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House adopts road fix for Northern Virginia
The House of Delegates voted 51-45 Wednesday night to approve a plan to fund transportation in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate.The original plan introduced by Newport News Delegate Phil Hamilton (R-93rd) and Springfield Delegate Dave Albo (R-42nd) would have increased taxes and fees in Northern Virginia to pay for regional transportation projects.
But that idea was met with vocal opposition from local officials in Northern Virginia and so a substitute plan was introduced at the 11th hour on Wednesday.
The substitute, which was approved, instead gives an extra share of future revenue to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, without raising taxes.
The plan centers on the idea that the Port of Hampton Roads and Dulles and Reagan National airports generate the lion’s share of revenue for the state through taxes, imports, exports and other means.
The idea is that 30 percent of all future growth attributed to the airports in Northern Virginia will be used for Northern Virginia transportation and 30 percent of all future growth attributed to the Port of Hampton Roads will be used for Hampton Roads transportation.
The bill, said Albo, “allows Northern Virginia to keep a small portion of the money it generates to solve its own transportation.’
The sticking point is that those funds would otherwise be used to pay for schools, health care, jails and public safety around the state.
“If we pull these revenues out of the General Fund, where do we get the money for schools, corrections, mental health?” asked Falls Church Delegate Robert Hull (D-38th). “What other taxes are we going to have to increase to plug the hole in the General Fund?”
Hamilton and his supporters maintain that without road fixes in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, economic growth will grind to a halt so the state wouldn’t get funds from new growth anyway.
But there’s another problem: the bill’s sponsors can’t foresee how much money it will raise so there’s no way of planning future road construction.
“So when it comes time to plug in the numbers for fiscal year 2010 revenue, we’re just going to put in a question mark?” asked House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong (D-10th), ridiculing the proposal.
Nevertheless, the bill was adopted by the full House. As of 9:45 p.m., the Senate had not yet taken up the measure.
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