Delegate Moran has been pretty busy recently. Aside from being minority leader in the House of Delegates and getting 12 bills passed, he's also been fighting against the GOP's band-aid transportation plan.From his op-ed from the RTD (which Lowell also highlighted on Sunday), Moran summarized the GOP's bill perfectly:
[The Republicans] plan to cut nearly $200 million from education, health care, and pubic safety to pay the bill for roads. That is as much as the entire general fund budget of the University of Virginia or all of the State Police. That raid could drive tuition up and teachers' salaries down, and gut funding for long-term care. In the 21st century's global economy, Virginia graduates will compete against students from India and China for good, high-paying jobs. We must recommit and reinvest in education to produce a top-quality workforce, not spend the college fund on election-year gimmicks. Leadership may not be easy, but you cannot solve difficult problems by robbing Peter to pay Paul.Read the whole thing to see what Del. Moran and his bi-partisan group of allies want to do to address the transportation crisis. And don't forget to sign the petition!After they divert the money from schools and police, Republicans want to max out the credit card, too. Their plan borrows $300 million a year for eight years and spends the next 20 years paying it back. This leaves us with no long-term funding for what is certainly a long-term problem. And our kids will be stuck with the bill.
Even with raiding and borrowing, the Republican plan is inadequate for the state's needs. It doesn't provide enough statewide funding for each region to build more than two new highway interchanges. It meets less than one-half of existing deficits in maintenance, leaving unsafe bridges and potholed roads. There isn't enough new and sustainable money in the legislation to build any of the commonwealth's major transportation projects -- such as the Third Crossing, I-81, U.S. 460, or I-73.