Va. Senate Approves 6-Cent Rise In Gas Tax

With no compromise in sight, one veteran senator called the special session the most "poorly organized show" he has ever seen.

Amid the increasing acrimony, Republicans and Democrats accused each other Wednesday of wasting time. Part of the blame was directed at Kaine, who was accused of calling a special session without a consensus, at a cost of $20,000 a day.

"It's been two wasted days of my life working on this," said Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R), who serves as president of the Senate. "All I can conclude is the governor called us into special session so he can embark on some political grandstanding maneuver that is going to accomplish nothing for the people of Virginia."

Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax) said the GOP legislators are being obstructionists.

"When you are in a transportation crisis, you have to do everything you can to solve it," Howell said.

Kaine spokeswoman Delacey Skinner agreed: "Perhaps the lieutenant governor has forgotten we are all here to work for Virginians, and it is not about our time. It's about what we accomplish for them, and we will accomplish in this special session what we have the political will to accomplish."

House Republicans are expected to move ahead Thursday with fixes to the regional plans in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, which were tossed out by the Supreme Court.

Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News) said his proposal, which is expected to be embraced by the House leadership after it is heard by a committee today, will include a mix of state-imposed and locally enacted taxes, a concession for Republicans who previously had ruled out state-imposed taxes.

Besides the statewide tax increases, the Senate bill also includes higher taxes in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads that would be spent on new roads just in those regions. In Northern Virginia, the Senate plan would assess a hotel tax of $5 a night, increase the tax on the sale of a home by 40 cents per $100 of value and add 0.5 percent to the sales tax. The Senate bill, which was sponsored by Saslaw, would reduce the sales tax on food to offset the gas tax increase.

The powerful Republican-controlled House Rules Committee is expected to take up Saslaw's bill Thursday. Although the bill emerged from the Senate on a partisan 21 to 16 vote, few expect it to succeed in the House, where even many Democrats vow to vote against an increase in the gas tax.

But the Rules Committee might decide to send it or Kaine's bill directly to the floor, forcing House Democrats to go on record as supporting a tax increase -- and allowing GOP members to vote against one.

Most recent legislative successes in Richmond have required extensive negotiations among House and Senate leaders and the governor. In this instance, the opposing sides do not appear as if they are talking.

When Saslaw was asked whether he plans to negotiate a compromise with House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), he said, "He knows what's in the bill."

House Republicans spent Wednesday critiquing Kaine's proposal, which includes higher taxes statewide on car and house sales, a $10 increase in vehicle registration fees and a 1-cent sales tax increase in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Republicans, led by Howell and House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (Salem), accused Democrats of exaggerating allegations that the state will fall almost $3 billion short of what is needed to maintain its roads and bridges. That is one reason they want an audit. "Before we write a check for $1 billion a year, don't you think we ought to know what the expenses are?" Howell asked Armstrong and Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer.

Armstrong said, "We are not going to fix this problem by telling VDOT to quit buying Post-it notes."

Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William), chairman of the Finance Committee, sees little chance of the two sides coming together.

"The summertime may not be the best time to do this," Colgan said. "September may have been better."