Bert F. Dodson Jr.: We need to create clean technology jobs, provide broadband access to rural areas, build and repair roads and bridges, and invest in education. We also need to work with the business community to eliminate unnecessary regulation.
Bert F. Dodson Jr.: No public school monies should be diverted to individuals who want to utilize private schools for the education of their children. Our public schools are under pressure at the present and we can not drain additional resources away from them. I support choice, but we should not take money from public schools.
Bert F. Dodson Jr.: To address the concerns of our Commonwealth from the 12 years of local government experience I had on Lynchburg City Council and my 35 years of managing a family-owned business to make Virginia an even better place to run a business and raise a family.
Bert F. Dodson Jr.: My many years in local government and my entire adult lifetime running a family-owned business. We need more General Assembly members with a business background rather than a legal background.
Tom Garrett : Other than employees of the Commonwealth, the State of Virginia does not create jobs directly. What Virginia can do, and does very well, is create a long term climate that attracts and promotes business. I believe that business and commerce goes where business and commerce are welcome. The state’s role in promoting business is to reduce or eliminate the three main detriments to the creation and growth of jobs in our region… taxation, regulation, and litigation.
One issue that will come up in the Senate is to pass a Constitutional Right to Work Amendment, with an attendant Right to Secret Ballot. These are excellent examples of legislation that attract and promote business, while protecting the rights of our working Virginians.
Under Governor Bob McDonnell’s leadership, Virginia is recognized as the best state in America to do business. We can do even better, and we must. Creation and growth of jobs is the single most important issue in this election.
Tom Garrett : I believe in school choice for our K through 12 students, but my reasoning is more involved than a simple declaration.
First and foremost, I believe that the parents of students will make better decisions on the education of their children and young adults, than a central governing body in Richmond.
Second, Virginia already has school choice among our institutions of higher education and it is working extremely well. It is called the Tuition Assistance Grant. As a result of TAG, Virginia has a system of public and private colleges and universities, of which we can be rightly proud. Virginia boosts of both public and private colleges and universities that consistently rank in the top-ten of our nation’s schools. TAG allows parents and students a choice about the college education that suits them best.
Third, I will always believe that competition is good. It works in commerce and it works in the business of education.
Finally from an economic viewpoint, school choice increases the per capita resources available to students in the public school system. The math is simple. If a parent elects to send a student to a private school or home-school, one student has been removed from the public school system, but 2/3 of the funding for that student remains in the public school system. That funding can be applied to educating the students that remain in public schools. The result is that there is actually more money available per capita for education than what would have been available in the one-for-one methodology of resourcing that we now use.
Tom Garrett : I believe strongly in a limited state government that lives within its means, governs within the bounds of the constitution, and considers all the consequences of its legislation. I believe state government should concentrate on its core, essential functions of public safety, education, and transportation. We absolutely must streamline all other functions to ensure these essential ones are fully funded.
Therefore, I promise to read and question every piece of legislation to ensure that there are no unintended consequences, unfunded mandates, or redundant or repressive regulation that disadvantages local government or the citizens and businesses of the Commonwealth.
Tom Garrett : Because I believe in, and will protect with all my abilities, our rights and privileges as citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America. Those rights are given to us by God and the Founding Fathers of this great nation. We have earned them simply by being an American and a Virginian.
Campaign Address:
Friends of Bert Dodson
P.O. Box 464
Lynchburg va. 24505
Campaign phone:
(434) 851-4885
Campaign Email:
bert@dodsonforsenate.com
Phone (direct):
(434) 851-4885
Incumbent?:
no
Age:
58
Career:
Pest Management
Campaign Address:
P.O. Box 33, Bumpass, Va. 23024
Campaign phone:
(540) 661-7522
Campaign Email:
garrettforsenate@gmail.com
Phone (direct):
(540) 661-7522
Incumbent?:
No, the 22nd is a new Virginia Senate District
Age:
39
Career:
Commonwealth Attorney, Louisa County
Biographical Information
