Election Pressure Could Produce Results

RICHMOND The Virginia General Assembly will return to Richmond next week, and once again its members will struggle with the difficult question of what to do about the state's crowded, aging transportation network.

There will be other issues, and hundreds of bills. But no legislative subject is likely to dominate the political conversation as completely as the debate over road and rail improvements.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has vowed to keep pressing lawmakers to find new money for transportation. His proposed amendments to the state budget include an additional one-time infusion of $500 million for transportation.

Kaine and his allies in the state Senate, including much of its Republican leadership, are likely to press again for higher taxes to create a long-term source of money for improvements.

Meanwhile, House Republicans say they will continue to resist pressure from the governor and the Senate to raise taxes. They say the problem can be solved with a creative combination of borrowing and changing the way the state plans for and builds its roads and rail lines.

The issue proved too thorny for the governor and the legislature last year. They failed to reach agreement after months of delay in the regular session and a special session in September.

But political observers say this session could be different.

Closed meetings that include the Republican leadership in both chambers have been underway for weeks, and participants say they have already set a more congenial tone for discussions.

And the elections of 2007, during which all members of the legislature will face voters, may force lawmakers to confront the transportation crisis. Few of them -- especially those from Northern Virginia -- want to emerge from the session empty-handed again in an election year.

Here are some other issues that are likely to prompt debate during the 46-day General Assembly session that begins Wednesday:

Development

Questions about growth and development have become red-hot issues in the past year, as Kaine and House Republicans have described them as part of the solution to the state's long-term transportation problems.

The House GOP has prepared a package of bills that would help shift responsibility for neighborhood roads to local governments in exchange for state money and some new tools to limit sprawl. Kaine will once again push for a bill that would give local governments the power to slow or stop development until the regional road network is ready.

Health Care

Kaine has decided to make his second year in office in part about health care. He plans to propose a series of bills to address long-term care for the elderly, childhood obesity and health issues for women.

His budget amendments would boost the reimbursement rates the government pays to physicians for some services covered by Medicaid. And he wants to help ease the nursing shortage by providing enhanced benefits for people who become nursing instructors at the state's colleges.

Education

The governor has said he will advocate a pilot program on preschool, part of a larger push he intends to make in 2008 toward universal education for all 4-year-olds. The idea is already controversial and has drawn criticism from many Republicans, including some of Kaine's traditional allies in the Senate.

Less controversial will be Kaine's proposal to increase teacher pay. During his budget speech in December, he vowed to find the money necessary for a full 3 percent raise for teachers.

Taxes and Economics

There will be many tax bills coming from the Republican assembly -- some will propose to raise taxes; others, to lower them.

Already, several conservative lawmakers have submitted bills that would restart the stalled car tax relief act. Others have proposed to limit increases in local real estate taxes. Kaine has offered a bill that would remove thousands of the poorest Virginians from the tax rolls completely.

There may also be a fight on increasing the minimum wage. Democrats in the House of Delegates have decided to mount a campaign on the issue, and some Republicans are supportive of the effort.