1) Energy affordability, reliability, security, and sustainability are essential to manufacturing competitiveness. Do you support an “all of the above” strategy for energy use in Virginia, including naturalgas, nuclear, wind, solar, and biomass?

2) Do you support reforming the VA Clean Economy Act to ensure that the average price of electricity for industrial customers does not exceed the average for all Southern states?

3) Do you support transitioning to a 100% electric-only economy for all business, residential, and transportation needs by 2050?

4) If you answered “YES,” will you support transitioning Virginia to a competitive electricity market (deregulating and opening the market to competition)?

5) Virginia’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) participation results in an estimated $170+ million annual tax on electricity consumers. Do you support its repeal?

6) Please rank how state energy Research & Development spending should be prioritized (1 = Top Priority)

Solar

Offshore/Onshore Wind

Energy Storage

Nuclear

Natural Gas

1) Will you support legislation or regulation allowing the state and/or localities to establish duplicative or more restrictive environment, health, or safety regulations than authorized by Federal regulations?

2) Environmental activists have started to ban legal and Federally regulated products from the market and state procurement (e.g., polystyrene, single-use plastic packaging, chemicals, etc.). Do you support banning Federally regulated products from being sold or manufactured in Virginia?

3) No state participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) gives its citizen environmental regulatory boards authority over individual company permit approval except Virginia. Would you support repealing that provision for the Air, Water, and Waste Boards?

4) Do you support environmental policies, including “one-stop” permitting, that streamline the regulatory and permitting process to allow for greater operating flexibility, predictability, certainty, and timely construction of environmentally sensitive facilities such as utility infrastructure, MFG operations, transportation infrastructure, etc.?

5) Will you support creating an option for environmental permittees where initial permit approvals can be conducted by certified Professional Engineers (PE) in addition to DEQ staff?

6) Environmental justice advocates want permitted businesses to mail written notice of “potential” environmental impacts to every citizen within a 1 mile radius of their property prior to applying for any environmental permit from DEQ. In some cases, this is tens of thousands of individuals and cost prohibitive. Do you support this change to Virginia’s environmental permitting programs?

7) Environmental advocates want to delegate “site suitability” determinations as part of environmental permit issuance responsibilities to DEQ environmental citizen boards (e.g., Air, Water, Waste Board). This creates a conflict with local government land use zoning authority. Do you support environmental citizen boards regulating site suitability?

8) The General Assembly has recently substantially expanded the exemption of regulations from compliance with the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA). This shortens the timeline for regulations to be developed and eliminates meaningful public input. Will you veto or amend any bill proposing to regulate Virginia business that is exempted from VAPA compliance?

1) VA MFG now ranks #38 in the US for total capital expenditures per employee largely due to the local Machinery & Tools Tax. Do you support eliminating this tax (total local government impact is $232 million annually)?

2) If you answered “Yes,” where would you offset the income “loss” to local government?

3) Do you support maintaining the state sales tax exemption on inputs into MFG?

4) Mandatory unitary combined reporting (“MUCR”) regulations are intended to accurately determine multistate business income attributable to economic activity in a State. Should VA mandate MUCR income tax filing on all multi-state corporations?

5) Manufacturers are increasingly forced to seek tax relief in Circuit Court regarding disputes with local Commissioners of Revenue, in both tangible personal property and real property assessments, because there is no formal appeals process to the State Tax Commissioner. Would you support instituting an appeals process to the State Tax Commissioner for industrial taxpayers?

1) Virginia’s entire state, regional, and local economic development system is essentially dedicated to recruiting new businesses to the Commonwealth. Virginia has minimal existing and small business services. Virginia ranks #44 in generating new entrepreneurs per year. Will you support efforts to restructure economic development resources to focus on small and existing businesses and business formation?

2) The VMA set a goal of expanding manufactured goods exports by 50% by 2025. In 2016, the General Assembly codified the Virginia International Trade Corporation (VITC) to leverage Federal, State, Local, non-profit, and private resources to meet this goal. The VITC was modeled after the successful VA Tourism Corp. However, the implementation was stalled and VEDP was given this responsibility but Virginia’s export ranking has remained almost unchanged. Will you revisit VITC implementation?

1) Virginia truck and semi-trailers (with 5+ axles) are limited to an 80,000 pound maximum gross weight limit on VA highways and interstates. New trucks and trailer technology can better distribute weight to reduce road damage and safely stop heavier loads. In order to improve transportation efficiency (less congestion) and MFG competitiveness, would you support legislation that would seek Federal increases in truck and semi-trailer maximum gross weights?

2) Virginia semi-trailers are limited to 53 feet. With lighter loads, these semi-trailers are often full before the truck and semi-trailer reaches its maximum gross weight limit. This is called “cubing out before weighing out.” Would you support increasing the length of semi-trailers to improve transportation efficiency?

1) Will you work with the VMA to qualify key candidates for DEQ, VDOLI, and other citizen boards, studies, and commissions?

2) The VMA Board of Directors is interested in holding two meetings per year with you to maintain direct dialogue on priority issues. Will you support this type of close working relationship?