How we should choose a lieutenant governor

This week, former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore officially launches his race to be the next governor of Virginia. His opponent, Tim Kaine, started last week.

While the Kilgore-Kaine race will certainly draw the most attention, the race for lieutenant governor should not be ignored.

Traditionally, the office of lieutenant governor has been a springboard for would-be governors. This may be why there are so many Virginia politicians who are seeking the post of lieutenant governor, a person who in other states serves more as the punch line for political jokes than anything else.

The Democrats have four candidates, three members of the House of Delegates and a former state senator. The Republicans have five would-be lieutenant governors. Of these five, two are not serious candidates. (One of them is running on the fact that ten years ago he was a lawyer for Paula Jones. Really.)

The clear Republican front-runner is Sen. Bill Bolling from Hanover County. Bolling has been in the Senate since he defeated a 20-year Democrat incumbent in 1995. He has been on the Republican statewide candidate circuit for over two years, and has spent a lot of time in the Roanoke Valley. Bolling was in Roanoke again last week, officially kicking off his campaign.

Bolling has compiled a solid record of conservative votes in the Virginia Senate. Most recently, he was the leader of the senators opposed to Mark Warner’s record tax increase of 2004. Bolling is, in fact, the only candidate for lieutenant governor who consistently opposed the Warner tax increase. With Virginia headed for a surplus this year that is almost as large as Warner’s tax increase, Bolling is vindicated in his principled opposition.

In fact, Bolling has taken the side of Virginia taxpayers before. He supported efforts to eliminate the car tax, to eliminate the sales tax on food, and to eliminate the death tax in Virginia. Had Bolling been governor for the past three years, the tax burden on Virginians would be substantially lower than it is now. Moreover, by desiring not just to lower certain kinds of taxes, but to eliminate them, Bolling shows he understands that it should be difficult, very difficult, to increase the tax burden after it’s been lightened.

Bolling’s conservative record in the Senate extends to other issues as well. He is a consistent voice in support of saving the lives of pre-born children. In fact, he has scored a 100 percent rating from the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia. He strongly supports Second Amendment rights and Virginia’s Right to Work law.

In his official announcement, Bolling made two new proposals, one good idea, and one very bad idea.

The good idea is to freeze property tax assessments for low and middle income Virginians over the age of 65. This will prevent older Virginians from having to sell their family home or family farm because property tax assessments have gone up. His proposal will be especially helpful to seniors who live in rapidly growing parts of Virginia, such as the parts of the Roanoke Valley that are quickly changing from rural to suburban.

Bolling would also bar “illegal” immigrants in Virginia from paying in-state tuition at state colleges and universities. The rationale for this proposal is that slots for in-state students ought to be reserved for taxpaying Virginians. The problem with this rationale is that migrants are, in fact, taxpayers. If they buy anything in Virginia, they pay sales tax, as well as all the other taxes that are part of the purchase price. If they rent property in Virginia, they pay property tax, since it is included in their rent. If they own a vehicle, they pay the portion of the car tax that is still left.

About the only state tax that migrants may not pay is income tax. If this is enough to disqualify them from paying in-state tuition, then, logically, Virginians who don’t pay income tax (which would include a lot of 18- and 19-year-old college students) should also be barred from paying in-state tuition.

Moreover, migrant labor contributes mightily to the economy of Virginia, as it does in every other part of this country. As a nation, we do not have to like our dependence on foreigners to do jobs Americans will not do, but it makes no sense to punish the people who are doing these jobs. There is no evidence to suggest that the presence of migrants at Virginia colleges and universities is doing the institutions any harm.

Most importantly, supporting those who are trying to get ahead by getting an education is a conservative value, which Bolling should join to his other conservative values.