2023 Virginia Beach Elections: Questions for candidates in Virginia House District 99

Ed. — The following are responses to questions posed by The Independent News to candidates in the election for the new State House District 99 seat. Answers to our questions in this series generally are not edited, aside from obvious punctuation issues, spacing and formatting, or for clarity. Candidates appear in ballot order. Remaining copies of the Sunday, Sept. 24, print edition containing the complete guide may still be available on some of our secondary racks through Sunday, Oct. 22. 

• Please reach John Doucette, the editor, with any questions or concerns via email.

ANNE FERRELL TATA [R]

• Residence: Linkhorn Park/Bay Colony
• Age: 62
• Occupation: Christian media professional and former medical sales representative
• Military Service/Education: B.S., Florida State University, CIVIC and Sorensen Institute
• Endorsements: Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares
• Phone: (757) 213-5193
• Website: teamtata.org
• Email: info@teamtata.org
• Social Media: @anneferrelltata82 on Facebook and @anneferrelltata on Instagram

What are your specific qualifications to serve in the General Assembly?  I currently serve in the House of Delegates representing our district, the 82nd, which was redrawn into the 99th in the recent redistricting. I serve on the committees of Education, Transportation, and Communications, Technology & Innovation. My subcommittees include Early Childhood/Innovation, K-12, Highway Safety & Policy, and Transportation Infrastructure and Funding.

Although it was my first term, I was very successful in securing millions of dollars of funding for stormwater management and resilience. I was also a leader on issues facing our veterans, fighting antisemitism and discrimination, and helping with transitions that foster children face.  

I am a strong supporter of our many small businesses and was honored to be named the 2022 Freshman Legislator of the Year by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. My husband, Bob, is a former Naval officer and we raised our four children right here in Virginia Beach.

What, to you, is the most important issue facing your district and how will you address it in office? Our most important issue continues to be economics.  Although our small businesses in our district have made great strides since the pandemic, high national inflation, a difficult labor market, and rising interest rates have made it difficult to keep business doors open and almost impossible to expand or start new businesses.  I voted to lighten the tax burden on our small businesses and to give permanent tax relief to families, but it was stopped in the Democratic Senate.

We have great law enforcement partners in Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate and the rest of our public safety heroes who have done a remarkable job keeping our city, neighborhoods, and businesses safe.  This is critical to making sure our economic engine continues to thrive.

What are your three main legislative priorities?

1. First, I will continue to support small businesses and taxpayers. National pressures on business are almost unprecedented and access to capital and the cost of doing business has skyrocketed.  Virginia’s tax code taxes minimum wage workers at the highest income tax rate and it taxes businesses more than double the rate of neighboring North Carolina.  We must modernize our tax code to be competitive in the future.
2. Also, I will defend our crime fighters and first responders. We made great strides in reversing some of the criminal first–the victim–last policies of the previous administration, but there is more work to do. Many commonsense reforms like “truth in sentencing,” stopping early release of violent felons, and cracking down on drug dealers who kill people with fentanyl were stopped by the Senate. We will continue the fight for these reforms.
3. We also need to restore parents as the leader in the education of their children. Parents matter, and we need to remind the school administrations to respect that truth.

How will you help ensure job creation and economic vitality? Republican’s great victories in 2021 have made a big difference.  

Virginia’s unemployment rate is at record levels and our Governor has certainly brought in jobs.  Salaries need to keep pace, and with tax reform and strategic industrial growth, we can sustain these high employment levels and raise incomes to help families meet their economic challenges.  We also need to cut the cost of energy, which is a driver of inflation and hurts businesses and families alike.

How will you support local efforts to address sea level rise and recurrent flooding? I helped secure $10 million for flood mitigation for Virginia Beach in the state budget.  Recurrent flooding is a multi-faceted issue in Virginia Beach and requires a multi-pronged approach to address it.   The citizens of Virginia Beach passed a bond referendum which authorized half-billion dollars of flood mitigation projects throughout the city.  The city and state will work together to make sure these efforts are on time and budgeted accurately. 

How will you support public education? Education is a priority for me.  My mom, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and several other family members were or are teachers.  Unfortunately, the government doesn’t always give teachers the curriculum or tools needed to help students succeed. The Virginia Literacy Act we passed in 2022 revolutionized reading instruction in Virginia schools. Parents have increased online access to literacy development at home. I believe in celebrating excellence in education and concentrating on the basics and not political ideology. Every child can succeed.

Do you support access to sexual and reproductive health care for women, including birth control and legal abortion access in Virginia? I support reproductive health care for women which covers a broad range of services including pre-natal care and maternal care. Virginia’s infant mortality rate is still higher than the national average and we must do better.  At 4 months of pregnancy, a baby can feel pain, and the sex of the baby is discovered, and most Virginians agree that limiting abortions after that point is reasonable, with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

Virginia Beach plans to ask the General Assembly to support a new district voting system, either by charter change or general law change. Will you work with the delegation and across party lines to support this? I don’t get ahead of the city and their requests in their legislative package. Before committing to a vote, I want to see what they pass and discuss it with my constituents prior to the legislative session.

CAT A. PORTERFIELD [D]

• Residence: North End
• Age: 53
• Occupation: Realtor/Property Manager
• Military Service/Education: High school graduate
• Endorsements: People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood and Virginia Sen. Aaron Rouse
• Phone: (757) 323-6430
• Website: catporterfield.com
• Email: porterfield4vb@gmail.com
• Social Media: @cat4vb on Facebook, @porterfield4vb on Instagram and @porterfieldcat on X, formerly Twitter

What are your specific qualifications to serve in the General Assembly? I reflect the demographic/socioeconomic background of the average Virginia Beach citizen. That’s true representative leadership. Like the majority of people in my district, I am impacted by issues such as the lack of affordable housing, quality public education, and affordable and accessible healthcare. When you have experienced financial struggle, you are more able to represent the majority.  

As a former journalist, editor, and newspaper publisher, I bring a particular set of skills, among them –  clarity in communication. I have the ability to quickly cut through the nonsense and get to the bottom of an issue. I honed this skill working with elected officials, can speak their language, and will get things done in Richmond for my district.

What, to you, is the most important issue facing your district and how will you address it in office? Our biggest issue is more than important, it’s existential. Reckless development: This is exacerbating flooding issues right in the face of the threat of rising sea levels and stormwater. The next big storm could hit tomorrow, yet we continue to eliminate stands of old-growth trees and carelessly allow more concrete to be poured eliminating much of our natural defenses against flooding. Not every structure needs a concrete footprint, especially along the coast. As the city faces the largest threat of catastrophic flooding on the East Coast, we need to be hyper-vigilant about the environmental impact of any proposed development. We have to start there before we turn to taxpayers to fund another mediocre “solution.” We can not let representatives who take large donations from developers, permit us to be developed into extinction.

 What are your three main legislative priorities?

1. Reproductive rights. Bodily autonomy and how dangerously close we are to losing this right based on a minority belief system. Any legislator who wishes to control the reproductive rights of women is a legislator we should be watching with concern. I was protected by Roe V/ Wade for my entire reproductive life. My adult daughters and granddaughter lost that protection. We can’t lose this protection in Virginia. And it’s the first thing they will do if they gain control. We must secure this right for Virginia’s future.
2. The financial abuse of Virginians needs to end. Dominion Energy pours millions into Virginia elections and charges some of the highest rates in the country. Virginians deserve relief from this, and the financial abuse perpetrated by toll companies, arrangements between municipalities and the DMV to freeze license plate renewals, and cash bail. These are just some of Virginia’s “junk fees” and they only apply to lower-income people.
3. I watched what damage Republican legislation like NCLB did to our educators and our kids. I’ve seen many a charter school fail leaving families struggling to figure out the next step. Public schools are magical spaces that deserve our time, attention, and support. Let’s undo the damage caused by NCLB and free up our teachers from teaching to a high-stakes test. Let’s also stop throwing political obstacles in their way. This current climate in our schools has cost us great teachers and also deterred those who might have chosen the profession.

How will you help ensure job creation and economic vitality? Not all job creation is good job creation. I would work with other delegates to ensure we are attracting the right businesses to Virginia and Virginia Beach that also pay labor appropriately. Virginia Beach workers are already struggling to afford to live in the city where they work. We need businesses that pay labor fairly, not businesses that pay so little that their employees still qualify for public assistance.

How will you support local efforts to address sea level rise and recurrent flooding? Unpave it! Reward property owners with a tax credit for un-paving driveways and patios. Paving products could be recycled or used to build artificial reefs. Incentivize keeping old-growth trees and maintaining green space. Lower taxes on undeveloped properties.  Hold engineers and developers accountable for correcting new flooding issues related to bad development.

Developers should fund a trust to pay for new pump stations needed to support over-devlopment. This should not be the taxpayers’ burden. 

How will you support public education? By protecting it – recognizing that our current administration’s push for “parent’s rights” is just a veiled move toward the privatization of education. For many parents, as well as people who don’t feel their property taxes should support schools, this looks really good. But what’s important for parents to understand – is that School Choice and Parental choice aren’t in agreement. The school has the ultimate choice of whether to allow your child to attend. So, those children who had educational plans, behavioral issues, or test scores below what the school desires – are these private/charter schools going to accept them? Lastly, school vouchers won’t fund a private education, not even close.

Do you support access to sexual and reproductive health care for women, including birth control and legal abortion access in Virginia? This is not a political issue – but extreme religious zealots, with the assistance of the Republican party, have successfully made it one. Any decision for reproductive care needs to be strictly between a healthcare provider and their patient. I don’t want the government in your bedroom or your exam room and that’s what this boils down to. And it’s slippery slope stuff – if the government can tell a woman what to do with her body, the precedent is set for men to lose bodily autonomy.

Virginia Beach plans to ask the General Assembly to support a new district voting system, either by charter change or general law change. Will you work with the delegation and across party lines to support this? Absolutely. This is what our citizens want and overwhelmingly support. The 10-1 system gave us the most diverse city council in the history of our city.

This council is proving they have care and concern for our delicate environment, have taken an interest in protecting history, and have made themselves more accessible to the people they represent. This is true representative government in action.

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