See my Diary, posted here today, "Waiting for the next shoe (i.e. bridge) to drop". Over 25% of Virginia's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete!

Yesterday Andrew Sullivan linked to a 1994 Atlantic article with a rather lovely map showing the state of the nation's structurally deficient bridges at that time.  It was bad then, and Virginia is worse now.

One thing perhaps worth noting in Lowell's TRIP analysis table is that Northern Virginia is a bit better off than other parts of Virginia, despite the perpetual spending crunch there and despite the fact that NoVa and Hampton Roads basically subsidize road construction in the rest of the state.  We really are skating on thin ice here.

...it's kind of an urgent situation, if not an emergency.  Yet ANOTHER reason to call a special session of the General Aseembly?  While they're in Richmond, they can:

a) repeal the hated "abuser fees"
b) figure out how to provide a long-term, dedicated source of revenues for transportation
c) come up with an emergency source of money to repair bridges that are most in danger of collapsing
d) address the state's looming budget deficit.

Of course, the chances of this happening are about as high as the corn in many parts of drought-ravaged Virginia these days.

Wasn't it Jim Webb that talked about infrastructure as a priority in this country?  Are we really trying to be freaking Rome?  I think that some kind of works progress administration needs to take place to get Americans working with their hands again, rebuilding our infrastructure.  Heck we know a lot of Americans are overweight...this could be a chance to exercise?  An Obesity/Infrastructure program?  Just a thought.  Thanks for the post Lowell!

If the report is correct and approximately an additional $105 billion needs to be spent between now and 2025 (both roads, $74 billion, and public transit, 31 billion).  Then we would need to come up with an additional $5.9 billion a year in revenue for the Transportation Fund.  That would essentially triple the current funds coming into the Transportation Fund (as of FY06's CAFR).  That's a tall order.

Why don't we discuss some paths to getting that revenue?  I think we can safely rule out spending cuts, because $5.9 billion would basically mean ending state funding to public education in Virginia.  So here are the options I see:
1.  Raise Individual Income Tax Rates from an average of 5.17% of Taxable Income (this after state deductions to your federal AGI) to 9.26%.  You could achieve that a number of ways through the income tiers or by adding new tiers. (Calculated using VA Dept of Taxation FY06 Annual Report)
2.  Raise State Sales Tax by an average of 7.2%.  This was based on 2004 numbers when average state sales tax was 3.3% of total taxable sales.  But since they don't have more recent figures, it is hard to tell what that would mean in terms of the actual rate now.
3.  A blend thereof

Now, I know some might propose a Gasoline Excise Tax.  But according to EIA total gasoline supplied on a daily basis is 10.4 million gallons.  So, we would need over a dollar in excise taxes to raise 5.9 billion.  And then once you factor in the change in habits that this will promote, you would need that much more.

Finally, the report really doesn't explain and I am quite unfamiliar with the process of federal highway matching dollars.  So, maybe the full $5.9 bill addition is not necessary for the state alone.  And the report also noted that the backlog is unfunded but recommended roadway improvements.  Does that mean some of the recommendations are not critical?  And on top of this, there are other funding priorities out there that would have to compete with this spending.  If we really need to raise that much more revenue, then a lot of other spending priorities are going to have to live with whatever growth there is in GF revenues due to economic activity in the state.

If the problem is this large, then I don't know that a special session with the current contingent of short-sighted Republicans is going to cut it.

and thank you. I have repeatedly urged adding a quarter of a percent to the sales tax dedicated to transportation, but it looks as though a half a percent is more like it to get money for infrastructure repair and maintenance.  Adding to the income tax is also broad-based, and produces a reliable stream of income. The gasoline tax is, as you say, a somewhat less reliable but still feasible source of somewhat smaller revenue. 

What I do NOT want is more crackpot miscellaneous assessments, fees, or taxes. This is a broad-based, Commonwealth-wide infrastructure problem, the bone of society, and everyone should share in the cost, as fairly as possible. Which brings to mind: how about re-instituting the estate tax (also known, incorrectly, as the death tax)? Heh.

been repealed.  Restoring that tax would get us $140 million per year and only "hurt" - I put that word in quotes because it doesn't really hurt them - 871 of the wealthiest Virginia families.  Just to put it in perspective, $140 million per year is twice what the abuser fee is supposed to bring in.  However, it still doesn't come even close to raising the $5.9 billion per year noted in tx2vadem's excellent analysis.  Looks like we'll have to turn to other sources of revenue, including a gas tax increase: based on EIA consumption data for Virginia, every 1 cent per gallon raises $40-$50 million per year.  The problem ther, as tx2vadem correctly points out, is that it will require a $1 per gallon or more to get us the type of money we need.  It's hard to see that flying politically.  So, that leaves a mix of income taxes, sales taxes, the gas tax, and the estate tax.  I'm not mentioning spending cuts because I don't believe there are any significant cuts we can make that wouldn't do serious harm in the areas of education, health care, public safety, the environment (e.g., restoring the Chesapeake Bay).  Sorry, flat-earth Republicans, but if you have a better idea, let's see YOUR math.

The Republicans made enormous gains in America starting with the Proposition 13 tax revolt in the late '70s in California -- getting people outraged that the government dared to take their tax dollars!

Well, it's wake up call time.  If you aren't willing to be taxed, you better not expect to receive services from the government -- starting with the most basic, public safety and infrastructure. 

All we need to do is juxtapose a picture of a penny with a picture of the MN bridge collapse and ask the simple question -- isn't it worth an extra cent or two in the gas tax to spend the money to repair our infrastructure?

BTW, the American Society of Civil Engineers does an excellent report detailing America's infrastructure needs -- see their latest report.

I think it is odd that there are 100 comments on the new FISA law and only 8 here.  In terms of magnitude and impact on the daily lives of Virginians, this issue outweighs FISA changes a thousandfold (if not millions of more times). 

If there was as much energy on this issue as there was on FISA and abuser fees, then maybe we might see some movement.  I guess this sort of goes back to Dianne's post on packaging.  How can you package this issue in such a way that people understand the need and understand the cost?  And then how can you get them to push their elected officials in that direction?

In reality, most voters are not going to spend the time researching an issue or reading a TRIP report or an ASCE report.  All that most voters can connect with is the crappy condition of the roads and the time they spend sitting in traffic.  But since they don't appreciate the cost of fixing those things, politicians have ample opportunity to set false expectations (i.e. you can get something for nothing).  So, how can we change voters' minds?

Finally, I am also perplexed as to why Governor Kaine has not made a bigger issue out of this.  If the scope of the problem is this large, why isn't he out there sounding the alarms?  Why isn't the head of VDOT out there singing the blues?  It seems like nobody really cares.  I guess since they are in office for only a short time, there is not much incentive to solve long term problems.