House leaders on Friday rejected Sen. Majority Leader Richard Saslaw‘s plan to plug millions of dollars in lost transportation revenue with a series of statewide and regional taxes, offering instead to put the fix in the hands of elected governments in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
In a letter to top Senate Democrats, House Majority LeaderMorgan Griffith, R-Salem, and two other Republicans accused their counterparts of offering an overly broad replacement to the partially defunct transportation funding package passed by the General Assembly last year.
A key part of that funding measure, which empowered unelected regional taxing authorities, was struck down a week ago by the Virginia Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
Saslaw’s proposal would have raised about $300 million a year for Northern Virginia through increases on sales, lodging and grantor’s taxes, as well as at least $220 million annually through a raise in car sales and gas taxes. The plan would need the quick approval of both chambers to pass by the scheduled end of the 2008 session today.
“Under these circumstances, unnecessarily delaying a resolution to an easily remedied situation – one limited entirely to the people of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads – would be irresponsible,” Republicans wrote. “Injecting other transportation issues, including those debated at length in recent years, will delay resolution of this issue.”
Saslaw, who has pushed for an increase in the gas tax for years, said the statewide revenue would help target a deficit in highway maintenance that threatens to crowd out all money for new construction by 2015.
“If we don’t fix the maintenance fund this year, we only lose $100 million,” Saslaw said. “By July 1, 2015, we only lose $700 million.”
If the decision is left up to local governments to raise taxes, he said “that baby is dead forever.”
The exchanges made it clearer that both housesharbor deep divides over how to replace the road-and-rail money and dashed the already slim hopes that a compromise could be reached this weekend.
On a parallel track, state budget negotiations showed little sign by Friday afternoon of reaching a conclusion by Saturday, raising the likelihood that the session could be dragged out while House and Senate members hammer out spending differences.
Roads remedies
In a letter to Senate leaders Friday, House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith offered a counterproposal to pay for road and transit needs, including:
- Replacing only the elements of the transportation funding package that were struck down by the court.
- Putting the taxing power in the hands of a “duly elected body,” not regional taxing authorities.
