There's actually encouraging news on transportation for a change here in Virginia. First, Michael Shear reports in the Washington Post on the Virginia Senate's approval, by a 34-6 vote, of a plan "to raise automobile-related taxes and fees by about $900 million a year." The Virginia Senate and Gov. Kaine now appear to be relatively in sync, with Kaine also calling for $900 million per year in dedicated funding for transportation. In contrast, the House of Delegates' plan irresponsibly both underfunds transportation (just $350 million per year) and ALSO raids the state's general fund - "which pays for health care, education, colleges and public safety" (not to mention Chesapeake Bay cleanup and other important needs). The House, unfortunately, is filled with "earth is flat," doctrinaire, right-wing Republicans who apparently believe that a) money grows on trees; b) that you don't need a dedicated, sustainable source of revenue for transportation; and c) that other important priorities like education and public safety should get shafted in the in the interest of building more roads and pleasing the big sprawl developers.
Anyway, where we're at now in this process is this:
Negotiators for the House and Senate will begin meeting next month to hammer out differences between the approaches. Lawmakers must also find a way to deal with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who has also proposed a $900 million-a-year plan.
And Tim Kaine is leading to find "common ground," as he always has and as he promised he would during the campaign:
"My role in it is a little more day-to-day," he said, noting that he will be "trying to suggest points of agreement, or 'Hey, what about doing this?' or trying to bring them together. It's a much more fluid and informal role. . . . But I'm pretty good at getting people to work together."
Let's hope so.
The other good news on the transportation front comes courtesy of my State Senator, Mary Margaret Whipple, who is sponsoring a bill that would provide a dedicated source of revenues to Metro. According to the Post article:
Yesterday, the Virginia Senate voted 36 to 3 for a bill that would increase the sales tax in Northern Virginia communities served by Metro by one-quarter of a cent. Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) was the only member from Northern Virginia to oppose it. The bill still has to pass the House of Delegates, where the Republican majority has strongly opposed tax increases.
Note the common themes here, by the way? Responsible leaders - Democrats and (a few) Republicans - like Tim Kaine and Mary Margaret Whipple attempt to actually solve problems. Irresponsible ideologues like Ken Cuccinelli do nothing, except stick to their rigid, anti-tax-at-all-costs positions. Hey Ken, I'm sure Grover Norquist is happy about your vote, but how about your constituents stuck in traffic?
By the way, I often bash Tom Davis - and rightfully so - on this blog, but I've got to give him credit for leadership on funding Metro. According to the Post, last year, Davis "submitted a bill to give Metro $1.5 billion in federal aid if the region's jurisdictions pledge to support public transit by dedicating a rock-solid source of revenue to it." Good for him. Now, if he can only convince his right-wing Republican buddies in the Virginia House of Delegates to step up to the plate.
We'll see. But for the moment, things are looking a bit more encouraging on the transportation front than they did a few days ago. Let's keep pushing on this issue. As a study released this past Wednesday concluded, the traffic situation is actually going from "bad to worse," with "[c]ongestion on some highways [having] doubled in three years." Can you imagine another three years of inaction on this issue? Right, I can't either.