Lt. gov. candidates speak on the economy, schools, housing, and data centers
With less than three weeks until the Democratic Primary on June 17, the candidates for lieutenant governor are trying hard to differentiate themselves in a crowded field.
Three of the six candidates – labor lawyer Alex Bastani, Prince William County School Board Chair and ophthalmologist Babur Lateef, and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney – outlined their positions on the economy, school funding, a Tysons casino, and more at a forum on May 29. The event was hosted by the Arlington-based group &Democracy at the Providence Rec Center.
The other candidates – state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, state Sen. Aaron Rouse, and former federal prosecutor Victor Salgado – were unable to attend.
The economy
Bastani casts himself as a progressive in the Bernie Sanders mold, calling for “deep structural change to our political system.”
He supports a minimum wage of at least $20, strong labor unions, universal healthcare, and eliminating student debt.
People don’t realize how dire the economic situation is for most people, he said, noting that “24 percent of Americans are functionally unemployed. … Young people who can’t afford homes can’t start a family or own a small business. We’ve got to take the debt off them so they can invest in the future.”
Bastani would fund his priorities by raising the corporate tax rate and legalizing and taxing marijuana.
According to Bastani, universal healthcare would save the nation half a trillion dollars. “If universal healthcare was implemented by a Republican governor in Massachusetts, I don’t know why it can’t be done in Virginia.”
“We’re going to have to redistribute resources” from the wealthier parts of the state to the lower-income areas, Bastani said. “Two-thirds of Americans can’t handle a $500 emergency.”
Stoney said that more than a third of Virginians are spending over a third of their income on rent. That means “you don’t have money for daycare, you don’t have money for groceries, or the nice things in life.”
Stoney said since the time he was born, to a mother who was 16 and a father who was 18, “I’ve been fighting my way up the economic ladder.” Thanks to a grandmother who helped raise him, he was the first in his family to graduate from high school and graduate from college.
As mayor, Stoney said, we reduced poverty by over 30 percent, increased funding for public schools by nearly 60 percent, built five new schools, and in summer 2020, “brought down every monument in the former capital of the Confederacy.”
Tysons casino
One of the key issues that came up during the forum was the possibility of a casino in Tysons. Legislation to allow Fairfax County to hold a referendum failed to pass the General Assembly last year but will come up again in 2026.
Lateef said having a casino or slot machines “are bad ideas and I do not support them. We can do much more to generate revenue for our economy.” He would tell the General Assembly, “if local governments don’t want it, why are you pushing it down their throats?”
Related story: A proposed casino in Tysons – economic benefits vs. social ills
Bastani opposes a casino in Tysons even though unions support the prospect of high-paying jobs. “We need to make every single job a living wage job,” he said. “The way to defeat the casinos is to find a better alternative.”
Stoney said, “I support gaming in Northern Virginia but not at that site in Tysons Corner.” Richmond residents voted against a casino twice, and residents of Fairfax County told him they don’t want a casino in Tysons.
“It’s not about the morality of casinos or the economics of casinos,” Stoney said. “It’s about land use. I’ve sat in traffic in Tysons Corner. Is this the best use of land in Tysons Corner? No.”
Education
As chair of the Prince William County School Board, Lateef touted the board’s actions to increase teacher salaries by 61 percent over the past seven years, and said student performance has improved for all demographic groups over the last seven years. He said the school board was able to do that by encouraging economic development and data centers.
According to Lateef, when the state budget is running a surplus, those dollars should be coming to schools across the commonwealth.
Lateef noted he worked with candidate for governor Abigail Spanberger when she represented Prince William County in Congress to get a grant from Virginia Commonwealth for teacher training. Trump canceled that grant, but “we’re going to fund that grant and that work with our own dollars because we know how important it is.”
Noting that it took him 20 years to pay off his student debt, Stoney said, when he became mayor, he launched a scholarship program with a nonprofit partner to send students who attain a certain GPA to community college for free. To prevent students from dropping out due to a financial setback, those students get a $500 monthly stipend.
Acknowledging this won’t be popular, Bastani said“we have to change the formula” for funding public schools. He said it’s not fair that more funds go to students in Northern Virginia than to less well-off parts of the state. “That’s a huge education divide, and we have to change that.”
Virginia’s contribution to K-12 education ranks 42nd in the nation, Lateef said. Northern Virginia taxpayers bear the heaviest burden. “Virginia runs $1 to $2 billion surpluses yet they don’t fully fund our schools. “It’s not about redistributing from here to there; it’s about everyone getting more out of those state budget surpluses.”
Stoney said, “Right now, we rank dead last in math recovery from the pandemic, 41st in reading recovery from the pandemic. “If your kids can’t read, write, or do arithmetic, we are setting them up for a tougher life.”
Stoney said we not only have to put more funds into public education, we have to provide one-on-one tutoring so we can catch them up from the pandemic.”
Stoney criticized Trump and Gov. Glenn Youngkin, “who’s riding shotgun with him,” for trying to eliminate Black history from the curriculum. “We have the good, the bad, and the ugly,” and it’s all part of the nation’s history.
Stoney said his ancestors came here on a ship from Africa. “Should my kid, who’s 14 months old, be able to learn about that? Hell, yeah.”
Related story: Lieutenant governor candidates express views on a Tysons casino
Data centers
Bastini said, “We need energy impact statements for these data centers.” If they can establish that they’re not going to take energy from the grid, particularly in bigger areas like Fairfax County, they shouldn’t be approved.
Lateef noted that Virginia provides a tax incentive to attract data centers. “We brought them here. We’re living with the results.”
“Local governments that want to have them should have them,” he said, adding it’s possible to have data centers while also addressing the environmental consequences.
Gun violence
All three candidates called for stricter laws to curb gun violence.
Stoney said, because of the Dillon Law, localities can’t pass their own laws, including laws to regulate guns. He said Virginia should grant home rule to cities and counties of a certain size, such as Richmond and Fairfax County, so they could have the right to make the rules for the people who live there.
Bastini called for more funding for mental health, as well as banning assault weapons and taking other steps to restrict guns. “Sixty percent of gun deaths in the country are suicides. Those are disproportionately males,” he said. “Men are really bad about seeking help. It’s considered weak. Universal mental healthcare would help take that stigma away from seeking mental health guidance.”
Lateef supports expanding red flag laws, universal background checks, banning assault weapons, and safe gun storage.
When students returned to school after the pandemic, Lateef said, there was a 70 percent increase in students bringing guns and knives to schools. “We implemented a weapons detection system at all high schools and middle schools. “We didn’t want to do it, but we got buy-in from the whole community. It brought the guns down to zero.”
Affordable housing
In response to a question about how to provide more affordable housing, Lateef said, “We need to stop these monopolies like Blackstone and Berkshire Hathaway from buying homes in these neighborhoods and renting them out.” The use of private equity money “should be banned and illegal.”
He supports tax incentives to help first-time homebuyers, along with rent control, rent stabilization, and incentives for retirees so they can stay in their homes.
“We have to stop Wall Street raiders from buying up every single-family home in our neighborhoods,” Stoney said. He also supports incentives to localities to increase density, creative partnerships with developers to create mixed-income neighborhoods, and the elimination of outdated regulations.
“Before you even get to affordability, you’re looking at credit ratings,” Bustani said. Many people can’t even qualify to rent an apartment because of student and medical debt. “That’s another reason why we need to raise wages and provide universal healthcare.”
