The Virginia Senate has met the House of Delegates’ demands and cut tax increases for transportation out of the budget.
The Senate also added a stipulation that a statewide transportation plan must be agreed upon by Nov. 1 or $339 million in general funds earmarked for transportation will be spent on other capital projects, said Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Manassas.
“Accept what we offer you or we put $339 million into school construction, education and other projects,” he said.
If the House doesn’t accept the plan, the Virginia Department of Transportation would have money, “but just enough to do the job,” and Northern Virginia would have “the same as we have right now: traffic bumper to bumper,” Colgan said.
The Senate created separate transportation bills that would provide sustainable funding for transportation through tax increases and special plans for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
“The time for House leadership to come to the negotiating table is long overdue. We are rapidly approaching the end of the fiscal year, and the need for a solution to address the shortfall in statewide transportation funding becomes more urgent every day,” Gov. Tim Kaine said in a statement. “For the best interests of the commonwealth, House leadership should now take up the Senate transportation bills they have not acted upon for three weeks, and immediately return to work with the Senate to pass a budget.”
House Speaker William Howell, R-Fredericksburg, called the Senate’s action a good first step, “but we still have a long way to go.”
He said the House will most likely reject the Senate’s amendments and “give it to the conferees, where it has been all along.”
Howell said contentious issues on education, capital projects and health and human services are close to resolution.
“I think we can get the budget in order and come back and talk about transportation. That is what we have been advocating all along,” he said.
Both the House and Senate will reconvene Thursday.
Senate Roll Call
» Passed a two-year budget that stripped transportation tax increases out
» 17 Republicans and seven Democrats voted yes
» 8 Democrats voted no
» Six Republicans and two Democrats did not vote
Source: Virginia Legislative Information System
