Democrats in the Virginia Senate have hijacked the state’s two-year, $85 billion compromise budget. They are holding it hostage until Republicans accede to their demands: $300 million in additional funding for Phase 2 of the Dulles Rail project.
This is the third budget proposal Senate Democrats have torpedoed this year. But to hear them tell it, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is to blame for their partisan brinksmanship and the resulting uncertainty it is creating for local government officials who are trying to put together their own budgets. Behind the current budget drama is the reality that the transit project, pushed by Democratic former Governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine, is on the ropes financially and politically.
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Dulles Toll Road commuters are now becoming aware of the punishing tolls they will soon have to pay in order to cover 75 percent of Phase 2’s cost. The tolls will eventually rise to $18.75 each way under the original funding agreement. This has prompted Virginia Democrats and some in the media to peddle the myth that the Commonwealth has not contributed its fair share. Taxpayers, they argue, must now pay more to prevent tolls from spiking so high. As the Washington Post put it recently: “Virginia’s contribution so far comes to a paltry $275 million — about 5 percent … If the deal collapses, it will mar Gov. McDonnell’s legacy.”
The Post is entitled to its opinion, but not to its own facts. Even without the $300 million, the Commonwealth has already contributed far more than that. Kaine would know. Six years ago, his administration handed over the toll road to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to pay for Phase 2, without the approval of the General Assembly. MWAA’s own figures show that it collected $8.1 million in revenue from the toll road in February of this year alone, which translates to nearly $100 million annually and some $600 million since 2006. The legality of Kaine’s contribution is still disputed in the courts, but the fact that he gave this cash cow to MWAA is not.
McDonnell and his fellow Republicans should not allow themselves to be bullied into a “solution” that rewards such legislative blackmail. Virginia taxpayers have enough on their plates right now. The last thing they need is to be saddled with an additional Phase 2 contribution that would shield Kaine, his Dulles Rail legacy and his Senate candidacy from the wrath of drivers who use the Dulles Toll Road.
