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Roads session starts today
Special assembly session today
Date published: 6/23/2008
By Chelyen Davis
RICHMOND-- The Gener- al Assembly will start a special session on transportation funding today, but it's anyone's guess whether they will actually accomplish anything.
Disputes over everything from the basic need for more money to how to get it have divided the legislature since March, when the entire issue of transportation was revived by a Supreme Court ruling that parts of last year's transportation bill were unconstitutional.
Those parts were two regional authorities, in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and many Republicans say lawmakers should just revise those to conform with the law and go back home.
Democrats, however, have taken the opportunity to call for increasing revenues to pay for statewide maintenance needs. They themselves, however, disagree on what revenues--i.e., taxes--to increase.
Some Senate Democrats want to bump up the gas tax, which has been 17.5 cents a gallon since 1986. Some House Democrats favor increasing the sales tax.
And Gov. Tim Kaine has put forth a plan that raises other taxes and fees: the sales tax on vehicles, the registration fee on cars, the grantor's tax on home sales and the sales tax only in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
Kaine is moderately hopeful a plan that he can support will pass.
He added that he's met with House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, who has said he believes the legislature should address the two regions and nothing more, and that it was "a good meeting."
While Republicans may reject Democrats' proposals, Howell said they fully intend to introduce their own and want something productive to come from the session.
"I really think we need to get working on addressing the situation," Howell said.
Republicans' proposals are quite different. Howell said they plan to introduce bills to reinstitute the two regional authorities in a legal way. They will also put in bills relating to tolls and HOV lanes and have already put in one bill to conduct an independent audit of VDOT.
House Minority Leader Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry, is hopeful.
"If you think you're not going to get anything done, that's a self-fulfilling prophecy," Armstrong said. "I think there's a reasonable chance."
Armstrong is sponsoring Kaine's bill, which is expected to be sent to the House Finance Committee, which isn't typically favorable to tax-hike bills.
Date published: 6/23/2008
Most recent reader comments:
Tax Raisin' Kaine - Stop trying to steal more of my money
(posted by
WeimCity
, June 23, 2008 9:22 pm)
VDOT is dysfunctional and needs to be fixed. VDOT might set completoin dates at 3 times the normal completion time to save money with less than quality comtractors and quote on-time completion time. Virginia has enough money to take care of transportation problems - Stop taking and using the collected $s for pet projects that are not transportation related. I pray the House of Representatives hold to reason and let Kaine and Senate continue to want for my $s . It's hard enough paying for gas and food today
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