House Race Not FREE of Controversy

The race for the 23rd District seat in the House of Delegates definitely has been a spirited one, pitting incumbent Del. Shannon Valentine, a Democrat, against Republican challenger Scott Garrett.

Voters in the district, which includes the city of Lynchburg and the Madison Heights area of Amherst County, have received at least two misleading mailers from Garrett, pounding Valentine for her supposed tax-hike agenda.

Cited as evidence and the basis for labeling Valentine a tax-hiking legislator is her response to a candidate questionnaire from Virginia FREE.

Founded in 1988, Virginia FREE is a self-described pro-business, pro-free enterprise organization. Its membership roster is a veritable who’s who of the commonwealth’s business community. Corporations such as Appalachian Power Co., Babcock & Wilcox, Bank of America, Dominion Power, Centra Health, Norfolk Southern, Schewel Furniture, Verizon and Media General (the parent company of The News & Advance).

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Among the state’s political and civic leaders, Virginia FREE is known for its advocacy of Main Street, commonsense business approaches, presented in a non-partisan manner, to the issues state government faces.

Part of its mission is to provide the commonwealth’s citizens and its own members information about the candidates for state office, their stances on the issues facing Virginia and analysis of their public service records.

Questions No. 6 and No. 7 in this year’s survey have ignited the controversy in Valentine/Garrett contest.

Here’s No. 6, verbatim: “Given the magnitude and regional diversity of the Commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure requirements, do you agree that Virginia needs additional long term sustainable transportation financing of at least $1 billion per year over the next two decades.” Valentine’s response: “Strongly Agree.”

Question No. 7 reads “What revenue sources do you think are most appropriate to dedicate to transportation funding and to service transportation bonds?” She stated her support for the following as appropriate funding sources: per-gallon fuel taxes, a sales tax on auto repair services, a sales tax on gasoline, local tolls, drivers license and vehicle registration fees and a portion of the general sales tax, if it’s less than 1 percent and the sales tax on food is eliminated. She indicates opposition to such funding sources as a sales tax on vehicles, insurance premium taxes, a grantor’s tax, a recordation tax or a lodging tax.

Nowhere in her entire completed questionnaire, which runs for 14 pages, does she call for or advocate hiking these or any other taxes.

Virginia Free Executive Director Clayton Roberts had this to say about Garrett’s attempts to paint Valentine as a tax-hiker, using this questionnaire: “The Virginia FREE candidate questionnaire, and Delegate Valentine’s positions on that questionnaire, apparently are being misrepresented by her opponent. The questionnaire DOES NOT ASK candidates whether they would support tax increases for transportation. To assert otherwise is deliberately misleading. The questionnaire seeks to establish a starting point for continuing the dialogue with state leaders on issues that are important to business and job creation in Virginia. It is unfortunate that Delegate Valentine’s opponent did not even bother to answer the questionnaire.”

We agree wholeheartedly.

In retrospect, perhaps Del. Valentine also should have chosen to dodge Virginia FREE’s questionnaire, thus denying her opponent a weapon with which to attack her. But then, that would not have served the greater goal of educating and informing the state’s voters.

Scott Garrett ought to drop this line of attack. Saying Valentine has a “plan” to raise taxes is just not true.