While hailing Thursday’s Republican agreement on transportation funding as a “a signifcant step past the gridlock of last year,” Gov. Tim Kaine on Friday outlined several concerns he has with the package, which still needs approval from General Assembly members and the governor to take effect.
The proposal, which was hammered out by Republican legislative leaders, would issue $2 billion in bonds, dedicate $556 million in surplus funds plus increase the vehicle registration fee, diesel fuel tax and penalties for bad drivers to fund projects statewide. They would also put $250 million a year toward transportation out of the general fund and earmark half of surpluses in future years for transportation. Northern Virginia would be able to raise $383 million a year if every locality approved a series of tax-and-fee increases.
At the top of the governor’s list of concerns is the $250 million that could come from the general fund each year. Traditionally, the general fund has been reserved for core government services such as education, health programs and public safety.
“That is the combined budget of the state police, all of the emergency communications and all of our veterans services,” Kaine said of the $250 million. “It is more than all the budgets of our natural resources agencies. That is not insignificant.”
Tapping the general fund is something that also has upset Sen. John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, who chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee, who has been cautious in his public comments about the accord. He and other Finance Committee members have also staunchly opposed borrowing money to fund transportation, which is at the core of the agreement and allows legislators to raise a lot of money without a significant tax increase.
Kaine does not object to the bonds, but wants to see the plan’s fine print to see the process for distributing the money among projects and to make sure there’s enough funding for mass-transit projects. The first $50 million raised in Northern Virginia would be earmarked to match federal funds for Metrorail construction, but Kaine wants to do more for mass transit.
