A debate between Delegate Rodney Willett and challenger Riley Shaia for the Virginia House of Delegates District 58 seat in the 2023 election. Moderated by Whittney Evans and Billy Shields, journalists from VPM News.
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ANNOUNCER:
This is the Virginia Decides House of Delegates District 58 Forum, brought to you in partnership with Chamber RVA and VPM News. The forum's moderators are Billy Shields and Whittney Evans from VPM News. The candidates for House District 58 are Rodney Willett and Riley Shaia.
Whittney Evans:
Welcome to the studios of VPM for this forum between candidates for Virginia House of Delegates, District 58. Thank you for joining us. I'm Whittney Evans for VPM News.
Billy Shields:
And I'm Billy Shields, multimedia reporter for VPM News Focal Point. The live stream and broadcast of this forum are produced by VPM, and the in-person event is made possible in part by Dominion Energy, which contributed funding to Chamber RVA for candidate events prior to its partnership with VPM News.
Whittney Evans:
Before we begin, a brief word about the format and rules of this forum. Both campaigns participated in a coin toss prior to the debate to determine the order of questioning. Candidate Rodney Willett won the toss and will start with opening statements. Then candidate Riley Shaia will share her introductory remarks. Each candidate is allowed two minutes.
Billy Shields:
After opening statements, we'll have a round of Q&A in which the candidates will each have an opportunity to answer the same questions, with 90 seconds to respond any redirects or rebuttals will be given at the sole discretion of the moderator asking the question. The debate will include a sort of lightning round of questions. It involves very brief or yes/no answers. We'll then go back to another round of Q&A, with 90-second answers and then finish up with one-minute closing statements, again starting with candidate Willett who won the coin toss.
Whittney Evans:
Most of the questions we prepared for this forum were written by journalists with VPM News and a few additional questions came from members of the live audience here. No questions were shared with the campaigns ahead of this forum. Candidate Willett will lead now with the first opening statement. You have two minutes. Please begin.
Rodney Willett:
Thank you, Chamber RVA and VPM for continuing to provide this forum for local candidates. I'm also very thankful to be representing the 73rd district in Western Henrico since 2020. When I was sworn in the office with a Democratic majority, we proceeded over the next several years to pass an unprecedented number of laws. We increased teacher salaries that were lagging behind national averages and causing teachers to leave the state. I championed expanding mental health support for individuals, including those suffering from drug addiction.
We made it more convenient to vote with early voting as well as no-excuse absentee. We protected LGBTQ rights. We removed abortion restrictions that were endangering women's health, making it difficult for them to get reproductive healthcare. We passed eight gun safety measures, all aimed at making Virginia a safer place for our families. I helped to carry an unprecedented number of environmental protections for the state, and we did that to combat climate change while also creating a clean economy, green jobs.
We increased the minimum wage, which helped workers, but we also did that while supporting businesses with a better workforce. Finally, we help families trying to make ends meet. We increased the standard deduction actually twice, provided tax rebates, and I was also pleased to help in repealing the grocery tax. I'm proud to be known by Democrats and Republicans for being willing to reach across the aisle to work to pass common sense legislation. I've carried dozens of bipartisan bills.
I will continue to work to find consensus, but there are certain issues that I will not back down on. That includes protecting Virginia from laws that Republicans have passed in other states, laws that would completely ban abortion, laws that restrict voting access, defund schools, repeal gun safety laws, and have gutted environmental protections. I'm interested in passing laws that'll help all Virginians and I really look forward to the discussion today. Thank you.
Whittney Evans:
Thank you for those remarks. Candidate Shaia, you have two minutes.
Riley Shaia:
Thank you, as well, to VPM, to the Chamber, to the moderators, and to all of you. This is a really important discussion that we're having today. I'm Riley Shaia. I am a former physical therapist. I'm a small business owner. I'm a wife and I'm a mom to three great kids. When I look around me, I see things that I don't like and I see politicians that aren't doing the right things for their constituents. Like many busy parents, COVID lockdown measures forced me to slow down and when I took a look around at the community around me, I saw the health and wellness of a community that was in decline. I see an economy that is failing Virginians. I see an education system that is reeling from COVID learning loss and a lowering of standards over the past few years.
And I see a mental health and substance abuse crisis that is simply heartbreaking, and so I am here and I'm getting off the sidelines, to try to fix some of these problems. I do not feel that we have adequate representation currently, and so I am putting myself forward and hoping to become your delegate so that I can bring common sense back to politics in this district.
Whittney Evans:
Thank you both for those opening remarks. Now we'll begin with our first question, which, according to the rules, goes to candidate Willett. You'll have 90 seconds to respond. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, Virginia has just 47 available workers for every 100 open jobs. Labor shortages are affecting many sectors including law enforcement, healthcare, education, and childcare. What can the state do to get more people in those positions?
Rodney Willett:
I appreciate that question and there have definitely been major workforce challenges that have come about even before COVID, but certainly during COVID. We need to match worker skills to the jobs that are out there. That's really where we are with the economy right now. I strongly supported the administration's efforts to consolidate our workforce efforts. A lot of folks don't know, but there were literally several dozen agencies that were responsible for workforce efforts, hundreds of programs, uncoordinated.
We now have centralized that. I was one of the champions for that bill in the House and we got it to closure and we're going to do better. There's a new office that's over overseeing that. We're making these changes to be more efficient and effective in how we do workforce in Virginia. This change is even more critical now because Virginia just doesn't compete with neighboring states. We compete with the whole country. We compete internationally, and so it's even more important to align those jobs.
Another critical part to this is fully funding our education system. That involves kids who are on a traditional track, maybe going to college or community college, but also our career in technical education programs. Henrico has a great example of that, actually a model of that here in the county, but we've got to do more, get these students on those tracks. There are jobs out there for them. A couple of final thoughts. One is clean economy. We've got thousands of jobs now that need to be filled in the clean economy space and then finally a health workforce, really needed to make progress there, so much more to do.
Whittney Evans:
Candidate Shaia, the same question to you and I'll pose that once again. What can the state do to get more people into jobs with employers that are desperate for workers?
Riley Shaia:
Yes, that's a great question and I think this is something that Mr. Willett and I agree on. The biggest need that we have is we need to match up the jobs that we do have with the workforce and we have made great strides on a workforce pipeline that will fulfill some of the jobs that we have that are open. But I think the place that we need to focus on as well is making sure that the students and our education system are making it affordable for students to go to school. So, we can do things like create passport credits where they can use credits at a junior college and apply them to a four-year institution.
They can take those credits maybe from high school and they can apply those to a four-year institution, but we really need to also be focusing on the fact that we need to realize that not everybody needs to go to a four-year institution. We need to make sure that students know all of the options available for them and really focus on matching up the jobs with workforce development.
Billy Shields:
How would you tackle the issue of learning loss? For example, test scores paint a dour picture of post-pandemic academic achievement in Virginia schools. The Department of Education calls the declines in reading and math scores for elementary and middle schoolers alarming. Is the state doing enough to address the learning losses and how would you work to address this problem?
Riley Shaia:
Sure. I am very excited that Governor Youngkin has put forth the ALL IN plan. I feel as if it gives us a much more comprehensive pathway to getting these students back to where they need to be. There are great strides that have been made. There is so much more that we can do. Teachers pay raises have gone up, but we need to do more. We need to make sure that we are focusing on intensive tutoring for students in our schools. We also need to make sure that our teachers have the appropriate support they need in school.
As I talk to many people at doors, and I've knocked over 5,000 doors at this point, I hear from teachers that they don't often feel very supported and so we need to make sure that we are putting things in place to help them with that. And that can look like more guidance counselors, more mental health professionals, more behavioral health specialists, because what I'm hearing from teachers is that they are having to deal with behavioral issues rather than getting back to teaching what our students need, the basics, reading, math, science, history. And so I think if we can focus on those things, we will get rid of the learning loss that's happened.
Billy Shields:
Candidate Willett, I'll pose the same question to you. What is it that the state can do about learning loss?
Rodney Willett:
We've got several levers to pull there and, first of all, we absolutely have to recognize the fact that there is learning loss in Virginia. Some students, by some reports, are saying they lost as much as a year and a half of learning, so it's absolutely an issue. I also supported the governor's ALL IN plan because I funded it. I'm one of the folks who signed off on that budget amendment recently to put $400 million out there. There's a three-pronged approach that's part of that. One-on-one tutoring is absolutely the most essential part, that's front and center to it, in terms of having schools focus on that.
We signed a similar legislation expanding the Literacy Act to affect and cover more people in Virginia, more students, and then also chronic absenteeism. A lot of students are not coming back to the classroom and we can't help them if they're not in the classroom, so that's a critical three-pronged approach.
I mentioned studies. JLARC, which does the oversight for the state, issued a very significant report recently talking about school funding. We are not where we need to be. We've made progress. Yes, we have increased teachers' salaries. We are still not fully funding our schools and until we do that we're not going to be able to address all these issues. Again, I love the progress we made. We did just pass an additional teacher salary increase. We're improving the counselor ratio, that's fantastic. There is more to be done. There are schools that are literally falling apart out there and we've got to do more.
Whittney Evans:
Candidate Willett, we'll begin this time with you. And we touched on this quite a bit already, but what is the biggest issue facing Virginia Public Schools today and what would you do to address it?
Rodney Willett:
I think we did cover a couple of those topics, but certainly to reiterate some key points, it really comes down to a combination of things, but if I had to say one thing, teachers. We've got to have our teachers back and, like my opponent, I talked to a lot of people at the doors. Parents' biggest concern today is losing good teachers. Henrico has an amazing school system. We have amazing school leadership, but even Henrico is losing teachers. Yes, we've increased salaries but we're still below the national averages on that.
And then you get into facilities. Henrico, we do pretty well here. We can do a little bit better job of taking care of ourselves. There are schools out there in the state with buildings that are literally 100 years old and falling apart and actually you don't have to go that far to see some of the buildings in bad shape, in the City of Richmond for example. But there are other facilities in Henrico we'd like to upgrade. We've got to invest in our schools. So if I could pick one thing, I think it's the investment in teachers. We want to keep these good teachers here and retain them, don't give them an excuse to leave the profession, don't give them an excuse to leave the state. Let's keep them engaged in our classrooms and taking care of our kids.
Whittney Evans:
Thank you. And, candidate Shaia, the same question to you.
Riley Shaia:
Yes, I agree that we need to do a better job of attracting and retaining teachers. I believe, though, that we are missing some of the low-hanging fruit and that is that we have a very antiquated model for how we fund our schools. Currently, the way we fund our schools is looking at number of students to number of teachers and that just isn't adequate for funding appropriately. We need to pay better attention to who is in that school and the types of learners that are in that school and fund the schools appropriately based on those things.
I firmly believe that we need to take another look at how we fund our schools. For example, if we have a student population that is largely English as a second language in one school, they are going to have very different needs than a school that doesn't have that type of population. And so we need to make sure that we're funding those schools in ways that they can have the resources they need to ensure that their students are getting the best education because all of our children deserve that.
Billy Shields:
And now we go to a question about abortion. Candidate Shaia, Virginia is the last Southern state without significant abortion restrictions. The Commonwealth bans elective abortions after 20 weeks and six days of pregnancy. Would you support any measures to further restrict abortion access in Virginia?
Riley Shaia:
I want to be clear, I do not support a ban on abortion. However, I also want to be clear I do not support unfettered access to abortion to the moment of live birth as is my opponent's position as he has stated in votes in the legislature. It is too extreme. Across the district, I have talked to many people who are in support of Governor Youngkin's 15-week proposal. I've also talked to others who would like access beyond that point and, while I respect everyone in my party's opinion, I believe that we should allow abortion through the second trimester and then in the third trimester for the life or health, mental health or physical health of the mother.
It is my firm belief that we can find common ground here. We can balance protecting women's rights with protecting the sanctity of life. As a mother, I want my daughter to know that her future and the future of all the women across the Commonwealth is my top priority and here's how I will do that. I will make sure that they have access to affordable and quality childcare. I will make sure that they have access to reproductive care and I will make sure that they have access to long-acting contraceptives because it is a fact that when we do this, we decrease the abortion rate by 46%. I will make sure that all of our women know that they do not have abortion as their only option.
Billy Shields:
Just to clarify, the current ban in the Commonwealth of Virginia is 26 weeks and six days. I misspoke earlier. Now, candidate Willett, now is your opportunity to explain your own position on the issue. Would you back any measures to further restrict abortion access in Virginia?
Rodney Willett:
No. Any further restrictions than what the current law in Virginia is, which is based on the Roe decision, is a ban and I don't support an additional ban. I don't support me as a legislator standing between a woman and her doctor. That is not an appropriate place for us, not an appropriate decision for us to be making. That needs to be a decision by a woman with her health provider, with her family, with that counsel. It's shocking to think that my daughter has fewer rights today because of the Supreme Court recent Dobbs decision. My daughter has fewer rights today than my wife had when we were coming along and raising our family.
That's a step in the wrong direction. I'm concerned about the national trends. You look at what happened. It's happened particularly to the south of us, to other states. Virginia really is the last state standing that protects abortion rights. I have a son and daughter-in-law getting ready to move back to Texas. I am very concerned. I am very concerned about the health access that my daughter-in-Law is going to have in Texas because of the restrictions there. We need to protect women and I absolutely support the healthcare components of that.
Abortion is one part of healthcare. It is not the only part of healthcare and we need a comprehensive approach. We need childcare to increase that, as well. All those things need to be done, but this is a slippery slope. You've seen it in the other states. 15 weeks becomes six weeks becomes a complete ban, becomes outlawing abortion, becomes criminalizing abortion, becomes criminalizing doctors trying to do their job and women trying to get reproductive health.
Whittney Evans:
And candidate Willett, we will begin with you. This question comes from the audience. What would you do to address the mental health and substance abuse crisis in this district?
Rodney Willett:
First, by recognizing we absolutely have a mental health and substance abuse crisis in this state, in this country and in Henrico County. And unfortunately disproportionately high number of mental health issues and particularly addiction issues in this county. It is impossible to find a family in Virginia that is not affected by these issues, be it a mental health crisis, addiction, it's all around us. I, from the get-go, have made mental health access a priority. I've run on that since 2019. I was a mental health advocate before I ran, but certainly as a delegate I think you can ask almost anyone in the legislature, anyone around the legislature and they'll let you know that yes, Rodney Willett is a mental health advocate.
Former speaker. Eileen Filler-Corn, appointed me to chair the Behavioral Health Subcommittee in the House when we were in the majority. In that leadership role, we passed a record amount of spending to go towards mental health. We've made some reference to the recent budget amendments owe more than $100 million for mental health programs there. That's going directly to crisis receiving centers, mobile units, particularly in underserved areas, targeting K-12 students. Those are wonderful things. We've got to do more. College students are being effective by this. They need similar programs that we're doing for K-12. We need those crisis centers, not just in the underserved areas, in all areas of the state, and that is absolutely my highest priority.
Whittney Evans:
And, candidate Shaia, what would you do to address the mental health and substance abuse crisis in this district?
Riley Shaia:
I completely agree. I have three kids who went through COVID in school and I see them and I see their friends and I see them suffering. We need to address this crisis and we need to do it right now. And the thing that I think is most impactful is we need to make sure that we're thinking about our subject matter experts in this area. So I would like to galvanize community service boards, like the McShin Foundation, because I think they are our best source for how we combat these issues and I think that we can do a lot with their tutelage.
We need to make sure that we are incentivizing people to go into mental health professions. We clearly do not have enough access and resources in our schools and in our communities and it's a very big problem. We also need to make sure that we are putting in place in schools prevention and treatment programs so that we take the stigma off of mental health and substance abuse. That's a large part of it. We oftentimes stigmatize people and we don't talk about it and we need to make sure that our kids are aware of the resources that they have so that they can get help when they need it.
Billy Shields:
Staying with candidate Shaia, in light of Fox Elementary School burning down, is it time for more statewide safety standards for schools?
Riley Shaia:
Absolutely. We need to make sure that our kids are safe in schools. As a mother, I worry about that all the time and one of the easiest things that we can do is fully fund our schools so that we don't have issues like fire issues. There are so many other things that our kids are worrying about and we need to make sure that they can worry about the things that are important, like learning, especially after the huge learning loss that we have experienced during COVID. So I absolutely would be in support of funding schools so that they are safer.
Billy Shields:
And, candidate Willett, you mentioned school conditions earlier. In light of the Fox situation, is it time for more statewide safety standards?
Rodney Willett:
I think so, and particularly it's one thing to pass standards, that's fine, but if you don't back it up with funding, then they really are meaningless. And that's the issue right now in Virginia is the funding side of it. Again, Henrico, we're doing pretty well, but you don't have to travel far to see schools that are not and they're buildings that are just literally not up to code and that's a problem. And fortunately there was no loss of life, but we did lose an amazing school. I used to live across from Fox School, a beautiful building, a beautiful community that was disrupted by that fire, but they're all levels of investment.
That's on the fire safety side, but let's talk about gun safety in the schools. That's another thing that this funding could help when we talk about safe schools. Henrico now has firearm detectors in the schools. That's a significant expense. Most school systems probably can't afford to do that. We made the investment and have done it. It's one level of sad reality we've had to do that, but these are the times we live in, but that's part of the environment. We've got to provide a safe environment. If that's what we have to do, then that's an investment to make.
But we've got to let all schools do that, not just those that can take care of themselves. It is a funding commitment, a fully-funded commitment. I agree with my opponent's point earlier. We need to change the funding model. It is absolutely antiquated, absolutely needs to be up updated and particularly to help these less fortunate school systems.
Whittney Evans:
All right. Let's move on to the topic of taxes, beginning with candidate Willett. The governor proposed cutting the state's corporate income tax rate from 6% to 5%. Is this something you support and please just give a short answer.
Rodney Willett:
Is this the lightning round?
Whittney Evans:
Yes, this is the lightning round.
Rodney Willett:
This is the lightning round. I didn't hear that. I was making sure it was the lightning round. I have longer answers. The short answer is no, I have not supported that. And the reason is we have made significant tax reductions already in the state, including the recent rebates we awarded, increased the standard deduction twice, but we are not fully funding our schools and I think the voters I talk to, the businesses I talk to, they would rather see us fully fund education than giving tax breaks to folks who really don't need it.
Whittney Evans:
Same to you. Do you support that tax cut?
Riley Shaia:
Yes, I do because we have states right next door like North Carolina who are going to go to no income tax for businesses and we must compete. When we have a broad tax base, we bring good businesses to the state, it is going to benefit everyone. The larger the tax base, the more money we have to pay things like fully funding our schools. So we need to be able to bring those businesses here and if we don't cut that corporate tax rate, then we are going to lose businesses.
Billy Shields:
So, candidate Shaia, another quick answer. The Commonwealth currently has a billion-dollar budget surplus. What's one thing that you, if elected, would propose spending that money on?
Riley Shaia:
I think childcare is one of those things that affects multiple things. It affects all of our families because when we have good affordable quality childcare, our families can work. One of the things that I have had an interaction with at doors was this one wonderfully young woman. She had three kids and she had to stay home with them and she had to be on assistance. She wanted to go back to school and better her family and she wasn't able to because she couldn't put her kids in affordable childcare. So I really believe that we need to be putting some of that funding into incentivizing businesses so that they can help their employees either through onsite childcare or maybe through stipends.
Billy Shields:
And on to candidate Willett, remember, keep your answer brief, what's one way you would recommend the state use that billion-dollar budget surplus?
Rodney Willett:
I'm never going to say no to childcare. That's super important, but I do think, if we get education right, so many other things are right. We haven't talked about early childhood education. Most at-risk three and four-year-olds in Virginia did not get an education until they're in kindergarten. That is absolutely wrong and we've got to fund that.
Whittney Evans:
And, candidate Willett, we will begin this next question with you. Virginia allows 45 days of no-excuse early voting. In your view, is that too long, too short or just right?
Rodney Willett:
I talked to a lot of voters who really like the convenience of early voting, including 45-day early voting, which starts this Friday. Yes, there's a cost to that for the administration through our registrars, but we've got to meet the people where they are and folks are super busy. I don't think people have ever been busier in their lives with all the juggling you have to do these days, kids, jobs, other involvement, and we just need to make it easier to vote.
I'd like to actually see additional reforms in voting. We've made progress. Virginia people may forget this. We once ranked at the bottom of the country, number 49 for ease of voting in Virginia. We're now top 10 and we're top 10 because of the Democratic initiatives. We made it easier to vote including-
Whittney Evans:
I'm going to have to cut you off there.
Rodney Willett:
Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm going on. Thank you.
Whittney Evans:
Still in lightening rounds. 45-day early voting, no-excuse. Is that something you agree with?
Riley Shaia:
I think 45 days is a little bit long. I really feel like we do need to make sure that we make it convenient for everyone. I'd like to shorten it up just a bit. I strongly feel that there's a lot that happens in the last few days and I want to make sure that our voters are as informed as they need to be, but of course I want to make sure that all Virginians have access to early voting.
Billy Shields:
Sticking with candidate Shaia, and remember to keep your answer succinct, income tax brackets have remained the same since 1990. Many public school teachers pay the same income tax rate as corporate lawyers. Do you think the state should adjust its tax bracket criteria?
Riley Shaia:
Yes. In the light of inflation, I believe that women, excuse me, that we need to adjust our tax brackets so that we are making sure that we are making everyone in the state prosperous. And so, yes, I would encourage us to take a look at the tax brackets and make sure that they are meeting the needs of everyone in our community.
Billy Shields:
Candidate Willett, should the state change up its tax brackets?
Rodney Willett:
I serve on the House Finance Committee. We talk about this all the time. This is a heavy lift. A more immediate benefit that would help more people is, for example, bringing in targeted relief for those that are less fortunate, those who need direct tax specs, and a child tax credit would be great.
Whittney Evans:
And this question again for candidate Willett. Governor Youngkin supported a bill last General Assembly session that would set aside some state education funding for parents to spend on private school tuition or homeschooling. Do you support this concept? And give a short answer, please.
Rodney Willett:
I do not. We've got to focus on the public schools first. In a perfect world, we would have all the money for all the programs. I'm a Lab School kid myself and I love Lab Schools, but we've got to fund the public schools first.
Whittney Evans:
Thank you. Same question to candidate Shaia. Do you support the concept of allowing parents to use state education funding to pay for private school tuition or homeschooling?
Riley Shaia:
Yes, I do because I do not believe that they are a mutually exclusive thing. We can fully fund and we can have the absolute best public education system, but it is not a one-size-fits-all approach and there are circumstances where children are best served in other places and so, yes, I would support that.
Whittney Evans:
And that wraps up our lightning rounds. We return to regular questions now. You will be once again given 90 seconds to answer those questions and so the first question begins with candidate Willett. This year the governor did not finalize the budget process until last week. In your mind, is it conceivable or necessary to make the budget process more efficient?
Rodney Willett:
It absolutely is necessary, but I'll tell you, when the stakes are this high, I will say it's worth the deliberation, maybe not six months' worth but certainly needs our full attention and focus. We had an opportunity in Virginia to make some investments that we haven't been able to make before. In education, we talked about the teacher salary increases, increasing the counselor ratios, improving the counselor ratios, mental health spending. I mean hundreds of millions of dollars are needed and this was a unique opportunity.
Yes, we had money that we don't normally have. Can the process be more efficient? Of course, but there's a deliberation and that's part of our system. I will say the governor's pushed and I worked really hard with the governor on a lot of issues we were coordinated on. I did disagree with him on his push for tax cuts and he was stuck on that, as were the Republicans representing him in the budget negotiations and I felt like we shouldn't bend on that. There were so many other priorities.
I talk to businesses every day. I talk to taxpayers/voters every day at their doors. They're not asking for those tax cuts. They're asking for mental health access, they're asking for education supports, they're asking for good infrastructure, good roads. Those are their priorities. I've not talked to a single business that said they want to leave Virginia because their taxes are too high.
Whittney Evans:
Candidate Shaia, the same question to you. You're an outsider, however, looking in just the same as we are. So what, from your perspective, could we do to make the budget process faster, more efficient?
Riley Shaia:
Yeah, I do talk to voters who feel like tax cuts are very important to them. They're suffering. The economy's failing and those tax cuts mean a lot to them. In fact, when my opponent had the chance to cut the grocery tax during COVID, he voted against that. We definitely do need to make the budget process more efficient. There's a lot in government that needs to be a lot more efficient, so yes, we need to do that.
What I saw as an outsider was a bunch of partisan politics and it is my pledge to you that I will try very hard for that not to be the case. I will work hard to listen to the constituents and to take those concerns to the legislature and work for you because I really feel like we need to get away from this partisan politics. It is hurting all of us and it is time for it to stop.
Rodney Willett:
I'm sorry, can I make one rebuttal or correction regarding the grocery tax?
Whittney Evans:
30 seconds?
Rodney Willett:
Yes. First of all, just to clarify, I absolutely voted for the repeal of the grocery tax. The vote is right there in the record. You can go to the LIS system and see that. Myself and others did vote against early versions of that. They were versions of that bill that have would've gutted our education funding at the local level. We thought that was too far, but talk to the bill's sponsor, Joe McNamara. I reached across the aisle from day one on the Finance Committee telling him, "We will get this repeal done." It was originally a Democratic idea, Republicans carrying it. That was fine. We got it to the finish line.
Billy Shields:
We'll go back to candidate Shaia for another question. Pedestrian and traffic deaths are on the rise in Virginia and across the country. What should the state do to help reverse this trend?
Riley Shaia:
Out walking around, knocking on doors, I understand why that might be the case. We have a lot of issues with speeding in our neighborhoods. I hear that all the time from voters. In fact, that's one of the top things that I hear. They feel like their neighborhoods are not safe. They feel like their kids are not safe to walk down the street or walk to school, which really makes me sad because those are things that we shouldn't have to worry about as citizens of Henrico. We need to make sure that we are putting forth a committee that is taking a very hard look at how we can address those issues and what I will tell you is I will do everything in my power to make sure that things that are going to be effective and take care of this problem are put into place.
Billy Shields:
Candidate Willett, it's up to you. What can the state do to lower pedestrian traffic deaths?
Rodney Willett:
There's been an incredible spike in pedestrian deaths. It started during COVID and continued. It's arguably one of the most troubling numbers, I think, that and the drug addiction increases. We have passed laws in Virginia, to start with cyclists, to make cycling safe. Republicans repealed one of those laws this past session. I'm a cyclist. I like my space when I'm on the road. There are area cyclists and friends I have lost because they were hit by cars when cars didn't give them the margin and hit them. When a car hits a cyclist, the car wins, the cyclist loses.
Pedestrian safety, the same issue. I've lost friends from pedestrian deaths. Too much speeding, the need for speed reduction zones. Some of that can be done locally, it's great, but actually a lot of the roads in Virginia, most of the roads in Virginia, are controlled by VDOT and we need to give VDOT more money and more authority to deal with these speed issues. You're seeing it in some places. Henrico takes care of a lot of our own roads, so you'll see more roundabouts, more speed tables. Those are great steps. Trying to space out the bikes where we can put bike lanes in.
It's a lot of retrofitting. We don't have a lot of sidewalks in Henrico. You can see the paths along the side of Quioccasin and Parham and Patterson. People are walking on the dirt. I mean walking on the grass because there's no sidewalk there. We've got to separate the traffic from the people. Folks want to walk to the store, walk to school. They should be able to do that.
Whittney Evans:
And, candidate Willett, this question begins with you. Richmond is one of the most populated cities in the state and yet the percentage of Richmonders who use public transit lags behind the national average. Should the state work to address this?
Rodney Willett:
Oh, absolutely. We are fortunate in this area that finally we created a regional transportation authority, thus able to compete for state dollars for road projects and for public transportation projects and we should absolutely be doing that as a whole state. I've been more focused on our region, which was losing out to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads for a lot of those dollars. Now we're competing for that money and we're going to put that money to good use and public transit should actually be part of that.
You look at the success in Richmond, what's happened with the Pulse and bringing that further. People are riding that. People are taking advantage of it, and I think that's showing there's a change here. Yes, this area, when cars are invented, we adopted cars, we built a car-first infrastructure. But families today and especially younger generations, immigrant generations or folks, really want alternatives out there and we need to provide that.
Whittney Evans:
Candidate Shaia, same question to you. Do you think the state should be working to address low public transit ridership in the Richmond area?
Riley Shaia:
Sure. I believe that we should, as well. It is only going to help our population with having access to good paying jobs, and when we have people who have access to good paying jobs, they have the ability to go get their groceries. They don't have to be in a food desert, for example. They have access to good groceries. All of those things help all of us as Virginians. So of course, if we can increase the ridership, it's only going to raise everyone's level of prosperity in Henrico County and across the Commonwealth, so I would absolutely be in favor of increasing the ridership.
Billy Shields:
Staying with you, candidate Shaia, do you think building casinos is a good way to invest in economically depressed areas of the state?
Riley Shaia:
Well, I know that Richmond has voted against a casino and it is on the ballot for Petersburg. I feel that casinos can be a great economic boon for a lot of communities. We need to make sure that we're balancing the downsides like crime, but there's also a lot of job opportunity there and a lot of opportunity for an economic prosperity.
And when we do that, we know that we increase the tax base, we create a stable business environment for businesses in the area and all of that improves funding to all the things that we've talked about today. Our schools, providing better access to mental health care and making sure that we can keep our taxes low and making Virginia one of the best places to live, work and raise a family. I mean, after all, that is what all of us want.
Billy Shields:
Back to candidate Willett, do you think building casinos is a good way to bolster the less well-off parts of the state?
Rodney Willett:
And voting on that, I did support, as we call it now, the Local Option. We've really left that question for localities. If a city or county wants to have casino gambling, the voters can decide and choose on that. I'm not a casino person myself. They would lose money if they were just depending on me for their revenue. But there are other folks who do enjoy going to casinos and there absolutely could be an economic boon to certain areas. I think there are surrounding factors to look at and certainly abusive gambling and crime does come in certain parts of that and also making it sustainable.
I think big, shiny new buildings are wonderful and I love economic development opportunities for my area and the whole state, but they've got to be sustainable. We put this infrastructure in or these buildings in, these facilities in, and these have got to be sustainable opportunities. I can remember back when Virginia debated whether to have a lottery or not and there was a discussion about that, but the bottom line was all the states around us had a lottery, so we said, "Hey, we're losing money to these other states. We need to have a lottery." And we did. We voted for that. I think there's similar pressure to casinos. There are a lot of casinos around us and we felt like we were losing revenue at other places, so I understand that argument, but I really think that the question rests with the localities.
Whittney Evans:
And we'll continue with candidate Willett for this next question. The effects of global warming include rising sea levels in Hampton roads, more heat waves and floods across the state. What should the Commonwealth do to address these impacts?
Rodney Willett:
No question. In fact, you mentioned rising waters in Hampton roads. Actually, the most significant environmental climate change-related impacts in the last two years have been in the southwest, with unprecedented flooding, loss of life, loss of property from massive floods where these storms parked themselves in the mountains and flooded the valley areas there. So it's a statewide problem. Richmond floods, Henrico floods. We have tornadoes like we've never had before and at times of year we've never had before. The intensity of storms, you see that globally, so it's absolutely something to address.
The how-we-do-it part, Virginia passed, and I was very proud to be part of this, unprecedented environmental protection legislation with the Clean Economy Act as well as our Clean Emission Standards. We also participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program. All of those programs, all of those programs are to address climate change. The issue now is keeping them. We have made great progress. I'd actually like to do more in terms of making it easier to find clean vehicles, easier to afford clean vehicles, easier to adopt solar technology, things like that.
But we have Republican leadership that is trying to repeal all three things that I just listed, the Clean Economy Act, RGGI and the Clean Emission Standards. They want to get rid of all three of those. That is an absolute step in the wrong direction. We're creating jobs, too, with these programs. Virginia has an opportunity to be one of the leading states for green jobs. Why would we go against that?
Whittney Evans:
Thank you. And, candidate Shaia, same question to you. What should the state be doing to address the impacts of climate change in the state?
Riley Shaia:
The impacts of climate change are definitely being felt and Republicans get a bad reputation for not wanting to be good stewards of our environment and that is absolutely not the case. I am concerned about our environment as well. The issue I have is that, with programs like RGGI and the Virginia Clean Economy Act and other things that address climate change, what we are doing is we are allowing other states to make decisions for us and, as Virginians, it is very important that we are allowed to make the best decisions for our state, not for California or any other state.
That's the issue that Republicans have. That's the issue that I have with all of those things. So we need to make sure, of course, that we are investing in clean energy and I love the fact that we are putting record investment into solar and wind and all of the things. We need to make sure that we have an all-of-the-above energy strategy, however, because if we only have one of those, we are not going to have a reliable and safe power grid. And so all of those things need to be on the table so that we have the power that we need when we need it.
Billy Shields:
And we'll stay with candidate Shaia. How much control should parents have over the education their child receives in a public school?
Riley Shaia:
There has been a lot of debate about that and I strongly feel that parents should be at the table for the education decisions for their students. They need to be at the head of that table, but they also have a responsibility to their children and they need to make sure that they are involved. But what I think that oftentimes is left out of that conversation is that we need to make sure that the parents, the teachers, the students and the school are all part of that conversation.
That is when our children get the best education and the most benefits from their school, but the parents need to be at the head of the table. I want to know when things are happening to my three kids in school. I need to know so that I can parent them better. And unless I have a seat at the head of the table, I'm not going to know that. My opponent voted to keep things from parents and to keep us from knowing when children were starting to transition at school. I'm not okay with that. I need to know those things so that I can support my children.
Billy Shields:
And now candidate Willett has a chance to respond. How much control should parents have over the education their child receives in a public school?
Rodney Willett:
If you really look at the success of Henrico Public Schools and say, what is it? Why are we so successful? Obviously, money is a big part of that. Outstanding leadership is a part of that. If you look at our superintendent and our school board, we are top tier with that, but parents, parents are absolutely part of that equation and should be. And if you look at the schools, you go to the classrooms, parents are there, parents are supporting the classrooms and learning efforts, field trips, PTA programs and the fundraising side there, in so many ways, and that really is one of the keys here.
It's part of the learning equation, too. When you have parents involved, when they understand what the kids are learning in school, they come home, need assistance or whatever, parents are there and that's a successful system and so I absolutely support that. And again, we're fortunate in Henrico to be able to have done that.
I think there are unfortunate pressures today, and these are some really bad bills that were introduced in the past session and the one before that, to restrict what can be done in the school from a learning standpoint, from access to certain books. Right now in Henrico, if you as a parent don't want a kid to read a particular book, you can tell the school that, you can tell the library that. They have a system to mark that and your kid will not be allowed to see that book. But those same parents who don't like that book should not be telling my kids that they can't read a Tony Morrison book, which I actually would like them to read. I wish I had read that book when I was in school. Why are we cutting off access to those books?
Whittney Evans:
I want to take this question back to energy and the question, it goes to candidate Willett. Where do you stand on nuclear energy and, in particular, small modular nuclear reactors?
Rodney Willett:
Virginia absolutely needs a combination of sources to meet our power needs. I don't need to even bring up the data center demand we're dealing with. I love the revenue from data centers. It's helping so many localities including Henrico County, but there's absolutely a power demand for that. I spent a lot of time talking to the folks who make power from a variety of sources and the clean energy sources are there. The clean energy sources can meet that.
If you look at solar, wind, geothermal, all of those sources are there and can be leveraged. Nuclear has a current place in Virginia, absolutely. Small nuclear reactors are unproven. It's an unproven technology. It's a technology that's much in development. Actually, it's much less developed than solar, certainly less developed than wind. We don't have time. We don't have time to wait for that. We need these energy sources today. We have clean energy sources available today and I'd like to see us leverage those.
Whittney Evans:
Thank you. And, candidate Shaia, where do you stand on nuclear energy, in particular small modular nuclear reactors?
Riley Shaia:
We do need all of the above energy policy. I'm fine with solar and wind energy, as well, but we do need to invest in other types of energy. Small nuclear modular reactors, no, we don't have all the advancements in technology that we need currently, but I do believe that we need to put money into that so that we can improve that technology. It is one of those sources that we can use in that all-of-the-above energy policy.
My opponent is completely correct in that we have a large influx of data centers that are coming to Northern Virginia and they're coming to us in here in Henrico County as well, and in Hanover, and we need to make sure that we have an energy grid that can support all of that, and I feel strongly that we need to include those small nuclear modular reactors as part of that all-of-the-above energy strategy.
Whittney Evans:
Thank you for that response and thank you both for your cooperation and your civility. That concludes our question and answer portion of this debate. Now we'll go to the candidates for their closing statements. Candidate Willett, you have one minute for closing remarks.
Rodney Willett:
Thank you again, Chamber RVA and VPM for providing this forum. I am so proud, so proud of the bipartisan legislative accomplishments I've been part of for the last four years and we talked a lot about that, but there's so much more to be done. We certainly need to focus more on our schools. I've mentioned the JLARC study saying we need to fully fund our schools. We're not there yet and we absolutely need to do that. We're losing teachers. 4,300 teacher vacancies right now in Virginia. That's a crazy number. And we've got to meet that with adequately paying our teachers.
Healthcare cost. Absolutely one of the biggest burdens right now in families are healthcare costs. Yes, we did cap the cost of insulin. We also provide funding for our health exchange subscribers. That's great. I will carry a bill to create a prescription drug cost review board. That's going to bring down as many prescription drug costs as possible for Virginians. Health workforce, we've talked a lot about that. I'm Vice Chair of the Health Workforce Development Authority here. We've got to get health workers to come to Virginia and stay here. Gun safety. Did not talk a lot about gun safety. Absolutely a huge concern. I've been proud to support the gun safety measures we passed. I have looked parents in the eye who lost children to gun violence and I've committed to them to pass bills for safe storage.
Whittney Evans:
Thank you. Candidate Shaia, you have one minute.
Riley Shaia:
Thank you. And thank you also to everyone here today. I have an opponent who talks like a moderate at the doors and talks to voters in a way that makes him seem like he's almost a Republican sometimes in an election year. And his actions speak louder than words. He voted to release violent criminals early when he was talking about safety. That's not keeping our family safe. He voted against a bill that would punish fentanyl distributors for murder. That is not keeping our children safe. And so I'm here today to ask you to allow me to work for you to keep your family safe and prosperous. I will work tirelessly for you to end the era of empty promises and get things done.
Whittney Evans:
Thanks to each of you for these closing remarks and for participating in this forum for the 58th House of Delegates district seat. This debate was brought to you by VPM News and Chamber RVA. I'm Whittney Evans with VPM News.
Billy Shields:
And I'm Billy Shields for VPM News Focal Point. For our continuing coverage of the 2023 election or if you just want to find out when this forum will broadcast on TV or radio, visit vpm.org. Thank you for watching.
VPM Media Corp. partnered with ChamberRVA on debates for Virginia House District 58 and Senate District 16. These debates were between the Democratic and Republican candidates in each race — VPM News and VPM News Focal Point staff moderated both. Dominion Energy sponsored ChamberRVA's debate events; Dominion Energy is also a VPM donor.
