The Virginia House of Delegates will take up the Senate transportation bill package that was approved this week.
The Senate “significantly narrowed down theissues so they can be considered separate of each other,” said Sen. Thomas Norment Jr., R-James City.
Regional transportation plans for Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and the Interstate 81 corridor are within the plan. Increased fines and registration fees remain from the earlier transportation package. An increase in the diesel fuel tax and a tax on fuel that is distributed from any terminal within the state are within the bills.
The additional tax, or terminal operator fee, would be charged to the “big oil companies” and not passed onto the consumer, said Sen. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania.
Gov. Tim Kaine has said he will not support a raise in the gas tax.
A regional transportation plan for Northern Virginia includes additional taxes on registration fees and higher grantor’s taxes on new homes. It also includes a dedicated funding stream for Metro and $20 million annually for Virginia Railway Express, if Prince William County imposes the additional local fees.
“If there is a statewide bill out there that effects Northern Virginia and on top of that you plop a Virginia bill, then we get double taxation,” said Del. Vince Callahan, R-McLean. “If they are divorced of that, that is a different story.”
Callahan has been in favor of regional plans since the beginning of the transportation discussion.
The house is expected to reconvene on Tuesday, followed by the Senate heading back to Richmond by Wednesday.
