Candidate Survey - 2013
THIS QUESTIONAIRE REQUESTS YOUR POSITIONS ON SALT’S TOP LEGISLATIVE ISSUES FOR 2013-14. Your responses will be shared with our members and others via mailings and our website (www.s-a-l-t.org ) as a helpful guide in their choice of candidates. Your answers will not be abbreviated or taken out of context. Please return your answers by August 10th by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you for your commitment to public service and for your willingness to share your opinions with SALT.
Candidate: Jennifer Boysko
District: 86th
1.Inflation Indexing of TANF Benefits is a Fairness Issue: Currently, a family of three in Virginia receives a fifth of the federal poverty level and has seen only one TANF increase since 1985. At $269 a month average for a family Virginia ranks 35th in TANF payments. Indexing would prevent further erosion of recipients’ ability to meet basic needs of children in their own home or in relative care and can be funded from the federal TANF block grant. Shouldn’t Virginia take steps to alleviate poverty and to protect families. Strong families are as important to Virginia’s future as schools and roads. What steps would you support to ensure a meaningful level of time-limited assistance to Virginia’s needy families? Please explain.
ANSWER: Yes, I would support indexing the TANF Benefits for inflation.
2. Tax & Budget: All Should Pay Their Fair Share. We know from local research across Virginia that the recent State budget cuts have cut into real, quality of life spending by local governments: libraries are closed, police have lost staff positions, teachers have lost their jobs, and class sizes increase for public school students. At the same time, too many (two-thirds) large corporations operating in our State get by with paying very little in corporate income tax due to tax breaks, subsidies, and clever work by their tax lawyers. How will you make sure that individuals and corporations at the upper end of our income scale pay their fair share so that we can avoid painful service cuts in the future?
ANSWER: I support the review of tax preferences for their continued relevance in today's economy, as many of these credits, deductions, or exemptions were enacted based on the Commonwealth's economy - and its budget - at the time. I also support sunset dates on any new tax preference legislation for corporate taxpayers.
3. Bring about effective change in the criminal justice system: Those who remain in contact with loved ones on the outside are less likely, studies show, to return to a life of crime after serving their time. So why does Virginia make it so hard for inmates to phone their families? SALT believes that charges should be “just and reasonable”. A small reform, perhaps, but lower rates might help prisoners go straight. What will you do to reform the justice system so communities are safer, victims are respected, and offenders are transformed?
ANSWER: I support SALT’s efforts to reform telephone charges for inmates. I would also like to see our prisons increase efforts with non-profits such as organizations like Dhamma Brothers and their work to help the inmates while they are incarcerated. http://www.dhammabrothers.com/ResourceLinks.htm
4. Support of Operation Backpack for TANF Families-- This allowance would permit children living in poverty to acquire the needed school supplies and clothing essential for returning to school & equipping children to learn. Would you support to give children in deepest poverty an even start?
ANSWER: Absolutely, many organizations and individuals in the Herndon area support the Backpack program. I would be a strong supporter.
5. Rescind the Federal Lifetime TANF Ban for Ex-Drug Offenders: Lifting the ban eliminates for ex-offenders (whose offense was solely drug possession) the disqualification from receipt of TANF federal transitional assistance needed to care for family members, increases the chances of gainful employment of ex-offenders. To us lifting the ban is a matter of fairness, as it serves to provide basic Re-entry program services that reduce recidivism and save states money. This ban penalizes children of drug felons. Do we want to be a society that requires children to pay for the misdeed(s) of their parents? Do you support extending the eligibility of ex-offenders for food stamps to TANF benefits as well? Please explain
ANSWER: I support extending eligibility of ex-offenders for food stamps to TANF benefits as well in a monitored way, especially when children are involved. As you said, children should not be penalized for their parents’ misdeeds or struggles.
6. Refundable Virginia State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): The EITC higher income is pro-work, pro-business because it results in greater productivity and job satisfaction and less worker turnover. It is pro-family as well. SALT supports a Virginia Refundable EITC to enable hard working families to escape poverty. Approximately 570,000 Virginians live below the poverty level. No one working 40 hours a week should be poor. Do you support a refundable State earned income tax credit (EITC) based on 20% of the federal EITC for Virginia low income workers and their families? Yes/No. Please explain
ANSWER: Yes I support the measure. Would this require the individual to file for the return at tax time?
7. Transportation: The problem SALT sees with the taxes being put in place for funding our transportation needs is that they are regressive, causing low-income Virginians to pay a greater share of their income towards funding transportation. We find it bizarre to burden those with minimum resources for the purpose of making investments in Virginia’s roads. To mitigate the harm, there needs to be steps taken to assuage the pain. SALT recommends a refundable earned income credit or a targeted rebate program. Do you agree with and would you support that approach?
ANSWER: I think this is an interesting way to mitigate the effects on our most vulnerable residents. I’d like to learn more. How would they receive it?
8. Housing Trust Fund: Virginia has been identified as the 9th least affordable state in the nation according to the "2013 Out of Reach" report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. This standing is based on actual wages and rents in the Commonwealth. Last year, the General Assembly codified a state housing trust fund, joining 45 other states with similar funds, providing one time funding of $8M from the National Mortgage Settlement funds. Given the housing cost burdens faced by a substantial number of households throughout the state, would you support an ongoing source of revenue for the state housing trust fund? This fund would be used to address the significant shortage of safe, decent affordable rental and homeownership opportunities for thousands of low and moderate income families throughout the Commonwealth."
ANSWER: Yes I would support an ongoing source of revenue for the state housing trust fund. I participated in the Northern VA regional meeting jointly sponsored by the DHCD, VHDA and the Virginia Housing Coalition where we discussed the structure and uses of the Trust fund.
9. Medicaid Expansion Health Insurance: Expansion for 400,000 low income, uninsured Virginians with federal funding to pay for 100% of the cost for the first 3 years. Expanding Medicaid for a healthy Virginia is the right choice. Do you agree? Explain.
ANSWER: I strongly support Medicaid expansion to insure the 400,000 currently uninsured Virginians. I would like to see mental health included in the coverage. Additionally, we need to address the needs of our most severely disabled residents. Currently, Virginia’s eligibility requirements are so strict that we are 47th in Medicaid spending for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
YOUR ISSUES: What are some issues you feel strongly about that you would like to share with your SALT constituents?
My father is an Episcopal priest and my mother worked as a registered nurse while I was growing up. They raised me with a strong sense of social justice. I have spent years working with our neighbors who are facing all of these challenges. I understand the difficulties they are facing on a daily basis. I will continue to advocate on their behalf. Education, health care and human services are all connected in so many ways and it is not only important, but fiscally responsible to streamline the issues in order to create the most efficient and effective solution. I will also continue to work toward creating long-term transportation and infrastructure solutions, two vital components to the quality of life and economic health of our region.
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions!