RICHMOND--
Gov. Tim Kaine yesterday urged business leaders to push legislators for a transportation solution.Speaking to a meeting of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, Kaine laid out his own proposal to raise about $1 billion for transportation needs by increasing the sales tax on vehicles, the grantor's tax and other fees, and said businesspeople should tell their representatives to work with him, and not just reject his ideas.
"Tell the people to get on the problem-solvers side of this thing," Kaine said. "We will get a solution or make very plain to Virginians who does not want a solution."
Kaine was talking about House Republicans, who rejected his proposals in a news conference soon after he announced his own plan.
"What I've heard for the last three weeks is basically 'no, never, we're not going to do it'" Kaine said. "The only excuse for inaction in the special session is this: We don't want to solve the problem."
Kaine, who has called a special session on transportation to start June 23, is insistent that a transportation plan should include new revenue for road maintenance. House and Senate Democrats differ on how such revenue should be raised, while House Republicans want to focus solely on reviving two regional transportation authorities.
Kaine told reporters that if lawmakers send him a bill that contains no provision for maintenance, "it would be very difficult to approve it."
He also wondered whether House Republicans have a proposal of their own, and said he's hearing from individual Republicans that they're not sure what their own leadership has planned.
In a meeting of a legislative transportation accountability commission later yesterday, it seemed Republican delegates' plan is leaning toward the use of tolls and public-private partnerships to finance future transportation infrastructure.
The commission heard presentations on the viability of tolls and congestion-pricing, which aims to reduce congestion by making it cost more for people to take their cars into congested areas at peak times.
Several Republican delegates took the lead in questioning Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer about those issues, about Kaine's transportation proposal, and about how elements of last year's transportation bill have been implemented so far.
Del. Clay Athey, R-Front Royal, told reporters afterward that he'd like more time to see the results of reforms and changes put in place last year before Kaine talks about tax increases. Athey also fears that the ever-increasing gas prices will cause a serious shift in the way Virginians travel, and that money may be better spent on mass transit than on asphalt.
At any rate, Athey said, he sees no need to rush into more transportation changes so quickly.
"This is not a problem that's going to be solved overnight," he said. "Let's bite it off a little bit at a time."
Del. Joe May, R-Leesburg, also advocated taking a long-term view toward transportation.
"It should be pretty apparent that transportation funding approaches are changing," May said. "I don't see Virginia in the next decade having the revenues to address transportation problems that have accrued over decades. It should not surprise us that it takes more than one year to get out of it."
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com