23rd District House candidates debate voting records

Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg, and Republican Scott Garrett faced off in a debate Monday, trading jabs about each other’s voting records — Valentine’s in the House of Delegates, and Garrett’s on Lynchburg City Council.

Garrett said Valentine’s votes on bills in Richmond would have kept Virginia’s estate tax, which was repealed in 2006, and would have provided free tuition for illegal aliens in state colleges.

Not so, Valentine said. She explained that she voted multiple times on the bills, sometimes for amendments and other times against amendments. Ultimately, her final votes on the measures were misrepresented by Garrett, she said.

Valentine said she supports allowing the children of illegal aliens who have grown up in Virginia to pay out-of-state tuition rates to attend Virginia colleges. She doesn’t support free tuition for them, she said.

Valentine then invited Garrett to explain his vote on City Council against a budget measure that changed the way Lynchburg provided tax relief for elderly and disabled homeowners.

Garrett said he voted against the change because it might create an expectation among residents that they could expect large new tax breaks every year.

The debate was held at the Westminster Canterbury Retirement Community. Valentine and Garrett are competing to represent the city and Madison Heights in the House of Delegates’ 23rd District.

Transportation was a hot topic in the debate, focusing mostly on a Garrett news release Friday that said Valentine would support new taxes for roads, based on her answers to a questionnaire from Virginia FREE, a pro-business, pro-roads lobby group.

Valentine said she answered questions about possible sources of transportation revenue, rather than saying how she’d vote on legislation to improve road funding.

Garrett repeated his campaign theme that transportation is not Virginia’s greatest need. That need is jobs, Garrett said, adding that he supports tax cuts for small businesses that would increase their ability to hire workers. He didn’t specify what taxes he’d cut.

The next scheduled debate is at 7 p.m. Thursday, sponsored by the Windsor Hills Neighborhood Association, at 7808 Timberlake Road. It is open to the public.