Here's the latest on the transportation bill as we approach the Monday deadline for Gov. Kaine to sign, amend, or veto it.*The Roanoke Times says that Kaine "should force the General Assembly to consider the simplest, fairest way to raise transportation funds statewide" - "raise the gas tax." That makes too much sense, which is why something tells me it's not going to happen.
*The Washington Examiner writes that what Tim Kaine does on this bill "[seems] destined to affect how the history books will view his administration." I agree, this is the big one for Tim Kaine and for General Assembly elections this November. Whatever happens in the next week or two will set the tone the rest of the way, good or bad.
*The Daily Press reports on Gov. Kaine's estimate that the GOP transportation bill "could cost nearly $100 million a year to set up and operate," particularly with regard to "setting up regional transportation boards with the power to tax and toll in traffic-clogged Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia." Democratic caucus leader Brian Moran is quoted as saying that the GOP bill is "devoid of good public policy and fails to address the transportation problem."
[Note: The Pilot Online uses the figure $80 million instead of $100 million as the cost of "collecting the fees and taxes proposed under the General Assembly's transportation bill."]
Anyway, that's just some of the commentary and reporting out there as the clock ticks down to Monday. Will we see a transportation solution, partisan gridlock, or what? I'm hoping for the former but I'm guessing the latter. What do you think?