The comprehensive transportation bill just passed by the Virginia General Assembly is the result of a last-ditch compromise between the House of Delegates and the state Senate that doesn’t meet anybody’s definition of perfect. But it’s also the first serious effort in two decades to deal with the commonwealth’s ever-growing transportation crisis caused by the failure to build critically needed new roads.
Some facts about recent history must be understood in order to make sense of the present transportation crisis. When legislators in Richmond agreed to the largest tax hike in Virginia history in 2002, they spent it on everything but road construction. Then they failed to come up with an acceptable transportation bill during last year’s special session. Now in an election year with the entire General Assembly facing voters in November, legislators finally got around to passing minimally acceptable transportation legislation.
The Virginia House has consistently voted to fund roads but the state Senate, which barely endorsed the comprehensive transportation bill, has just as consistently been a roadblock. Nine senators from traffic-clogged Northern Virginia voted against the comprehensive transportation bill, including Sens. John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg; Chuck Colgan, D-Manassas; Janet Howell, D-Reston; Mark Herring, D-Leesburg; Russell Potts, R-Winchester; Toddy Puller, D-Mount Vernon; Dick Saslaw, D-Springfield; Patsy Ticer, D-Alexandria; and Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington.
Remember these names the next time you’re stuck in traffic and again when you vote in November. These state senators just don’t get it that Northern Virginia must build more roads. Relying primarily on Metro and other forms of mass transit will only make traffic congestion worse. They also don’t get that transportation is a core state service that should be funded in the same way the state funds other core services like schools, health care and public safety. The comprehensive transportation bill devotes $184 million of the state’s General Fund to leverage $2.5 billion in bonds to build roads. This small first step should have been taken years ago, but at least now the legislature is acting.
With a billion-dollar state revenue surplus, there is no justification for a massive statewide tax hike to pay for transportation. Fortunately, the comprehensive transportation bill avoids such a tax hike, but it does raise numerous fees. It also permits Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads officials to raise levies on rental cars, hotel rooms and home sales to pay for road and transit projects. So, yes, the bill is far from perfect, but for the moment it’s a desperately needed first step. Come November, voters should elect lots of new faces who will take the next steps.
