John Bell for Virginia

Issues

  • Fiscally Conservative

    We should support financial policies that are fiscally conservative.

    We should support finding efficiencies and cutting out waste from government budgets. Tax increases should be a last resort.

    Elected officials should be fiscal watchdogs for our money.

    We should urge all NOVA Delegates to take a pledge to work with each other--regardless of party affiliation--to ensure we get a fair share of our taxes back from Richmond.

     

     

  • Economy

    Virginia must immediately take a more pro-active stance on Economic Development by creating a highly supportive environment for new jobs and fostering a more competitive marketplace for small business owners to succeed and prosper. The times demand strong yet thoughtful action.

    To develop and sustain a robust economy and increase a consistent revenue stream that will support Transportation and Educational improvements we must decide to:

    - Make the support of small business owners a high state priority.

    - Develop renewable energy industries and electronic medical records that will save money and enhance the lives of all Virginians. Currently, thousands of new job opportunities in these industries remain untapped and unexplored.

    - Give small business owners a well deserved seat at the “opportunity table" through streamlining government contract bidding as well as promoting private sector performance capabilities.

    - Develop and implement pro-active mentoring programs for all small business owners that provide real-time answers to real-time issues.

    - Create enhanced and efficient programs through which small owners can access much needed capitalization at competitive rates.

    - Promote state of the art on-line software programs that provide no cost, one-on-one accounting and financial planning support.

    - Explore participation of small businesses in our current state healthcare insurance program so the risk of catastrophic illness/injuries will not overwhelm small businesses. This could drive down the cost of health insurance for the state and for small business owners.

    - Encourage ALL elected officials to make sound Business Development progress and the support of Small Business a TOP priority of the state of Virginia for 2009 and beyond.

     

     

  • Transportation

    "Prince William residents have the worst commute in America" -Washington Post

    www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/03/ST2009020300093.html

     

    Bob Marshall has spent his time pursuing a rigid social agenda and has ignored our transportation problems. Now we're all paying the price with long stressful commutes every day.

     

    As a commuter, Major John Bell (ret.) believes we need to:

     
    - Pursue transportation solutions that ensure Virginia no longer faces a transportation funding death spiral. www.itstimevirginia.org/Index.aspx

    - Institute a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system on I-66 and I-395. BRT can be implemented at a fraction of the cost and time of rail extension.

    - Ensure revenues collected for transportation actually go to funding transportation improvements.

    - Increase transportation investment to get Virginia out of a “maintenance only” status.

    - Propose VDOT adoption of the Practical Design Concept pioneered by the State of Missouri in order to maximize investment funding. To view Missouri's Practical Design Concept visit their website: www.modot.mo.gov/business/PracticalDesign.htm

    - Find solutions that require little to no funding, such as creating a “Slug West” program to export the popular practice of ridesharing used on the I-395 corridors to I-66 and the Dulles Toll Road.

    - Pursue policies that provide incentives for companies that offer regular telecommuting and alternate shifts.

     

     

  • Education

    Northern Virginia’s number one product is knowledge capital produced by a high quality workforce. The key to delivering a high quality work force and maintaining this asset is ensuring our children receive a first rate education.

    Major John Bell (ret.) has a son at Freedom High School and OPPOSES proposals to cut critical reading programs, cut special education programs, and charge fees for extra-curricular activities.

    As a Delegate, Major John Bell (ret.) will:

    - Ensure our children receive a first-rate education

    - Ensure our teachers are fairly paid

    - Protect funding for high performing schools

    - Take aggressive action to improve lower performing schools

    - Fight for Alternative Energy funding that President Obama is proposing to implement clean energy measures in VA public school facilities & use the savings to offset current and projected school budget shortfalls

    - Work to maximize corporate sponsorship and involvement in science and technology education

    - Initiate a study of school bus usage and seek to use smaller & less costly vehicles if practical

    - Work to reduce class sizes to provide an environment in which teachers and students can succeed.

    - Work with the VEA to develop and implement programs that decrease dropout rates statewide

    - Be an outspoken advocate for early childhood education

    - Fight tirelessly to minimize the disastrous impacts of the so-called “No Child Left Behind”

     

     

  • Health Care

    As a Delegate in Richmond, Major John Bell (ret.) will support opening the State Employee insurance pool to small businesses. This will increase the size of the pool and further reduce risk, which will bring down the cost for state government to provide insurance to its employees and make health insurance affordable for small businesses in Virginia.

     

     

  • Campaign Finance Reform

    Support full disclosure of campaign donations.

    Support campaign finance reform across Virginia.

    Don't waste time on Bob Marshall's partisan claim that the Obama campaign received hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from 7-Eleven cash cards.

     

     

  • Immigration

    Major John Bell (ret.) believes that illegal immigration is wrong and criminal.

    To effectively combat illegal immigration, we need to go after the source—employers who provide jobs to illegal immigrants. If jobs are available only to people legally allowed to work in the United States, there will be little or no incentive for illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. without proper documentation. While section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act takes positive steps to streamline collaboration between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies in regards to immigration law, it will be a losing battle to go after millions of scattered and “underground” illegal immigrants on an individual basis.

    Instead, these agencies should work together and focus their efforts to crack down on much more visible, traceable, stationary targets: businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. These agencies already interact with business entities on a regular basis regarding other issues, so they should be able to track their hiring practices much more easily than they will be able to track millions of individual illegal immigrants.

    Furthermore, Major John Bell (ret.) believes that we must ensure that 287(g) does not open the door to potential abuses. Racial profiling WILL NOT be tolerated. Local law enforcement officers need to be properly educated and trained about the rights of immigrants, legal and illegal. They must learn the proper way to investigate potential infractions of immigration law both in individual and employer cases. Local departments must also be regularly monitored and evaluated to ensure that individuals legally in the U.S. are not harassed or subjected to undue inspection.

     

     

  • Gun Rights

    Major John Bell (ret.) supports the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms. As a former military officer, he has used weapons and carried them for an extended periods of time. So, he understands and supports the right to bear arms. He also advocates closing the gun show loophole. Currently, many crimes in New Jersey and New York are being traced to weapons purchased at gun shows in Virginia. Major Bell supports closing this loophole that allows criminals easy access to dangerous weapons. However, it is not necessary for antique weapons to be held to the same guidelines. Common sense laws should be enforced to ensure that law abiding citizens can exercise their Constitution rights AND that society is not put in danger by weapons falling into the wrong hands.

     

     



Paid for by the John Bell for the House of Delegates Campaign