LeMunyon, Clingan Engage in First Debate

Del. (R) and his challenger (D) faced off in their first debate of the 2011 election Sunday.

The candidates are vying for the 67th Delegate District, which includes parts of Oakton, Centreville and Chantilly.

LeMunyon and Clingan appeared on "Inside Scoop" in a debate moderated by host Mark Levine and Mike Lane.

TRANSPORTATION

LeMunyon: "We do have a serious problem and it's not being adequately addressed."

LeMunyon suggested legislation that would require transportation projects in Northern Virginia to be indepedently rated based on what they will do to reduce congestion. "We need to determine the projects that will give us the biggest bang for the buck, make that list public so that the voting public can hold elected officials accountable for funding the projects that make the biggest difference, and then make sure the lion's share of the funding is put toward those projects," he said.

He also said Northern Virginia, now with more delegates because of redistricting, could have the votes to bring more transportation dollars to the area. He suggested the Northern Virginia delegation work to reform the Commonwealth Transportation Board. "We're underrepresented on that board. The way the districts are arranged actually dates back to the 1930s. That needs to be updated so that each part of the state has a representation proportional to population."

To help pay for these ideas, he said the $4 billion set aside in the 2011 session needs to be spent. He does not support a tax increase at least until more of Northern Virginia's transportation dollars are brought back to the region.

Clingan: "There are all sorts of duplicative monies being spent in Richmond because of arcane and older legislation and, quite frankly, that needs to be diverted back into what we desire and what we need and that is transportation projects," he said. Clingan suggested Virginia use the audit of VDOT, which found some waste, to pinpoint areas where money is being unnecessarily spent and cut it.

He also said Virginia should raise the cost of its vanity plates from $10, as surrounding states are quadruple the cost or more. "The bottom line is there's an awful lot of room between Virginia and its local surrounding states with regards to vanity plates," he said.

He also showed concern about the $3 billion bond passed this year, which he says will cost Virginia $80 million a year in interest payments over the next 30 years. "Albeit Delegate LeMunyon talks about finding a way to get bigger bang for our buck, what I'd like to avoid is finding ourselves getting deeper debt for our dollar," he said.

LeMunyon: [In response to Clingan's criticism of the bonds] "We are saving the taxpayers a bundle by doing this. We are not running the state on a credit card like the federal government does, but bonds within limits make a lot of sense," he said.

LeMunyon explained that bonds can never total more than 5 percent of the state revenue, and said the bonds are not on a 30-year plan, but rather should be paid off in about 15 years or less, depending on the market. "Construction crews that want the work ... are sometimes coming in with offers today that are 20 percent less than three years ago," he said.

RAIL TO DULLES

Clingan: "It shouldn't catch anyone as a huge surprise that a project such as the size and scope of extending Dulles rail or extending the rail out to Dulles is over budget or perhaps delayed. This is a huge process," he said.

Clingan supported the project labor agreements that have come out of the Dulles Rail project, saying it's "a benefit to ensure that we are going to have good workers on those lines and get this project done on time."

He encouraged MWAA meetings to be more open, as he believes "any and all meetings which involve public monies should be exposed to the public completely."

How to pay for it: He showed support for President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act, saying if it passes, it would help bring funds to Virginia. He also suggested government websites sell advertising to relevant companies to help generate revenue. "If you go to a DMV website because you want to update your license or you want to find out what the insurance requirements in Virginia are, I don't see why we can't allow Geico, State Farm, Allstate to put little square advertisements right on the side," he said.

LeMunyon: "A former governor cut the deal with the Airports Authority that we should've seen five years ago would result in the problems that we have today. There's no Freedom of Information Act requirement on this project like we would have if it were a state project. The Right to Work laws that we have in Virginia don't apply to this project. And there was no details on how this was going to be paid for, and so the Airports Authority, because they control the Toll Road, want to raise tolls to, according to their own projections, $10 or $15 more over the course of time. That's totally unacceptable," LeMunyon said.

LeMunyon would like to see the reform for MWAA and for the agreement between the state and MWAA to finish Phase 2 of the project.

How to pay for it: "The funding should come principally from the federal government. They happen to be broke at the moment, but this train is serving the international airport of the nation's capital. It serves not just our region, it serves the entire country, and, in fact, the entire world. The problem with the funding structure now is that it falls disproportionately hard on local people in Fairfax County."

OFF-SHORE DRILLING

LeMunyon: "We need as many choices as we have to meet our energy needs, not just statewide but nationally. We are too much hostage to foreign energy sources ..." LeMunyon said.

He said he voted to take the first step toward hosting a wind farm off the coast of Virginia, and supports off-shore drilling. He also agrees with the governor that the royalties from these projects should be applied to transportation.

Clingan: "I am completely in favor of the utilization of wind power on Virginia's eastern shore in order to develop a power source that we have not yet harnessed to its full potential," he said.

He said he sees an opportunity for Virginia to create jobs by manufacturing the wind turbines within the state lines. He said he's hesitant about offshore drilling because of the oil spill in the Gulf Coast in 2010.

ACCEPTING FEDERAL FUNDING

LeMunyon: "The federal government needs to set its priorities just as we were able to do in Richmond and balance its budget. Now it needs to decide whether rail to the international airport that serves the nation's capital is a high enough priority to fund. Eric makes a good point, we don't want to leave the program half finished, but it's the federal government that's the principal beneficiary. This is not a bailout.

[Beyond the specific issue of the Rail to Dulles, do you believe the Virginia state government should take money from the federal government to help for its general needs?] "For transportation, absolutely yes. We're paying a federal gas tax. The citizens of Virginia who pay that tax deserve that money, I would think prinicipally for federal highways, like in our interstate system and our U.S. highways, probably not to pay my street, for example."

[Apart from transportation?] "Uncle Sam certainly ought to pay for every mandate it makes to the states. ... When you look at the state budget, the biggest challenge we face in Virginia ... are unfunded mandates from the federal government. ... that is the fastest growing part of the state budget and it is frankly crowding out things like transportation and education. That's got to stop."

Clingan: Clingan criticized LeMunyon for appearing on FOX News' "Your World" with Neil Cavuto and writing a piece for the Wall Street Journal to promote the Repeal Amendment legislation he proposed last session.

"The problem with this Repeal Amendment is it would allow for other states to basically tell Virginia that Virginia doesn't get the benefit of certain federal laws, such as the federal gas tax, for example, that Delegate LeMunyon mentioned. The Repeal Amendment that was proposed by Delegate LeMunyon specifically would be the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution. And what it said was that if two-thirds of the states vote in favor of nullifying any federal law or regulation, that law or regulation would be nullified. We're not talking about future laws or regulations. As a lawyer I can tell you that when it says any law or regulation, that means any, which means now you're talking about Clean Air and Water Act, EPA, you're talking about Voting Rights Act, you're talking about American with Disabilities Act, you're talking about educational reforms, you're talking about things that the federal government provides to the states because we have a federalist program, a federalist system of government," he said.

To watch the full debate, click here.