Budget Battle Edges Toward Overtime

Va. Lawmakers Wrestling Over Transportation Funds

RICHMOND -- With a week left until the scheduled end of the 2006 General Assembly session, Virginia is once again headed toward a political and legislative stalemate as lawmakers grapple with whether to raise taxes -- and if so, how -- for transportation improvements.

The pieces are all in place for a drawn-out debate.

There is a determined governor with a trial lawyer's confidence. There are House and Senate budget negotiators who can barely conceal their dislike for each other. And there is a sharp divide over taxes intertwined in the state's $72 billion budget, which must be approved before the session ends.

"Tensions are rising. I think we're trapped here," said Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax).

The first fitful negotiations between budget conferees began Thursday afternoon and are set to continue until Saturday's deadline. Legislators, lobbyists and some advisers to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) appear resigned to a sequel to 2004's historic clash over taxes, which came close to shutting down the government.

"Obviously, we are going to go overtime here," House Appropriations Committee Chairman Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax), a key negotiator, said last week. "I don't see how we are going to resolve this thing in the next 10 days."

The "thing" Callahan mentions is the latest incarnation of a nearly five-year-old tug of war over taxes between the two legislative chambers, which are both controlled by Republicans but are far apart philosophically. Calling themselves "pro-investment," Senate leaders favor tax increases; House leaders oppose them on behalf of "overtaxed" constituents.

In 2001, then-Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) stoked a bitter dispute and forced a series of budget delays by pushing his car tax cut in the face of a worsening economy. In 2004, his successor, Mark R. Warner (D), used the divisions to engineer a tax increase of $1.5 billion over two years despite an improving economy.

Now, Kaine is using widespread frustration with congestion to seek a $1 billion-per-year injection into transportation improvements and maintenance.

"The conferees on both sides, they know this issue. They've lived it. They've talked to their constituents about it," an optimistic Kaine said on a WTOP radio show last week. "People of goodwill can listen and compromise.

"May we go long?" the governor added. "Yeah, we might go a little bit long. I still think there's some chance we could reach a solution in regulation."

Negotiations Begin

For at least the next seven days, most of Virginia's lawmakers will sit around in Richmond, twiddling their thumbs, while a handful of colleagues attempt to resolve their differences over taxes and the budget.