Kaine's Legacy May Ride on His Revamping Of Roads Deal

RICHMOND, Feb. 24 -- Perhaps the most memorable promise Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) made during his 2005 campaign was to solve the state's transportation crisis.

On Saturday, the Republican-controlled legislature gave him what he has been demanding since he took office: A transportation plan that pledges to fix Virginia's system of roads and rails.

What Kaine does with it now will go a long way toward determining his legacy and the political tilt of the commonwealth.

"I have really believed since Sept. 30, when people walked out with nothing, that we ought to try to find a solution," Kaine said Saturday, referring to the disappointing end to a special legislative session last fall that failed to produce a plan. "We are not there yet, but having a vehicle to do some amendments and try to fix it is quite preferable to having nothing."

But despite the legislature's actions and a plan on the table, Kaine isn't smiling.

The governor says the legislation does little to solve the state's transportation problems and puts other crucial services at risk. Kaine is threatening to conduct "major surgery" on the plan. And aides say it is possible that he could veto it if his changes are not embraced.

"The extensive use of general fund moneys intended to be used for schools and public safety and public health to support massive borrowing raises some very serious fiscal concerns," Kaine said.

Kaine said his concerns are not driven by election-year politics: "Doing the right thing will help everyone."

But although the plan's last-minute approval gives Kaine the opportunity to make good on his campaign pledge, it also could rob Kaine's Democratic Party of a compelling issue when all 140 lawmakers face voters Nov. 6.

For months, Democrats have been hammering Republicans for the bickering that led to years of stalemate over the budget, taxes and transportation. In partisan speeches, Kaine had promised to seek "new partners" in the General Assembly, a thinly veiled code for his desire to unseat Republican lawmakers.

If the Republicans had failed to deliver a roads plan again this year, Democrats would have been able to run this fall against a do-nothing GOP legislature. Now, they need a new tactic. The roads plan on Kaine's desk is clearly from the Republicans. Only a handful of Democrats voted for it.

"Now they have a lot less argument about us not providing a transportation plan and providing leadership on this issue," Del. Thomas Davis Rust (R-Fairfax) said. "Clearly, the Republicans provide the leadership, because I am not aware of any Democrat transportation plan."