By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 2, 2008

RICHMOND, May 1 -- Legislators from Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads will meet for the first time next week to tackle transportation problems that have left the state's two most congested regions searching for millions of dollars for roads and transit.

The two regions, the most populous in the state, boast more than 60 legislators from both political parties. They will play an integral role when the 140-member General Assembly returns to the Capitol next month for a special session on transportation.

"If we could come up with a solution, nothing could stop us,'' said Del. John A. Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake), chairman of the Hampton Roads delegation.

The meeting, which will take place Wednesday in Richmond, was put together by the delegations' chairmen. More than 40 legislators have agreed to attend.

"Anytime there is dialogue, that's a good thing,'' said Bob Chase, director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, a business-supported group that lobbies for transportation funding. "I applaud them for bringing this together. I think it's a good start."

But privately, many of those involved in the transportation debate are skeptical about how much can be accomplished in an open meeting with dozens of legislators.

The General Assembly passed a landmark transportation package last year designed to pump $1.1 billion a year into transportation across Virginia. Regional authorities were set up to collect $400 million annually in Northern Virginia and $200 million annually in Hampton Roads.

But in a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court ruled Feb. 29 that the regional authorities cannot constitutionally levy taxes and fees because they are not elected bodies.

Del. Thomas Davis Rust (R-Fairfax), co-chairman of the Northern Virginia delegation, said the meeting was called to try to come up with a way to collect money for the two regions in compliance with the court ruling. But Rust said he knows some legislators will want to talk about solutions to the state's larger transportation problems.

A downturn in the economy and soaring asphalt and steel prices have diminished Virginia's ability to pay for transportation improvements. State officials say that there is a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars in the budget for maintaining roads and that the fund could be all but depleted within a decade.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who will introduce a transportation plan in the next two weeks, has met with leaders of the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate twice since the Supreme Court ruling. In recent days, he has been calling individual legislators to talk about transportation.

Chris Zimmerman (D), chairman of the now-powerless Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, said he is "guardedly optimistic" that the General Assembly can devise a solution this summer. He said his group, which has returned the money it collected before the court ruling, is preparing for "two different futures": Either the legislature finds a way to fund the authority, or the authority disappears.

Democrats, including Kaine, want to raise taxes across the state to provide money for statewide road and transit projects. They are considering increases to the gas tax, sales tax and auto sales tax, but they disagree over which to raise.

Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who favors a proposal that includes a gas tax increase, said he knows polls show that Virginians, struggling with soaring gas prices, don't want to pay more for fuel. But, he said, gas prices may be significantly lower by summer.

Saslaw called any plan that does not include a gas tax increase a major problem. "There's no way out of this without a tax increase,'' he said.

But House Republicans are opposed to any statewide tax increase. They prefer to focus on salvaging the regional panels by allowing local governments to enact tax and fee increases.

Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said House Republicans have been standing in the way of a solution. But, he said, their willingness to attend next week's meeting shows that some might be setting aside their ideological differences to look for a compromise.

"It's a very good sign,'' he said.