Funding Questions Left Unanswered in Plans for Transportation
By Michael D. Shear and Chris L. Jenkins
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
RICHMOND, Jan. 16 -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday proposed new controls on development to a legislative audience that appears increasingly willing to consider such ideas to ease traffic. But Kaine left unanswered major questions about how to pay for costly road and rail projects.
In a 37-minute speech to the General Assembly, Kaine (D) proposed giving local governments more power to slow growth, require traffic studies and coordinate with transportation planners. Reprising a popular line from his 2005 campaign speeches, he said money alone would not clear roads.
"Over the long term, the most important single change we can make is to reform the way we plan at both the state and local levels," he said. "We cannot allow uncoordinated development to overwhelm our roads and infrastructure."
Speaking in the temporary chambers of the House of Delegates, where lawmakers are gathering while the Capitol is renovated, Kaine avoided the politically sensitive issue of whether taxes should rise to pay for road and transit projects. He promised a transportation investment plan by Monday, when amendments to the state's two-year budget are due.
His growth proposals have riled home builders and real estate agents, who immediately announced a "housing blitz" on Richmond for Tuesday. More than 200 of their members are scheduled to visit lawmakers at their offices to remind them of the dangers of halting development.
"That's the death of our industry's growth," said Mike Toalson, the chief lobbyist for the home builders. "We urge the House not to fall for these populist, so-called quick fixes."
But lawmakers in both parties, including many who have sided with developers in past years, say they recognize the popular appeal of growth controls.
Senior House Republicans are developing their own package of bills aimed at giving rapidly growing communities the ability to manage construction. One bill would expand the number of counties that can demand cash from developers to ease the impact of new homes.
"I don't think [Kaine] will find us a monolithic wall of resistance," said Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem). "If there is a war, it will not be one based on partisanship but rather on philosophy of government or region."
Senators, too, plan to offer legislation to address growth and development as part of their proposal to create a continuing source of money for transportation projects.
"You have to have some sort of long-range planning with our local governing bodies, so our system is not overwhelmed as soon as you build it," said Sen. Charles R. Hawkins (R-Pittsylvania), who led a Senate-sponsored study last year on transportation needs.
Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) said: "These are two issues that have to be linked. Anyone who looks at poll results and anyone who wants to win political office in suburban Virginia has to start looking at this issue."
Even developers are offering up ideas. Toalson said his group will support a bill that would require uniform traffic studies and might support another that would allow development rights to be transferred from a less desirable location to a more desirable one. Kaine said he will support such a bill.
Kaine's speech was his first major policy address as governor and was designed principally to reveal his goals for transportation, which he has said is the most urgent problem facing the commonwealth.
But he also vowed action in other areas. He said he will push for higher teacher salaries and a new college-level institute in Martinsville in Southside Virginia. He said he signed an executive order Monday creating a Start Strong Council to develop preschool for more 4-year-olds. But he did not propose funds for a more comprehensive program this year.
Kaine said he will push to lock up the transportation trust fund and support a constitutional amendment that would allow a 20 percent homestead exemption for property taxes -- two promises he made during the campaign.
"I am filled with optimism and resolve, with respect for your service and sacrifice, and with high expectations that we will work together," he told members of the House and Senate.
Several lawmakers praised his focus on development and said they look forward to helping him pass his legislation.
"That's a healthy change and a positive one, and I applaud that kind of thinking," Sen. John H. Chichester (R-Northumberland) said.
But others were more critical of Kaine, saying the proposals in his speech did not live up to the billing they received as he held town hall meetings in communities throughout Virginia.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax) said the speech had "a lot of platitudes and no substance," while Del. John S. "Jack" Reid (R-Henrico) called it "pedestrian" and "vague."
Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax) said Kaine had punted on the tax issue. "It seems to me he's going to leave the heavy lifting" for later this week, Albo said.
Transportation advocates have complained that Kaine's plan would not provide enough money to ease congestion soon. They have urged him to support higher taxes to defray the cost of transportation projects that will cost billions of dollars over the next decade.
Those advocates are pinning their hopes on the Senate, where leading Republicans have said they will reveal a major transportation proposal this week. Political observers expect the proposal to be similar to one that failed in 2004. That plan would have raised taxes to provide $1.4 billion for road and transit construction.
"It's become a crisis now because the state does not have sufficient funding to meet all those needs," Sen. Walter A. Stosch (R-Henrico) said.
House members have also said they are looking for ways to raise revenue for roads without raising taxes. A group of Republicans has said it will try to raise $300 million a year by increasing fees in Northern Virginia for transportation projects.
Also, Del. Leo C. Wardrup Jr. (R-Virginia Beach), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said Monday that he plans to raise $1.2 billion a year for roads and transit by dedicating general funds -- those used for schools, public safety and health care -- to transportation.
Kaine, however, said he would oppose diverting too much money from the state's operating fund to transportation. "A long-term reliance on general fund dollars for transportation is a road to fiscal disaster," he said.
Staff writer Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.
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