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THE VALUE of Gov. Tim Kaine's new transportation plan lies less in its particulars than in its author's willingness to find a consensus among lawmakers, commuters and taxpayers, Republican and Democrat, House and Senate, Southside and Peninsula.
He has stitched together a package of familiar tax increases and policy proposals that lawmakers either approved last year or expressed a preference for this year. And he has invited other possibilities.
It is an approach that leaves Virginia's lawmakers with clear choices. Will they be problem-solvers or partisans? Will they serve their constituents and communities, or the agenda of party leaders? Will they accept failure, again, when everyone knows Virginia needs a successful compromise?
Lawmakers started to answer those questions within minutes of Kaine's announcement Monday. For anyone watching the transportation conversation over the past few years, there weren't many surprises.
House Republican leaders vowed immediately to squash the plan without any debate, or without allowing a vote. More pragmatic legislators in both parties and both chambers pored over the details and asked for more information.
Kaine's plan echoes some of the toughest votes lawmakers took during last year's transportation debate. The centerpiece is a statewide increase in the sales tax on car and truck sales, a variation on the regional levies included in the 2007 road legislation authored by Republicans. Kaine also borrows increased vehicle registration fees and higher taxes on real estate transfers.
Heeding widespread anxieties, Kaine steered clear of new taxes on gasoline. He instead embraced a proposal by Hampton Roads Republicans for a regional 1 percent sales tax, and offered a similar proposal for Northern Virginia. Finally, Kaine bowed to the wishes of the Peninsula, a reluctant partner in last year's compromise, by abolishing the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority and consenting to an expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. It's hard to imagine a more clear-cut victory for Peninsula residents and legislators.
What's there not to like about the Kaine plan? Certainly, there are legitimate concerns about the impact on motor vehicle and real estate sales. But those who find fault with the governor's plan are obligated to take their own shot at a solution.
House Republican leaders are intent on blocking anything other than a feeble patch to the regional plans declared unconstitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court.
Their insistence that taxes be imposed by city and county governments is a rhetorical edifice that will ensure Hampton Roads won't raise the money it needs.
Fearful of the increased debt load they would have to shoulder and angry that still more state responsibilities are being foisted on them, local officials will probably choose to sit tight and hope that the 2009 elections yield a new crop of more pragmatic state leaders.
However, Virginians can't wait another 18 months to get started on projects like a new Midtown tunnel and improvements to Interstate 64. Congestion will certainly not take a holiday. The price of steel, concrete and asphalt can't be frozen while the legislature dithers.
No matter how they tried to hide it, lawmakers - led by the speaker of the House - raised taxes last year and lived through the heat of the fall elections. Indeed, some owe their seats to that road plan, for all its shortcomings.
Much of that initiative has crumbled, and more tough votes will be needed this year to revive it. The governor laid out his best ideas. He has done his job. Now it's time for lawmakers to do theirs.
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Fair enough; clearly, we are
Fair enough; clearly, we are all entitled to our own opinion. Perhaps those of us in the business community think the anti tax zealots have gained the upper hand with Delegates, while at the same time they think the business community is the only group with sway over Delegates. Clearly, neither is right nor wrong all the time. What has changed in the last few years is a broad consensus in the community that our traffic congestion is bad, it has gotten much worse since the referendum in 2002, and it is the responsibility of our state legislators to own the problem and to fix it. While last year's "solution" did not hold, it was clear that even in the House, there was a majority of both parties that acknowledged the seriousness of the problem. The Governor has consulted with all parties and put forth a plan that works. No one agrees with all of his plan, and there will be changes. I hope in the end, the solution is sustainable and solves the problem for at least a decade.
Well Mike, as I said before,
Well Mike, as I said before, I do not belong, have ANY association with, and do not claim to be a representative of any of the so-called anti tax groups that you describe or perhaps assume I associate with. I do not. I am 48 years old, not retired military, and work full time. I hold in complete contempt of unelected members of institutions that assume they always know best for me and that I should just cave in and deal with their final decisions. I won't. I have a representative in The HOD and one in the state Senate. These are the people that represent me in the legislature and ultimately decide what taxes will or will not be raised. Not the MPO, The HRPDC, or any other HR entity. I have concluded that those in the business community and the well connected will have their opinions and thoughts considered by these HR entities. They don't give a rats behind what I think. So consequently I have no use for any of them. I have issues with some of the projects selected by the MPO and don't feel they merit the funding or construction as they, in my view will not achieve the congestion results they advertise.
Keith, my apology. When I
Keith, my apology. When I said move on in my last post, I meant in your thinking, not where you lived. That said, if you choose to challenge some of your own assumptions, perhaps you will separate yourself from the stuck in the past thinking of the leaders of the anti tax associations whose basic point is; leave things the way they are. For me, that is an intolerable situation from a personal and business standpoint. The old, grey, retired and angry leaders of those associations are basically retired bureaucrats for whom investment is an unknown. But the fact is, we live in a competitive world, and if we don't invest in our future transportation network, business will take not and move elsewhere. That may be fine if you are retired, but that would be disastrous for the future prosperity of this region.
Well Mike, you continue to
Well Mike, you continue to accept that the taxpayers are made of money and should roll over and give up their wallets for the flawed biased data analysis for some of these gravy train roads that your HR buddies have been fighting for for the last 18 or so years. Let's just throw money at it and the problem will go away. Flawed is still flawed no matter who "signed off" on it. The Governor and company "signed off" on the HRTA and they got spanked for it. If the House was sold on all of these projects, they would have been funded already wouldn't they? The HRBT was poo-pooed by Mayor Fraim and he has been called on the carpet for it. You're government's best friend Mike. You never saw a tax you didn't like and continue to use the analogy that we should surrender more of our income just because states like N.J., N.Y., R.I., and the like do. IF you like taxes so much, what are you doing here? As long as the possibility exists that I will be forced to pay for projects that I don't agree with, I am staying put and will continue to make my voice heard here and in the legislature and will let the chips fall. I am not going anywhere.
Well Keith, you continue to
Well Keith, you continue to accept the anti tax payers discussion points hook, line, and sinker. Fact is, the six regional projects and the renewed funding for local roads will result in congestion relief, but the leaders of the anti tax zealots must have a boogey man, so they have created one, and you have bought off on it without independent thought or analysis. Fortunately, the elected leadership of this region, the Governor, the House, the Senate, the Commonwealth Transportation Board, and the Federal Highway Administration has signed off on the projects, but you prefer the siren song of Murphy, Greenmun, and Moss. The rest of the leadership of the region and the Commonwelath have moved on, but they are stuck in the year 2002 still tilting at windmills. You seem to have the capability of independent thought, so I suggest you move on as well.
There are holes in the
There are holes in the safety net and the potential for them to get larger. Our per capita cost of state, local taxes and fees WAS at one time a relative bargain. And it still is if you're a CEO of a development company. Not for the rest of us though.
The transportation infrastructure is being addressed. The point of contention lies between what the public sees as relief of traffic congestion and what your HRPDC and MPO buddies see. The public is not going to be hung out to try with new taxes, fees and tolls for new road construction that relieves the ports and commerce of gridlock while they are still sitting in the same congestion as before. Regardless of what the experts and the data analysis has produced. I believe that there wouldn't be as much resistance for tolls and additional taxes if the funds collected for transportation has been spent for transportation needs instead of being raided by the GA (republicans and democrats) for balancing budgets. I believe the public has lost trust in all of them.
Actually Keith, no, I don't
Actually Keith, no, I don't leave out local taxes and fees. Fact is, our per capita cost of state and local taxes and fees is still a relative bargain. For those you described in your post, there is a safety net. We have real estate tax relief for the disabled and for those who meet the income and net worth eligibility requirements. We have other programs as well. Point is, failing to invest for the last decade in transportation in the long run will effect the financial position of most of us greatly if the deterioration is not addressed.
Well, Mr. Barrett, should
Well, Mr. Barrett, should senior citizens quit paying their premiums and do without their long term health care, and do without medicine they might need. Should they just go away and die so the Port of Virginia and commerce can prosper? Should they be short changed? They have a valid point. Most of these folks are lucky they can still get gasoline and have a car to get themselves to the doctor. The point is that they, like a lot of us have faced hefty tax increases and higher costs of just living and getting by. Should we let the business community have undue influence on public policy? In most cases they do. You keep saying Virginia is a low tax state, while you leave out the local taxes and fees that localities continue to increase and yet salaries for the working and retired senior citizens hasn't closed the gap. Now we are again faced with government with it's hand in our pockets again.
Transportation funds need to be secured from a legislative raid and used for transportation. Nothing else. Also, I think it's time that localities stop building $3M bridges, museums, and Waterside Market places and pony up that money for local road projects. Time to change spending prioritie
Of course you cut back, but
Of course you cut back, but you don't cut back on long term investments. But frankly Keith, you exemplify in your posts the very issue I am trying to address. If we let the retired bureaucrats have an undue influence on public policy, we will get policy that meets their needs yet short changes our future propserity. If I cut back on repairs and maintenance in my business, and cancel future projects until "times get better" then I may have more cash flow in the short term, but in the long term, I threaten the structural integrity of my buildings, and if that happens company wide, I threaten the viability of my business. That is exactly what is happening to the Leadership of the House of Delegates by their penny wise and pound foolish public policies. With Leadership like theirs, one wishes for the rank and file to rise up, throw off the ropes on bondage, and do what is right for Virginia.
Well, gee Mr. Barrett, in
Well, gee Mr. Barrett, in tough times we the citizens are expected to at least cut back on the things we need whether we like it or not. If the legislature was to use the tax money it had collected for transportation in the first place instead of balancing state budgets, then there wouldn't be such a high demand for additional funding. The citizens have paid taxes to the transportation fund and it was spent on other things. Now you want taxpayers to dump money in a bottomless pit to makeup for any shortfall for money that was supposed to be spent on road maintenance in the first place. There may be some real estate tax relief for seniors, but there is no relief in sight for gasoline prices bordering $4.00 a gallon. What a great time for a tax increase while the economy is going down the toilet.