Va. Lawmakers From Urban Areas Eye Funds, Plans
By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 8, 2008; B01
RICHMOND, May 7 -- Calling themselves the "new urban majority," legislators from Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads inched closer Wednesday to agreeing that any transportation plan must include millions of dollars for road and transit projects across the state.
In their first such meeting, more than two dozen lawmakers from the state's two most populous regions talked about trying to persuade General Assembly leaders to follow their lead, but many predicted that the two leaders of the House and Senate would not agree on a statewide solution.
"Until [they] get together in a tepee and smoke a peace pipe or something, no bill is going to get out. Period," Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax) said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) will call legislators back to the Capitol on June 23 for a special session on transportation.
Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (Fairfax), want to raise taxes across the state to provide money for statewide projects. They are considering increases in the gasoline, sales and auto sales taxes, but they disagree over which to raise.
House Republicans, led by Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), oppose a statewide tax increase. They prefer to focus on regional solutions in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads allowing local governments to enact tax and fee increases.
Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News) said the two chambers have to come up with a deal; otherwise, no tax increase will be approved by the House. Saslaw and Howell did not attend Wednesday's meeting.
Kaine expects to introduce a plan next week, but legislators said he is looking first for consensus among House and Senate Democrats.
"There is no unanimity on any of these approaches at this time," said Del. Brian J. Moran (Alexandria), chairman of the House Democratic caucus. "We certainly agree on what needs to be done. It's the 'how' we are now struggling with."
On Tuesday, a coalition of groups representing retailers, developers, real estate agents, contractors, schoolteachers and localities called for increases in the sales tax or the gas tax, or both, to pay for road maintenance statewide.
The General Assembly passed a landmark package last year 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.
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.
"Although we want to solve the problem, we have decided that there are only certain ways we can fund it, and I think that limits us in trying to find a solution to the problem," Sen. Yvonne B. Miller (D-Norfolk) said.
"You cannot fix transportation without a huge infusion of funds, and you can't have a huge infusion of funds unless people are willing to bite the bullet," she said.
The two most populous regions in the state, which have more than 60 legislators, will play an integral role when the 140-member General Assembly returns to Richmond for the special session. About half of them came to Richmond for Wednesday's meeting, about two-thirds of them Democrats.
"We are the new urban majority," Del. Paula Miller (D-Norfolk) said. "We have some political muscle here, and it's time we flex it."
Legislators talked about their unwillingness to send more transportation money to other parts of the state, their desire to use taxes or fees that will grow over time and the need for specific projects in their regions.
They said that the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads economies generate money used statewide and that to lose any companies or military bases because of traffic problems would hurt the entire state.
"If we don't solve the transportation problem, we will face a major economic disaster," Del. William K. Barlow (D-Isle of Wight) said.
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