The election of Republican Bob McDonnell as Virginia governor puts another barrier in front of a gas tax increase, a proposal already unlikely to succeed in a deeply divided state legislature.
McDonnell campaigned hard on a blanket opposition to raising taxes, including on fuel sales. He joins a Republican House majority that gained seats in last Tuesday’s election and is almost certain to continue spiking Senate bills to increase the levy. That 17.5-cent-per-gallon tax hasn’t been raised since 1986.
Many Virginia Democrats, most notably Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Springfield, have said the gas tax is the only realistic way to reverse a crisis in highway funding. That need has grown so dire, they say, that Virginia soon will risk not being able to put up a match for federal dollars.
The need for new revenues has grown more pressing as the cost of maintaining the existing transportation network crowds out new construction spending. This year, transportation officials diverted $525 million in construction funds for basic maintenance, said Bob Chase, president of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
“All of our roads and bridges are getting older, and we don’t have the money to repair or replace them,” Chase said. “Fixing the highway maintenance fund — stopping this drain — requires a new, sustained, reliable funding source.”
McDonnell has offered up a handful of ideas to shore up transportation funding, including using more general fund dollars, selling off the state’s liquor monopoly and installing tolls on Interstates 95 and 85 at the North Carolina border.
