A key Senate committee signed off on Gov. Bob McDonnell’s transportation plan Tuesday, a major milestone for the governor and his efforts to pump $4 billion into the state’s transportation system over the next three years.
The Senate Finance Committee approved the plan, which calls for issuing about $3 billion in bonds for roads projects, clearing the way for the measure to move to the floor in both the Republican House and the Democratic Senate. The House Appropriations Committee signed off on the omnibus bill Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, a thorn in McDonnell’s side over the governor’s plan to privatize Virginia’s state-run liquor operation, was among those who voted in favor of McDonnell’s transportation plan. Five Democrats have co-sponsored the omnibus funding bill, and if Republicans hold the line, much of what McDonnell wants is likely to clear both houses of the General Assembly.
A separate McDonnell-backed transportation funding proposal, sponsored by Sen. Jeff McWaters, R-Virginia Beach, was shot down by the committee. The bill would divert a percentage of existing state sales tax revenues to generate about $140 million annually for transportation projects in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
Lawmakers had expressed concern about diverting money from the general fund, which goes to services like education and public safety.
“It’s very disappointing,” McWaters said in an interview. “General funds means general purposes, and that can, in these…times, mean transportation.”
