Special election candidates for State Senate in the 39th District fielded questions about immigration, taxes, snow removal and more during a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Arlington and Alexandria City yesterday (Sunday).
Democrat Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5) and Republican Julie Robben Lineberry attended the virtual forum, which was moderated by LWV Vote 411 Director Anna Weber. Candidates were each given two minutes each to respond to questions.
Early voting began this past Saturday for the Feb. 10 special election and will last through Saturday, Feb. 7. The deadline to register to vote or update registration is tomorrow (Tuesday).
Tax proposals
After opening statements, candidates were asked how they would vote on several new taxes proposed in the General Assembly.
Lineberry said she would vote no on most of them, “because they’re all costing more money.” She voiced disapproval for retail delivery fee taxes.
“You can’t make things more affordable by always increasing taxes, especially on taxes that come that are laid directly on the local people,” Lineberry said.
Bennett-Parker said “currently, someone earning $17,001 a year pays the same tax rate as a billionaire, and that’s not fair.”
“I have supported and will continue to support a bill that fixes that, by adjusting the rate on those earning more than a million dollars a year,” Bennett-Parker said. “That bill, again, if it were to pass, would bring around $1.5 billion per year in revenue to the state to help us lower costs for everyday Virginians.”
She added that a number of taxes have been introduced for five years but have never passed out of a committee.
“Just because a bill has been introduced does not mean that it has support or that it will pass,” she said.
Immigrants’ safety
Candidates were asked, “If elected, what specific actions would you support to ensure the safety of immigrants in our communities?”
Bennett-Parker, who also spoke during an ICE protest last month, said Sunday she has been “heartbroken and livid” watching videos and images out of Minneapolis following the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good and the detainment of a 5-year-old child.
Bennett-Parker supports legislation to ban and terminate 287(g) agreements, restrict immigration enforcement in schools, hospitals and commonwealth’s attorneys’ offices, and restrict officers from “assisting or cooperating with ICE absent a judicial warrant,” among other proposals.
“I want to live in a Virginia where no child has to wonder whether a parent is going to come at home at night, or where no toddler or other child is detained by ICE themselves,” Bennett-Parker said. “A Virginia where families are not ripped apart because of immigration status, and where government does not use fear as a weapon.”
Lineberry said she “got the gist of the question,” but questioned, “What violence and what Minneapolis horrors have you seen happening in Virginia?”
“I substitute teach in the Alexandria school system,” Lineberry said. “Nobody is afraid. I mean, [students’] fear is by other adults that are telling them they should be afraid.”
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
Candidates were asked if they would support Virginia joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, as well as their thoughts on its pros and cons.
Lineberry does not support the compact. She said Virginia has a “very, very good voting system,” voicing approval for absentee ballots, early voting and Alexandria’s Electoral Board.
“I don’t think we need to be joining ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ by every new group that wants to organize,” Lineberry said. “We can do it without the help of that. We don’t need to do ranked voting.”
Bennett-Parker supports the compact. She said candidates “should have to campaign everywhere, and not just in swing states.”
“Every American’s vote should have the same weight when it comes to choosing who our president is, and our current system effectively ignores the voices of millions of voters across the country,” Bennett-Parker said.
Redistricting
Candidates were asked if they supported a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow for mid-decade redistricting in Virginia.
Bennett-Parker said she supports redistricting as a way to give voters “the power and the decision about leveling the playing field and protecting our democracy” in response to Republican gerrymandering.
“This amendment is a temporary, one-time exception that gives Virginians the option to respond to Republican gerrymandering and meet the needs of the current moment while ensuring that our bipartisan redistricting process will resume after the 2030 Census,” Bennett-Parker said.
Lineberry said she doesn’t support the amendment. She also criticized Democrats’ firehouse primary processes.
“At least for the people, the voters in the 39th District, they’ve had plenty of pop-up elections,” Linberry said. “Every time that the previous election doesn’t go the way they want, or they do have somebody they think they’ve got an advantage, that we now make the voters and the state spend money on new elections.”
Utility costs
Candidates were asked to share their thoughts on the “best path to keeping utilities down.”
Bennett-Parker cited a bill she proposed to promote energy-efficient buildings “that would result in approximately $11,500 in savings per home.”
She also supports legislation to expand energy efficiency programs to address high costs and improve access to energy-efficient housing weatherization and upgrades for low-income residents. She also supports expanding solar access and rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
“In its first two years, RGGI provided $250 million to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs in low-income housing,” Bennett-Parker said.
In reference to RGGI spending, Lineberry said “that’s not what I’ve heard.” She said “the upper-class people, like everybody, have seen increasing electric bills from our Dominion power.”
“[Could we have sent] just a $2,000 check to all of people who hit a certain income, who are below a certain income, and help them pay their electric bills?” Lineberry said, while lamenting that “very affordable apartments are becoming non-affordable” because of cost increases to rent, utilities and parking.
‘Right-to-work’
Candidates were asked if they support the state’s existing “right-to-work” laws.
Lineberry said “I do suggest that we just keep the right-to-work laws” and that Virginia’s “right-to-work” legislation has been “very productive.”
“We have new teachers’ unions, you know, and I’ve been following that quite closely, and I’m not seeing that that is encouraging, in terms of helping the incomes and the working conditions of the teachers,” Lineberry said.
Bennett-Parker said right-to-work laws “ultimately limit employees’ rights to negotiate for fair wages, benefits and workplace safety.”
“We can thank unions for things like eight-hour days, holidays, 40-hour work weeks and things like that,” Bennett-Parker said. “So, I strongly support repealing the right-to-work law. I’m a former union member, and I’ve been a long, lifelong labor supporter.”
Students’ mental health
Candidates were asked if they would support a bill guaranteeing the right for students to access a school-based licensed mental health professional. The question cited H.J. 509, a bill first introduced in 2023 by Bennett-Parker.
Bennett-Parker said she supports “making sure that all of our students have access to mental health supports that are appropriate to what they need.”
“Especially after Covid and with everything going on in the world, a lot of students are struggling, and we need to do everything to support the mental health of students as well as our broader community,” Bennett-Parker said.
Lineberry said she was not familiar with the bill but knew of counselors at some Alexandria elementary schools.
“If they can get help from a licensed mental health person, and that’s the last stage that they can’t get any help any other way, yes, then I would support that — depending on what it was caused, and how much red tape and how many more agencies you’d have to create and administrators to pay for it,” Lineberry said.
Vehicle tax
Candidates were asked their opinion on Virginia’s vehicle personal property tax.
Lineberry said the tax “should be gotten rid of.”
“There are people who do work that they require a vehicle to go around. We are taxing them to death,” Lineberry said.
Bennett-Parker said she recently voted for a bill that would begin the process to repeal the car tax. She added that “even though everyone hates this tax,” it provides Virginia with an estimated $4 billion per year.
“We do need to figure out how we are adjusting for that, because otherwise, localities will be not able to pay teachers and police officers and have to raise, you know, real estate taxes, essentially, to make up for that revenue,” Bennett-Parker said.
Snow removal
Candidates were asked, “Given the ongoing issues with snow and ice removal after the recent storm, should snow removal be privatized?”, and if they had any other proposals to respond to ice storms.
Bennett-Parker said it’s been a challenging week with schools closed and many residents staying inside. She thanked snow removal crews.
“I certainly think there are probably some lessons that can be learned,” Bennett-Parker said. “But again, I think we were at the hands of some extreme weather, and so anything we can do to put more resources into getting more folks out to help break up that ice, obviously would be beneficial to everyone.”
Lineberry commented on dangerous conditions outdoors and said crews have done “a commendable job.”
“You cannot make things affordable and you cannot improve even picking up snow in the worst ice storm and snowstorm in 30 years by privatizing it and then having the city charge funds,” she said.
Affordable housing for seniors
Candidates were asked, “What are your positions on expanding affordable housing options for older residents in Alexandria and Arlington?”
“We have a phenomenal number of residential developers building housing for seniors,” said Lineberry, who mentioned she lives in Goodwin House Alexandria. “None of it is affordable, none of it is inexpensive, and that is a very big problem.” She voiced disapproval for a bill she said would increase taxes on investment incomes, savings and bonds.
Bennett-Parker said she has “long been a champion for making housing more affordable,” with involvement in “a number of bills to address housing affordability this session, one of which was included in Gov. Spanberger’s affordability agenda.”
“I also have another bill to help folks remain housed, which is to help prevent evictions,” she said.
One photo via Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker/Facebook.
