Since his first session in the General Assembly, Ben has been working hard to lower the tax burden on working Virginians and reduce the costs of government for Virginia taxpayers. He authored the 2007 law to reduce income taxes for the lowest income earners and co-authored the 2006 law to create the popular “back-to-school” sales tax holiday. He has also authored several bills and budget amendments to cut spending and streamline the state bureaucracy, including his “Yellow Pages Test” to privatize non-professional government services and his “Google for Government” bill to enable taxpayers to search agency budgets online for wasteful government spending.

With four four-year colleges and universities in his district, Ben has also been a leader in improving higher education in Virginia. (VMI, Washington and Lee, Southern Virginia University, and Sweet Briar College are all in the 24th District) Ben worked to establish community college branches in Buena Vista and Amherst and co-authored the 2007 law to award scholarships to community college students who seek to continue their education at four-year colleges in Virginia. He has also sponsored legislation to limit instate tuition benefits at Virginia colleges to legal U.S. residents. Ben has a lifetime 100 percent rating from the Family Foundation and an A+ rating from the NRA.

Ben is currently an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg. From 1994 to 2002, Ben worked for Congressman Bob Goodlatte, beginning as a policy advisor and ultimately serving as the Congressman’s Chief of Staff. From 2002 to 2007, Ben was President of NDS Corp., a Virginia-based company providing sales and marketing assistance to rural Internet and technology businesses.

Ben grew up in Rockbridge County and is a 1990 graduate of Lexington High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Bates College and his law degree from the University of Richmond. Ben, his wife Elizabeth, and their daughters Catherine and Sarah live in Rockbridge County, where they attend St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and are members of the Kerrs Creek Ruritan Club and the Lexington Lion’s Club.