Appeals For Road Funds Intensify

As the General Assembly prepares to meet in a special session, Northern Virginia business leaders warned lawmakers yesterday that traffic congestion will undermine the area's prosperity and harm residents' quality of life if additional money is not found to build roads.

At a news conference in Reston, 21 business groups stepped up their pressure on General Assembly members to unite behind a plan to provide at least $400 million a year in new revenue to pay for transportation projects in Northern Virginia.

"Two legislative sessions in the past eight months have failed to produce results," a resolution signed by business organizations in Alexandria and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties said. "Further delay is unacceptable."

The Republican-controlled General Assembly returns to Richmond on Sept. 27 for a three-day special session to address transportation funding. For much of the year, the state Senate and House of Delegates have been locked in a bitter stalemate over whether to raise taxes to pay for new transportation projects across the state, particularly in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Senate leaders had agreed on a statewide tax increase to pay for more roads, but Republican leaders in the House blocked the plan, arguing that voters did not want to pay more taxes.

Some House leaders are expected to unveil a counterproposal that doesn't propose higher taxes as early as this week. But two Northern Virginia delegates are circulating what they consider a compromise between the House and Senate.

The proposal by Thomas Davis Rust and David B. Albo, both Fairfax County Republicans, would raise $417 million a year for Northern Virginia projects by raising some taxes and fees in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties. The plan, part of which would have to be approved by local officials, calls for higher vehicle registration fees and a 2 percent increase in hotel and rental car taxes. It also raises taxes on developed commercial and industrial properties in the region.

"It's not a sales tax; it's not a gas tax. It's not an income tax," Rust said. "These are very directed fees toward people who are using the transportation system and impacting the transportation system."

But several delegates, including House Appropriations Chairman Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax), predicted a tough fight to win passage of any legislation that includes higher taxes.

In the House, Rust and Albo's bill must first be approved by the Finance Committee, where 11 of 22 members have signed no-new-tax pledges, according to lawmakers.

"There are some people down there who don't think we have a transportation problem," said Callahan, who attended the event with business leaders. "They think it can be solved by gimmicks."

Another lawmaker, Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Fairfax), said business leaders must persuade three Republican members of the Finance Committee from Northern Virginia. The delegates -- Timothy D. Hugo of Fairfax and Jeffrey M. Frederick and L. Scott Lingamfelter of Prince William -- have resisted past efforts to raise taxes or fees to fund transportation improvements.