ARTICLES

Candidates seek votes at St. Bridget’s forum

By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian

“The measure of our faith is how we treat the widows and orphans and the aliens of our society,” said Paul Amrhein, chairman of the human concerns committee of St. Bridget Church, Richmond, as he signaled the start of a Legislative Candidate Forum featuring the three candidates for House of Delegates District 68.

The event on Oct. 29, sponsored by the Virginia Catholic Conference and Richmond Sowers of Justice, sought answers to specific questions dealing with social justice issues including state funding of abortion and expansion of the death penalty.

Candidates who answered the questions were Bill Grogan, Manoli Loupassi, a former member of the Richmond City Council, and Katherine Waddell. Each gave an opening statement and sometimes repeated these remarks in answering the questions.

Mrs. Waddell, the incumbent, began with saying she had “a proven record of accomplishment” in the Virginia House and explained that 60 percent of her initiatives had been successfully backed by the legislature.

Mr. Grogan began his statement with the Biblical quote that “love of money is the root of all evil.” He charged his opponents with “spending ungodly amounts” to win elections and said they were appealing to special interest groups.

Mr. Loupassi said he hoped that he supported more “money from the bureaucracy” going directly into the classroom. He also said he would work to put a cap on rising real estate taxes to no more than a five percent increase in a year.

In an effort to be fair to all three candidates, each one took turns in being the first to answer a specific question which was asked by a panel.

The first question dealt with state funds to subsidize abortion and embryonic stem-cell research.

Mr. Grogan began by stating that he was opposed to abortion which he saw as a religious belief, but that he did not want to impose his religious beliefs on others.

Mr. Loupassi said he would oppose state funds for abortion and embryonic stem-cell research.

Mrs. Waddell took the opposite approach saying she felt any decision on abortion should be “between a woman and her doctor and not the government.” She also supported use of embryonic stem-cells for research “to find cures for diseases…and improve the quality of life for those who are here.”

Both Mr. Grogan and Mr. Loupassi support legislation which would establish income tax credits for businesses and individuals who make contributions to scholarship foundations or to public school foundations. Mrs. Waddell said she would oppose such legislation.

On a question from the audience, Mrs. Waddell said she would support legislation which would eliminate smoking in Virginia restaurants. The other two candidates said they would oppose such a law.

“It’s up to the individual owner to make that decision,” Mr. Loupassi said, pointing out that his sister owns a restaurant which does not allow smoking.

“If the restaurant owner wants to allow smoking, he should be allowed to,” Mr. Grogan said. If others disagree with that policy, they “can make a choice not to go to that restaurant,” he added.

Both Mrs. Waddell and Mr. Loupassi said they would not support tax credits to parents who want to send their children to Catholic schools.

“I don’t know how you can put away the Constitution on this,” Mr. Loupassi said. “I don’t think you should expect the taxpayers to pay for that choice.”

Mrs. Waddell held a similar view.

“We can’t start to pick and choose where we want our tax dollars to go,” she said.

The candidates were divided on permitting undocumented immigrant children to receive in-state tuition at Virginia’s public colleges and universities if they have graduated from a Virginia high school and had parents who have filed Virginia income tax returns for at least three years.

Mr. Loupassi was opposed to such legislation. Mrs. Waddell said she “does not believe anyone should be in the United States illegally,” but saw the concern as a federal issue.

Mr. Grogran said he would support such legislation “because it’s not just someone who came in acrross the border.”

Eric Adcock, associate director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, said he was pleased with the turnout of about 60 people.

“All three candidates set forth their positions on a wide range of issues,” he told The Catholic Virginian.

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