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Standoff on state transportation widens
All sides still far apart on a transportation plan
Date published: 4/20/2008
BY CHELYEN DAVIS
RICHMOND-- It may be months before state lawmakers hold a special session to deal with transportation issues.
What was already a standoff between the two political parties over whether to offer more money for statewide transportation needs is now also a disagreement between two groups of Democrats over how to pay for such a statewide plan.
Democrats, pushing for some sort of statewide revenue increase to pay for rising maintenance costs, can't agree on what form of tax that should take.
Many Senate Democrats want a gas tax, while some House Democrats are leaning toward using the sales tax.
Meanwhile, Republicans are still adamant that solving the transportation issue shouldn't involve a statewide tax at all. Instead, they want to reconstitute two regional transportation authorities and be done.
The stalemate doesn't seem to have moved at all since the legislative session ended, and at least one Democratic leader says that even if a plan is agreed to, public hearings should be held before it's voted on, which would put a transportation special session even later in the year.
"The need continues to grow," said Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania. "The inability to find compromise continues. So we're no further down the road."
The issue is one lawmakers thought they had solved last year with a sweeping transportation package.
It raised various taxes and fees, instituted bonds and imposed fines on abusive drivers, but the biggest part of the package was the creation of two regional authorities, one in Northern Virginia and one in Hampton Roads, to raise taxes and spend the money on projects in those regions.
But the abusive-driving fees proved so unpopular that lawmakers decided to repeal them. Then, just days before the regular legislative session ended in March, the state Supreme Court knocked down the two regional authorities.
The court said that the authorities were not elected and thus not allowed to levy taxes.
Lawmakers immediately began talking about a way to rebuild the authorities around that ruling. Republicans say it would be easy to do, but Democrats see an opportunity to push for statewide transportation solutions.
The General Assembly ended its session without having done anything to revive the regional authorities.
In the weeks since, there have been closed-door meetings and talks between legislators and Gov. Tim Kaine, who has promised to call a special session on transportation, but those meetings haven't moved either side toward compromise.
Kaine recently told reporters no action would be taken until sometime after this Wednesday's veto session.
"We're in dialogue until after the reconvened [session]," Kaine said.
He plans to submit a new transportation bill of his own, but that also won't happen until after the veto session.
Kaine and others have been quoted as saying they don't think a transportation special session will be called until May or June.
Date published: 4/20/2008
Most recent reader comments:
4 comments have been posted.
its time to stop letting v dot hold us hostage, what was the last time you saw a v dot worker doing his job or any thing for that matter and i don't mean standing around, there on a work slow down and there bosses heads should roll
Stop supporting him. He does not deserve your vote.
Please step up and do the right the right thing. I would bet your popularity numbers would shoot up if you actually did something to help. There is nothing wrong in doing the right thing. We're going to need to be taxed in one way or another. Let us help ourselves. If you cannot do that - then step aside. Continuing to create gridlock and stalemates is not the answer. We absolutely want a fix, and are ready to swallow our medicine, so to speak.
I hope the house republicans like Howell FINALLY do their job and come up with a formula to fix transportation without pushing it off to the local governments. We elected these republicans to do a job, not to spend all their time trying to avoid it. Stand up Mr. Howell, vote, be counted and do something positive for the State once. We can always thank you and your cronies for toll roads owned by foreign companies, how about doing something positive for transportation.
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, Apr. 20, 2008 8:00 pm)
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