Va. House Passes Transportation Plan

The House bill, which was sponsored by Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), has had far more success than its Senate counterpart, passing out of a House committee easily. Unlike in previous years, the speaker has kept his Republican caucus largely united around the idea that reaching a transportation deal is critical this year, when all 140 members of the legislature will face voters. Fifty-two House Republicans and an independent also voted for the bill.

"We have fulfilled our end of the bargain," Howell said, calling the bill the "last chance" for a transportation deal this year. "We had a lot of good negotiations with the Senate, and we got our bill out."

That unity has been missing in the usually cohesive Senate, where Sen. John H. Chichester (R-Northumberland) opposes the GOP compromise negotiated by his closest allies in the chamber. The decision to send the Potts bill to committee avoided a divisive fight on the Senate floor.

Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City), one of those allies, referred to the strain of the disagreement with Chichester over transportation.

"It has been both politically and personally strenuous on many of us," Norment said. "Contentious words were exchanged. Contentious actions were exchanged. It was just not healthy for this body."

In the House, Democratic support for the transportation measure came only after several members of the party objected to a provision that would shift $250 million from the state's general fund into transportation. The general fund pays for teachers, health care, colleges, public safety, and other programs and services.

Several Democrats predicted those programs will suffer when a lagging economy forces lawmakers to choose between them and transportation.

"This debate is about who pays," House Minority Leader Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria) said. "I hope it's not education, public safety and the environment."

At one point, the Republicans begged their Democratic colleagues to support the bill, saying it is the last opportunity for getting a transportation plan approved.

"This bill is the only thing left. It is the only thing that has any hope," said Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax). Albo listed a dozen transportation projects that cannot be funded without additional revenue, including extending Metro to Dulles, widening Interstate 66 and the Capital Beltway, and buying more rail cars for Metro and Virginia Railway Express.

"I beg you not to look at this as some kind of [campaign] brochure you are going to want to send out next year," Albo said. "Look for solutions. This is a compromise and a solution, and it delivers and it is the only hope we have."