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2007 General Assembly Election Interview Questionnaire
HearSay with Cathy Lewis ~ WHRV 89.5FM
 13th Senate District
Steve E. Heretick (D)
http://www.heretickforsenate.com
- Why do you want to be a member of the Virginia General Assembly?
Virginians deserve a General Assembly which takes their needs seriously. Repeatedly, the General Assembly has put our communities, our schools, and our health at risk by failing to enact meaningful protections for our children, our seniors, our jobs, and our medical care. We deserve leaders in the Virginia Senate who are genuinely connected to our communities, who are willing and able to do that hard work necessary to understand the complex policy issues necessary to raise our quality of life and, as importantly, who are able to work cooperatively to move Virginia forward. In delayed budget after delayed budget, we see that our current leaders are simply unwilling or unable to do this. I’m running for the Virginia Senate because I have an established track record of public service which combines common sense, hard work, teamwork, and a genuine dedication to better our communities--and I have the record to show what can truly be achieved by leaders who are more committed to results than titles.
- What is the most pressing issue facing Virginians today? Facing the region?
Transportation remains the most pressing issue in our region and throughout the Commonwealth. Without true leadership to make the hard decisions necessary to build and maintain new roads and alternative transportation sources, this region cannot hope to grow in anything but congestion, frustration, and missed economic opportunities. The tragedy is that transportation needs were identified long ago, and were left unaddressed in the tax-cut-gimmick campaigning of past years. Our ability to grow into our role as primary port in the Eastern United States, this region and areas to our west–most of which lie squarely in the 13th Senate District–will reap the benefit of this prosperity. Our property tax rates, our educational systems, our programs to support health care, all depend upon our ability to move commerce in and out of Hampton Roads.
Another pressing issue I’m talking about this year include expanded health care options, particularly for seniors. Virginia is one of only nine states in the country which has not adopted Medicaid home- and community-based waivers, which would allow seniors to receive supportive care in their homes for a fraction of the cost of nursing home care, and which would support their continued independence, dignity, and quality of life. I believe that managed health care organizations should be held accountable for the cost-cutting decisions they make which compromise our health care, and that we must renew our focus on mental health care as an integral aspect of overall health care policy.
- The recently enacted Abusive Driver Fees have generated intense criticism from citizens and lawmakers alike. Where do you stand on the laws and, if you oppose them, how would you replace the transportation funds they were designed to generate?
I will actively work to repeal “abuser fees.” These fees, taxes by another
name, unfairly place huge burdens of Virginia drivers for roads that require serious funding. My opponent was proud to put them in place, but now seeks to “fix” them. I would simply eliminate the fees altogether, recognizing that we cannot seriously hope to build highways, tunnels, and bridges on speeding fines--even if the courts ultimately deem these “fees” to be legal. We must have a dedicated, sustainable funding stream for transportation infrastructure, and we must raise the funds fairly. All of us who use our roadways must pay our fair share for transportation, and we must look to tourism and port revenues to pay their fair shares as well. I think we have to put all available funding mechanisms back on the table, and to evaluate meaningfully and once and for all which ones we can look to for a dedicated, sustainable revenue source. Additionally, we must insure that notwithstanding the unique burdens which will be placed upon our region by the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority, we must continue to receive our fair share of the Commonwealth’s transportation budget.
- What is your view on The Hampton Roads Transportation Authority formed earlier this year?
The Hampton Roads Transportation Authority is the sad product of a General Assembly unwilling or unable to exercise true leadership in a climate which truly requires it. The Richmond Times-Dispatch labeled the General Assembly’s creation of the HRTA “cowardice,” and I certainly agree with that characterization. While I voted to enact the HRTA when this take-it-or-leave-it issue came before my City Council, I would not have supported the creation of an entirely new level of government had I been in the General Assembly at the time this proposal was offered. If the General Assembly had done the hard work it was pledged to do to meet our transportation needs, we would not be faced with a patchwork quilt of tolls, fees, and other sources to actually address our needs. The addition of tolls on our tunnels, bridges, and roadways only serve to further divide our communities and create economic barriers between our cities for workers and students. We can take comfort that we have good leadership at the helm of the HRTA today, who have the courage and conviction that our colleagues in Richmond sorely lack. I remain concerned about the unequally-weighted voting our communities will have in decisions coming before the HRTA, and what these disparities may hold for true regionalism in years to come.
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