On the concerns of Working Families

Hello Rapp Up! Readers. As promised, we return here with the rest of our conversation with Delegate Sam Rasoul (if you missed it, read Part 1 here).  So enjoy!  And please pass along to your friends or encourage them to subscribe or follow us on Facebook.

Funding Education or pushing Tax Cuts (again)?

“There are so many investments we could be making in our infrastructure, in particular funding education and other core services,” Rasoul argued. Moreover, these investments, “disproportionally help rural counties.” For example, he explained, “we tentatively have agreement (in the general assembly) for about a 7% increase in teacher pay”. And because the state picks up a greater share of those added costs for poorer counties (as calculated under the Local Composite Index funding mechanism which is based on counties’ average income and property taxes), “they pay less than the wealthier localities. It’s more equitable! The additional funding that we’ve collectively been pushing for in education, as well as significant dollars going into mental health, will likewise disproportionately help rural jurisdictions.”

Therefore, it is critical, Rasoul continued, “that we do not pass any of these large tax cuts that are ill-advised right now, because they will only benefit the wealthy in Virginia... Last year we gave four billion dollars’ worth of tax cuts, including eliminating the state grocery tax. I was in favor of that as it [the grocery tax] is the most regressive tax we have. However, further tax cuts would be a mistake. They will be carried in perpetuity, permanently making the pie smaller, and therefore negatively impacting poor localities, mainly rural localities. That is not the direction we should be heading in.”

The Problem with the Local Composite Index (LCI)

We asked Rasoul about how to help small rural counties, like Rappahannock, which lose out on significant state funding because, even though they have large segments of poorer residents, they also have a small number of very wealthy households. Those high incomes and property values dramatically skew their counties’ LCI score to the lowest share of state funding. Is there no way to fine-tune the LCI to reduce this inequity, we asked?

Rasoul was pessimistic. “Once you do open up that formula there will be winners and losers, and that’s why people are hesitant to open that up,” he responded. “You can fiddle with the {LCI} score, but it means someone will get less money.” Another approach, Rasoul suggested, is to put more money into the “at-risk add-on which is based on the number of children who are at risk based on socioeconomics. It can be quite significant. We took the at-risk add-on several years ago from 12% to, I believe, under Ralph Northam 36%, and there continues to be a push to take that to 49%. To me, from an equity perspective, that is probably the top thing you can do in the short term.”

Affordable Higher Education for Rural Students?

Virginia needs to do more to pay its portion [of higher education costs], Rasoul emphasized, “and we are just not where we used to be. Higher ed funding took a hit after the great recession, and never fully recovered.” (As New Rural Virginia has pointed out, those cuts have been costly: Virginia’s state spending on higher education is significantly less than the national average despite our relative wealth. Moreover, only a very small proportion of students receive Pell grants, which means that students from rural and other less well-off areas are under-represented.)

Acknowledging the problem, Rasoul said, “We have been encouraging our institutions of higher education to think through how they spend their money, especially on capital expenditures - more on-line vs more brand-new buildings. I believe that this year’s budget will have a near freeze on tuition.” As for the large out-of-state enrollment at state universities, Rasoul noted, “We have tried to hold the institutions accountable as they bring in more out-of-state students (who pay much higher tuition). We have put in provisions to encourage a good minimum number of in-state students, aiming for a 75/25 split {between in-state and out-of-state}. But many universities are closer to 65/35. We are seeing so many very well-qualified students not getting accepted.”

What’s on the line in November’s election

When Democrats controlled both houses and the Governorship under Northam, Rasoul reflected, “we did a fair job of listening to all voices. We were pragmatic in our policy decision and made progress where it hadn’t been made in a couple of decades. I worry, however, given this political environment, what it would look like should the other side have complete control over both chambers and the Governor’s mansion. Especially with some of the rhetoric we’ve heard on hot potato issues like education and other social issues.”

Still, Rasoul insisted, voters can be receptive when you share good information and “avoid self-righteousness in tone and tenor”. He described a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting in his region where “in the heat of the battle about Medicaid expansion, a conservative voice piped up” with objections. When Rasoul explained that “90% of the funding was going to come from Federal sources, Virginians were not going to get taxed for it, the region would receive $50 million and thousands of jobs would be created”, the resistance faded. “No one ever explained it to us like this”, was the response.

Rasoul concluded, “there’s so much for us to rally around when we approach things the right way. I think we can bring people over.” To which New Rural Virginia would add: good listening is a two-way street – it is just as important for voters to really listen to all of the candidates, rather than the sound bites...

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