation/ https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-search

We just couldn’t get enough of tax season so we’re back again this week to talk in more detail about our Virginia state income tax returns. What do all those questions on the forms actually mean and why do we have them? https://www.tax.virginia.gov/news/whats-new-filing-season https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/vatax-pdf/2024-760-instructions.pdf#page=28 https://www.tax.virginia.gov/who-must-file https://www.irs.gov/credits-and-deductions https://www.tax.virginia.gov/deductions https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodeupdates/title58.1/section58.1-322.02/ https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+oth+HB2373F161+PDF https://thecommonwealthinstitute.org/tci_blog/proven-and-effective-tax-credits-to-lift-up-virginia-families/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20lawmakers%20improved%20the,exceed%20their%20income%20tax%20liability https://trackbill.com/bill/virginia-house-bill-2859-income-tax-deduction-for-bone-marrow-donor-screening-fee/507213/ https://www.tax.virginia.gov/reciprocity https://www.tax.virginia.gov/penalties-and-interest