|
|
2007 General Assembly Election Interview Questionnaire
HearSay with Cathy Lewis ~ WHRV 89.5FM
96th District
Troy J. Farlow (D)
http://www.troyfarlow.com
- Why do you want to be a member of the Virginia General Assembly?
I have found that I am most fulfilled when I am doing for others in some way. I left a great job with Price Waterhouse Coopers and a Duke MBA program just after 9/11, following a strong sense I felt to go to New York City and do SOMETHING. I found a way to use my particular skill set in business to help a firm that had lost over half of its employees. Since that time, I have found myself seeking other ways to serve. I want to represent the people of the 96th District because I believe I have the right combination of skills to succeed, I believe we can do better than the same politics that have stood in the way of progress, and I believe that I have the skills needed to build consensus and seek common sense solutions to the problems in our district. I want to move our community forward by working across party lines, listening carefully to the people of the 96th District, and understanding the implications of each option. The solution is rarely found on one extreme or another, but somewhere in the middle.
- What is the most pressing issue facing Virginians today? Facing the region?
It’s difficult to declare one issue as the “most pressing” when we are faced my many important challenges. There have been abundant and productive discussions about transportation, education, growth, health care and other issues. I’d like to speak a bit about health care. It’s a topic close to me personally. My wife is an oncologist, and I hear about her frustrations with our systems every day.
Our health care crisis demands courageous solutions at the national and state level. In Virginia about 1 million individuals (or 13.3% of the population) are without healthcare coverage. The most impacted groups are the elderly, the working poor, children, small business employees, and the self-employed. State and local governments are also struggling to provide insurance for their employees. One problem is low reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid. Virginia ranks 48th in the nation in per capita Medicaid payments! There are steps we can take. Three initial steps we should consider are the establishment of insurance pools for the self-employed and small businesses, providing access for the uninsured to the healthcare plans available to public employees; and budget allocations to locally supported medical clinics such as Olde Town Medical Clinic in Williamsburg. We must move forward on this issue. The longer we avoid facing up to reality, the more expensive the solutions become. President Bush’s recent S-CHIP veto is a troubling example of
One of Virginia’s successes is the Virginia Health Care Foundation. It was established in 1992 by the General Assembly and the Joint Commission on Health Care to make primary health care more accessible to the uninsured and underinsured. VHCF has implemented many beneficial programs, all of which are built on partnerships with other organizations. They have been able to establish a program to help offset pharmaceutical costs, provide loans to medical professionals to pay for coverage, and assist with the enrollment of uninsured children in FAMIS. This program is proof that the government, private sector and non-profits CAN and MUST work together and continue to find solutions.
- 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?
The abuser fees should be repealed. As a matter of principle, I don’t believe we should pay for our roads through the judicial system. As a practical matter, the provision has precipitated a storm surge of legal wrangling and misgivings regarding equitability that could take years to resolve. In Michigan, for example, a similar law has led to such controversy that judges have resorted to reducing the charges in most cases to circumvent the fees.
In terms of replacing the funds, I believe that the entire transportation package needs to be revisited in the next General Assembly session. There are many other flaws in addition to the abuser fees, and there are critical projects that need to be considered that weren’t included. Given that, I don’t believe we need to focus on individual revenue or spending matters until we put everything on the table for review.
While my opponent has simply signed onto her party’s solution of ‘tweaking’ the abuser fees, I have shown my independence from partisan politics by respectfully disagreeing with the Governor on this issue. Locally, major changes are necessary for the regional Hampton Roads Transportation Authority. There should be no grantors tax on home sales because it has nothing to do with transportation. There are several other fees that don’t make sense, notably the 5% tax on auto repairs which will only send customers to neighboring localities and hurt local businesses. While I think our leaders need to be cognizant of the big picture, I am very troubled by the lack of local projects identified in the bill for the 96th district.)
- What is your view on The Hampton Roads Transportation Authority formed earlier this year?
Virginia is a large state, diverse in geography and density. I believe it is the responsibility of the General Assembly to provide revenue measures to pay for our roads. While we are a state of regions, we are also INTERDEPENDENT when it comes to our economy. I understand the frustration of citizens in rural areas over the perception that they are paying for “someone else’s” roads, but the economic growth in “someone else’s” region benefits them by bringing in business and revenue for the entire Commonwealth. That revenue has helped make Virginia a top ranked state in education and business, and goes to pay for many other programs that help ALL Virginians, such as public safety and health care. Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling from years of partisan gridlock that prevented lawmakers taking action. Investing “as you go” in infrastructure is far more cost effective than waiting for it to disintegrate and dealing with poor road conditions, insufficient capacity for residents AND businesses, and congestion. Rather than finally taking the necessary actions, the General Assembly shirked its duty by passing revenue raising decisions to local authorities so that they can keep their fingerprints off of anything unpleasant. That being said, I do think that Regional Authorities, once allocated appropriate funding, can play an important role in policy regarding project priorities by providing a mechanism for localities to share information, coordinate and cooperate in mutually beneficial decisions about areas we they have more expertise than the State would. We MUST invest in infrastructure – an investment with a high return, but the General Assembly needs to face up to the tough decisions and not play hide and seek with the voters.
Some statistics about transportation in Hampton Roads:
A 2005 national travel survey by the American Automobile Association rated Hampton Roads as the second worst tourist destination for summer traffic delays in the nation
The number of vehicles registered in Hampton will increase by 45% in the next 25 years, and the population will increase by 18% in the next 15 years
The average commuter in Hampton Roads loses about 28 hours each year to congestion
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel traffic could have delays of 15 minutes or more up to 21 times EACH DAY by 2015
|