As Virginians head into their holiday weekends, politics may be the last thing thing they want to talk about. But Virginia’s Republican candidate for Governor Ed Gillespie is taking advantage of the Fourth of July to announce a policy proposal: legalizing fireworks.
“For a lot of Americans our favorite part of celebrating the Fourth of July is the fireworks. Here in Virginia, are fireworks are pretty rinkydink,” begins an ad released Friday.
In the ad, Ed Gillespie looks disappointingly at the tiny sparkler in his hand before cutting to a shot of him in front of a table loaded down with the kinds of fireworks you can buy in neighboring Tennessee and West Virginia.
“In Virginia we’re missing out on being able to create thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue,” Gillespie continues.
West Virginia made aerial fireworks legal last year and they’re heavily taxed. Most of the revenue goes to veterans programs.
A spokesman for Democratic candidate Ralph Northam says “Dr. Northam likes fireworks as much as anyone else, but he also wants to make sure you can afford healthcare in case you accidentally blow your hand off with one.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT4N6XRi1XA
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
