Steve Woll
IndependentQ3 NASA Langley Research Center and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility represent two major federally funded research centers located in Virginia’s 3rd district. What role do you see these research centers playing in this district and how would you consider these in science funding related legislation?
These and other federal scientific centers of excellence across the country are foundational not only to our scientific establishment, but to our economy and the quality of life of our citizens. Building up the requisite subject matter expertise takes decades, and has been decimated by the current administration’s DOGE and other efforts to de-fund scientific work that does not fit into their agenda. Congress needs to re-assert its authority, re-fund these organizations, and mandate efforts to reconstitute the work force from the damage done in the last two years.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service
Q9 Healthcare affordability and access are major issues for Virginians. A 2025 survey by Altarum found that 72% of Virginians worry about paying for healthcare in the future. If elected, what action would you take to address healthcare affordability and access?
Health care is a basic right and the state of the American health care system is a national shame. Funding needs to be restored for the recent Medicaid cuts as well as the recent cuts to ACA subsidies, with the caveat that both should be examined by a truly neutral process to minimize fraud, waste, and abuse. Beyond that, I support efforts to rationalize the health care system and drive down administrative costs, including moving towards a Medicare-for-all-who-want-it option.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service
Q10 Healthcare access and affordability can also vary by demographics and need (e.g., rural areas, maternity care, mental healthcare). Are there any targeted programs you would support for specific needs or populations?
As noted above, Medicaid and ACA need be made whole again, along with ongoing efforts to get ever larger portions of the population covered by insurance. Mental health care is clearly a weak spot across the country, with large portions of our increasing homeless population suffering from mental illnesses. Addressing those illnesses not only helps the affected individuals but improves the quality of life for the whole community by reducing homelessness.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service
Q11 Virginia hosts the largest data center market in the world. Dominion Energy has proposed a 14% rate increase for residential customers in 2026, citing data center growth and AI-driven demand. What is your view on how the costs and benefits of data center growth should be divided between developers and residential ratepayers, and what policies, if any, would you support on this issue?
For any data center to be approved, it must comply with stringent environmental regulations (pollution, noise, water, etc); it must bring its own energy, sourced from renewable sources; and it must not raise the electricity rates for surrounding ratepayers. Asking ratepayers to subsidize private companies’ business models is unacceptable.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service
Q12 According to the Virginia Department of Education, there are currently overall fewer vacant teaching positions in public schools than in years’ past. However, teacher shortages are still a major concern, particularly in areas such as special education, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and early childhood. Through what policies, if any, would you address teacher shortages in Virginia’s K-12 schools in these high-demand areas, particularly in STEM?
We need to increase programs such as Teach for America to get motivated people of all ages into the classroom. Much like ROTC scholarships for college students heading towards a military career, the government should provide teaching scholarships to student in exchange for a fixed period of service upon graduation. Finally, we need to increase teacher pay over time and allow further experimentation using charter schools.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service
Q13 As a member of Congress, you would vote on appropriations for federal science agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. What priorities, if any, would guide your decisions on federal science funding?
At this point, the priority needs to be on providing funding as soon as possible to give us the best possible change to reconstitute the federal government’s scientific work force, before it is completely absorbed into the private sector or moves to other countries. Concurrently, all programs within NSF, NIH, and other scientific agencies (NOAA, NASA, etc.) should be examined to identify if there are improvements in efficiency and effectiveness that can be accomplished during that process.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service
Q14 As a member of Congress, you would also vote on appropriations affecting federal civilian positions, and the availability of these positions. Specifically focusing on workforce positions related to public health, science, and research and development, how would you approach appropriations/funding for federal civilian positions?
Very similarly, funding needs to be restored to allow all needed portions of the work force to be reconstituted.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service
Q15 Scientific and technical expertise can inform decisions related to healthcare, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and emerging technologies. What role, if any, should scientific evidence and expert input play in your policymaking process, and how would you communicate scientific uncertainty or evolving evidence to the public?
I have worked in scientific and technical fields for over 40 years, and I have clearly found that policy and funding decisions that are based on objective, quantitative analysis yield the best results by far. The Scientific Method needs to be restored to its position of primacy when evaluating scientific efforts and results, and preconceived agendas must be removed from the funding and policy processes. As noted, uncertainty and revision are parts of science. Scientific leaders and policymakers must be honest with the taxpayers about these sources of variation and provide rational explanations for why certain decisions are made, embrace the fact that no set of decisions is going to be perfect from the start, and embrace equally and without hesitation the fact that changing data and circumstances often require new and different decisions.
KEYWORDS: climate change, sea level rise, flooding, meteorology, oceanography, data, data-as-a-service