Kaine Set for a Tour to Promote Higher Taxes for Transportation

Governor in Battle Amid Budget Stalemate; GOP Readies Response

"I'm told I have a pretty aggressive schedule," Kaine said of a barnstorming effort planned for this week in southwest Virginia to push higher taxes for road and transit improvements. (By P. Kevin Morley -- Richmond Times-dispatch Via Associated Press)

RICHMOND -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine plans to barnstorm this week on behalf of higher taxes for roads and transit, holding town hall meetings in southwest Virginia even as lawmakers remain deadlocked on the state's budget.

Back from a week-long trip to visit National Guard troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kaine (D) will stump for his $1 billion-a-year transportation plan in Bristol and Hillsville at the beginning of the week.

"I'm told I have a pretty aggressive schedule," Kaine said Friday as he got off his plane. "I'll be spending my time just going around and talking to Virginians and doing what I've done since Election Day, which is explaining why it is important to do this and do it now."

Republican lawmakers in the House of Delegates also will be seeking to sway public opinion in the week before the General Assembly returns March 27 for a special session. GOP delegates are in their districts armed with sample letters to the editor and other material to help explain their opposition to higher taxes.

"When I go back home, I am not having people come up to me saying, 'Bill, you have to raise taxes.' And I live in one of the most affected areas in the state," House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) said. "I'm not hearing from them saying, 'Golly day, you have to raise money and give it to VDOT.' "

But neither side has launched a full-scale public relations campaign similar to the one that former Democratic governor Mark R. Warner engineered in 2004 during a legislative stalemate over raising taxes for state services.

Kaine has prepared an election-style campaign that includes radio ads, direct mail and automated telephone calls aimed at increasing the pressure on 26 Republican delegates to reach a compromise. But aides said the governor is waiting to see how budget negotiations go before deciding whether to launch the public relations assault.

"You'll know when you see," Kaine said.

Howell said such an effort "just digs our people in more firmly." And he said last week that his GOP caucus does not have the resources to match Kaine's effort if he decides to launch it.

"See, we don't have the luxury," he told reporters. "I'd love to go out and raise a quarter of a million and use it on media in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. But I can't do that. I just don't have the ability. A quarter of a million is a lot to raise in a few days."

Kaine and the Republican-controlled state Senate are pushing similar transportation plans that would add about $1 billion a year for road and transit improvements by raising some taxes and fees. The Republican leadership in the House wants to allocate about $350 million in continuing revenue for roads, bridges and transit without raising taxes.

Lawmakers in both parties are using the time off to connect directly with their constituents.