Today is the deadline for Gov. Tim Kaine to decide on the amendments he has promised to propose to the Republican-authored transportation-funding package lawmakers approved last month.
Technically Kaine could settle on the amendments late tonight and not announce them until Tuesday morning, but he and his staff want to unveil the suggested changes by this afternoon. The governor has said he has already developed more than 100 non-controversial amendments to fix technical errors in the transportation bill and will have plenty more to fix what he considers substantial flaws.
The General Assembly will convene April 4 to consider Kaine’s proposals. If lawmakers defeat too many of the amendments Kaine could veto the bill, but he hopes that situation does not develop.
“If I make good-faith amendments to the bill, I have to count on the good faith of the guys in the legislature,” he said last week in Arlington.
Kaine has raised a plethora of problems with the bill, many of which stem from philosophical disagreements with Republicans in the House of Delegates. The governor has insisted he is willing to try to find a middle ground on issues such as how much money should be used from the state’s general operating fund, whether to impose a higher tax on commercial real estate in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and additional funding for rural roads.
“A bill by itself is just a piece of paper and doesn’t do anything,” Kaine said. “I want a bill that is workable and accomplishes something.”
Republican legislators are wary of what Kaine will propose. The GOP lawmakers wonder whether he will purposefully send them unacceptable amendments so he can veto the bill and try to score political points for the fall elections.
“You will know whether he is planning to veto the bill or wants to reach an agreement based on his amendments,” Del. David Albo, R-Springfield said.
Besides acting on the transportation bill, Kaine also has to decide the fate of many other bills by Monday night, including measures regulating the electricity industry and expanding the commonwealth’s death penalty.
