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Moran outlines transportation plan in run-up to primary
Former Alexandria Delegate Brian Moran speaks often about wanting to continue the agenda of Virginia’s last two Democratic governors, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.But in order for him to fulfill one of the centerpieces of his campaign, he will have to succeed where both governors have failed before: passing a viable transportation plan that is not rejected by either the voters (Warner) or state Supreme Court (Kaine).
“I loved being in the legislature. I loved getting things done. But truly, we need somebody in the governor’s office who will continue the Warner-Kaine agenda, and I am that person, so we started in earnest over the summer and, of course, we’re in full-gear now,” said Moran last week when he stopped by the Gainesville Times office for an interview with Times Community Newspaper reporters and editors.
Moran’s offers both vague and specific points about what his transportation plan will include. It is based on three principles: It must be state-wide, sufficient and sustainable.
“I will be on a soapbox and any other box to say it is a statewide issue,” Moran said.
Rather than just concentrating on traffic congestion problems in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, Moran said transportation is an issue throughout the commonwealth. Roads needs to be constructed and developed in Southside, and safety initiatives need to be put in place along the Interstate-81 corridor that runs through the Appalachian mountains on the western side of the state.
Moran estimated Northern Virginia would need between $400-500 million for roads, while Hampton Roads would have to get another $275 million from any transportation bill. More money then would go throughout the state for various projects that the 49-year-old Democrat said could create about 35,000 jobs.
However, little items, such as a small gas-tax increase, are not a viable solution for Moran because they do not raise enough cash.
“I opposed the one-cent gas tax. It would have been eliminated by inflation," he said. "It wasn’t a solution; it was political grandstanding. We need something that is sufficient, and sufficient means something that is approximately $1 billion a year.”
Moran has supported raising the sales tax to pay for transportation funding before. He also favored the recordation tax part of HB 3202 bill in 2007 that created a non-elected regional taxing authority in Northern Virginia that could raise money for transportation projects. That part of the bill, which Moran voted for in its final stage after the governor made amendments, was later ruled unconstitutional.
He said he opposed the idea of regional authorities and regional taxes to fund transportation because he is against “balkanizing” Virginia. Instead, his support of a sales tax is based on it being a sustainable revenue source, which is the third component of his transportation plan.
“You don’t levy something this year, and then next you’re going to have to come back to the legislature and say, ‘Let’s do this all over again,’” he said.
Despite his past support of the sales tax, Moran would not say specifically that he is in favor of raising taxes to pay for transportation. But he did not come out against it either. Essentially, Moran countered that, “I’ve learned enough that you don’t take anything off the table at this point. You don’t go into negotiations and say, ‘These are the only things I’ll agree with.’”
However, he later added, “If they can get there without a sales tax, I’m willing to listen.”
Conservative Republicans in the House of Delegates have generally favored bonding as a primary source of transportation funding because the state is one of the few in the country with a sterling AAA bond rating, meaning it gets loans with the best interest rates and payback incentives from Wall Street. Moran supports using bonds, as well, but only as part of a larger plan.
There is another catch with bonds Moran pointed out.
“The problem is, the market right now, the capital markets and such, we haven’t been able to release a lot of that,” he said. “But we have a very good bond rating, a triple-A bond rating. So let’s use it. So I would bond to the ceiling….”
Moran also said wants to make sure the bonds will be paid back.
“Don’t just issue the bonds without a dedicated revenue source, because then what happens is when [you go] to pay bonds, you’re going to have to go into the general fund. You’re going to have to take money from education, from health and human services, prisons, etcetera,” said Moran.
Sales tax receipts also go directly into the general fund, but they have been used as a source of revenue for transportation. The transportation trust fund is often raided for expenditures in other fields because it is not locked up via a constitutional amendment. Moran said supports such an amendment.
While other Northern Virginia Democrats have supported increased gas taxes, Moran wants to focus his transportation funding plan away from that. He said the issue he has with a gas tax is that it does not fit his green-energy plan, calling the idea “short sighted."
“It will not be a reliable source of revenue. It will decline because you will have people driving less, and you will have more fuel-efficient vehicles,” he said.
His green plan is similar to those of his Democratic primary opponents Terry McAuliffe and state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath). It focuses on developing renewable energy solutions as a means to creating jobs and protecting the environment.
“It’s not just the research jobs I want,” Moran said before later adding, “but I’m also talking about the construction trades. Retro-fitting, weatherization, solar-panel installation: There can be an explosion of new jobs with a commitment to energy efficiency and renewable portfolio standards.”
For the cash-strapped state to implement these things, though, will likely require an initial investment, Moran admitted, though he hoped a federal stimulus plan would be able to deliver dollars into Virginia to help get it started.
“Creating a center for innovative green technology will have some cost, but I want to partner with the Obama administration. There’s smart-grid technology, for example, that I’d want to partner with our utilities to do. A private-public partnership. There may be some initial cost, but with the economic stimulus package, there will be funds available.”
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