"Told You So" on Virginia's General Fund

During the debate over the transportation monstrosity bill this spring, many of us repeatedly warned that it was the wrong way to go because it would result in a raid on the state's General Fund, which funds everything from education to public safety.  Supporters of the monstrosity bill insisted, "would remain robust and fully capable of supporting all demands placed upon it, including the weight of transportation funding."

Well, uh, um, er, no.  They were wrong.  According to the Daily Press:

...Howell and his House Republicans did insist on a lot more from the general fund for roads, and they prevailed against Kaine's warnings that to do so was fiscally unsound, even irresponsible.

Now, with the general fund coming up short to the tune of as much as $300 million, is as good a time as any to say, "told you so."

In the end, this is EXACTLY why I urged Gov. Kaine to veto the monstrosity Republican transportation bill, or completely rewrite it.  As I wrote at the time, Gov. Kaine did manage to improve the bill in some ways, but the fundamental flaws - reliance on general fund revenues, grossly inadequate funding to even BEGIN to get us out of our transportation mess, lack of a dedicated/long-term/reliable source of funding - remain.  And now we're starting to pay the price. In this case, "told you so" isn't enough.  Now, largely thanks to the Republicans who run our state legislature, we're all going to pay the price.

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