Negotiations between leading Republicans over a transportation funding solution delayed action Thursday on a bill that seeks to raise $450 million a year for traffic-plagued Northern Virginia.
High-ranking GOP lawmakers and other top Republicans have been talking privately for more than a week about ways to raise money for transportation. A split among Republicans last year resulted in no funding measures getting approved, and GOP strategists fear voter backlash if they leave Richmond again without an agreement.
“The negotiations are still going on,” said Del. Leo Wardrup, R-Virginia Beach, chair of the House Republican Caucus. “The governor can introduce a bill at any time so we are not worried about any deadlines.”
The funding bill delayed Thursday would raise several taxes and fees to come up with the $450 million a year. The measure was on the Senate Transportation Committee’s agenda for Thursday afternoon, but the panel’s chairman said he wanted to wait until the talks produced an agreement. That way, he said, the Senate measure and a similar bill in the House could move through the legislative process together.
“I want to wait until there’s smoke coming out of the teepee at the pow-wow,” said Sen. Martin Williams, R-Newport News.
Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer pitched Gov. Tim Kaine’s statewide transportation proposal to the House and Senate subcommittees that oversee transportation funding. He warned the Senate Finance’s transportation subcommittee of dire circumstances should additional revenue not be approved.
“If we do nothing this session, we will have to leave federal dollars unmatched and let our bridges and technology systems and other things degrade, and that happens very quickly,” he said.
Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Pittsylvania, who heads the subcommittee, indicated there could be some tweaks to the governor’s plan, which relies mainly on increasing the sales tax on vehicles, higher registration fees and bigger fines for bad drivers to raise money.
“Drivers from out of state won’t have to pay anything to help us out of this problem,” he said. “We have out-of-state drivers going up and down our roads every day. They should pay, too.”
