In delegate race, incumbent Bell touts record as Neff presses reform

The race between Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, and Democrat Cynthia Neff is among the Charlottesville region’s most closely watched House of Delegates elections on Nov. 3.

Bell, a four-term incumbent and a former Orange County prosecutor, is running on his record of winning approval of legislation that targets drunken drivers, schoolyard bullies and sex offenders and that reformed Virginia’s mental health system following the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech.

“I’ve been on an eight-month job interview and I’m asking the voters to hire me for another two years,” Bell said, referring to his campaigning this year.

Neff, a retired IBM executive, is focusing much of her campaign on education. She wants to make higher education more affordable, expand pre-kindergarten programs across the state and reduce class size by 10 percent by 2020.

“Children are our future,” said Neff, who was endorsed by the Virginia Education Association. “They are the health of our economy.”

Virginia teacher pay, Neff pointed out, is ranked 38th in the country.

“Rob Bell has consistently voted against every teacher pay raise that has come up,” she said.

Bell defended his record on education, noting that the state’s funding of schools has increased from $9.8 billion in the 2004-06 budget to $12.13 billion in the current spending plan. Bell has voted in favor of each final House version of the budget bill.

“The fact is, despite the tough budget years, we’ve kept education as a priority,” Bell said. “The education budget has gone up … significantly.”

Bell and Neff are also emphasizing their plans to improve Virginia’s economy.

Bell, who was endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business, said Virginia ought to do more to encourage companies to relocate to the state.

During the administration of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, he said, the Gover-nor’s Opportunity Fund — which provides grants or loans to companies interested in locating in Virginia — has not been maximized. In 2006, he said, the fund had a leftover balance of $5.5 million. In 2007, the balance was $1.7 million. And in 2009, it was $6.2 million.

“We need more and stronger economic development,” he said.

If re-elected, Bell said, he would work to uphold Virginia’s ranking by Forbes as the top state in which to do business by not adding to families’ tax burden and keeping the level of state taxes “competitive.”

For her part, Neff supports offering employers a tax credit for every new job they create. Such a move, which has also been proposed by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, would encourage job growth among companies big and small, she said.

“We’ve got a lot of small businesses here that are hanging on by their fingernails,” Neff said. “I think we can do more to help them.”

Neff also pointed out that Republicans in the House of Delegates, including Bell, voted against amending the state’s unemployment benefits system to take advantage of $125 million in federal stimulus funds available to pay for jobless benefits. Republicans worried that Virginia businesses would be hit with a tax increase after the stimulus money ran out.

As it stands now, Virginia is apparently running out of money for unemployment benefits as the state grapples with its highest jobless rate in more than 25 years. According to the Virginia Employment Commission, the state’s trust fund for unemployment benefits is paying out $18 million per week and will run out by the end of October. The state is poised to borrow $1.27 billion to keep the benefits available.

As a result, businesses are projected to pay significantly higher taxes over the next three-and-a-half years. Currently, employers pay an average $93 tax per employee annually that goes into the jobless benefits trust fund. Next year, that tax is projected to increase to an average of $171 per employee. By 2012, it is expected to jump to $263 per employee, according to the VEC.

“People are looking for a hand up, not a handout,” Neff said. “I still would like to see Rob Bell and the rest of the General Assembly vote to take that stimulus money.”

On the issue of transportation, Bell and Neff have starkly different views.

Bell does not support increasing any taxes to pay for transportation projects.

In fact, Bell said, the state’s transportation budget has climbed from $6.3 billion in 2003-04 to more than $9 billion in the current budget.

“We are putting appreciably more revenue toward transportation than we were,” he said.

Neff is not proposing higher taxes to pay for transportation, but has not ruled out the idea either.

“Anybody who says they’d never raise taxes is, in my opinion, either a liar or a fool,” she said.

Neff supports finding creative ways to pay for transportation, such as increasing the state tax on diesel fuel at service stations along Interstate 81 so that trucks, which have a greater impact on the highway’s condition, pay a greater share of the road’s maintenance and improvement projects.