Sen. Saslaw calls for more state funding for education

State Sen. Dick Saslaw (D-35th) urged a crowd of supporters and politicians at his re-election campaign kick-off May 16 at Kilroy’s to return the Virginia Assembly to Democratic control.

The 35th District includes parts of Falls Church, Annandale, Seven Corners, Bailey’s Crossroads, Lake Barcroft, Lincolnia, Merrifield, and Springfield.


Saslaw’s only opponent so far is Terry Modglin, of the Independent Green Party. In 2013, Modglin ran against Del. Alfonzo Lopez (D-49th), getting 21 percent of the vote.

If enough Democrats are elected statewide, and Saslaw returns as majority leader, he says will be able to prevent the passage of harmful bills, like the one vetoed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe that would have made it easier to possess automatic weapons. “Tell me why anyone needs a machine gun,” he said.

His top priorities for the next session include funding for K-12 schools and higher education.

Referring to the conflict over the school budget between the Fairfax County school board and Board of Supervisors, he said, “let me be as blunt as I can. It is not the fault of either the school board or board of supervisors. It’s us not doing our job in Richmond. We are not supplying the schools with the money that they need.”

And that means increasing state revenue. “We’re going to have to face up to the fact that the current tax structure in Virginia worked great for a rural state but does not work as well or doesn’t work at all for an urban state,” Saslaw said.

When Virginia recruits out-of-state businesses to relocate here, the state’s chief competitor is North Carolina, he said. If Virginia had the same income tax brackets as North Carolina, based on current incomes, Virginia would have taken in $24.5 billion last year, rather than $20 billion.

Saslaw also cited the need to restructure higher education to vastly reduce student debt and suggested free tuition for qualifying low-income students.