Kaine on transportation: ‘Our public expects us to act’

Media General News Service
Published: June 23, 2008

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is making yet another pitch for a fix for Virginia’s transportation system.

Opening a special session of the General Assembly this afternoon, Kaine says new taxes and fees are necessary to close a growing gap in the road-maintenance fund and generate additional dollars to build new highways and expand mass transit.

It is the third time in as many years that Kaine and the divided legislature have tried to reach terms of new funding for transportation. Previous efforts have ended in failure or have been thrown out by the courts.

Kaine said improving transportation is not just a concern of traffic-hyphen clogged Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. It is also a priority, he said, in Virginia’s countryside where residents believe new roads will generate jobs and revive their local economy.

“Parents are missing family dinners and soccer games,“ Kaine said. “Businesses that move goods and services on the road network can’t set reliable work schedules. Firefighters and EMTs who race to fires, accidents and health emergencies lose precious time as congestion blocks their path. And working families already struggling with the price of gas feel frustrations rise when a short commute turns into hours of stop-and-go traffic, while the gas burns out of their tanks.“

Kaine called on the legislature to put aside partisan differences to fashion a long-term solution for the highway system, the third largest in the country.

Kaine said he recognizes that Virginians don’t welcome higher taxes during a period of economic decline, but, he said, “Virginians are responsible people. They don’t demand a free lunch.“

Kaine is proposing to raise about $1 billion a year through an increase in the motor vehicle sales tax, higher registration fees and a one-cent rise in the sales tax for projects in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

House Republicans, many of whom are fervent anti-taxers, have pledged to block increases. Kaine’s fellow Democrats are divided, with the party’s House caucus generally supporting a statewide increase in the sales tax of a penny to six cents on the dollar, while senate Democrats prefer higher fuel taxes.

Kaine, in remarks prepared for delivery to a joint session of the House and Senate, urged immediate action. “It is clear that this problem is real, significant and growing. Our public expects us to act.“

Kaine, heading to his final year in office, told lawmakers to disregard the whims of pressure groups and do what is right for Virginia.

If we let our actions be dictated by the insular concerns of Capitol Square, the problem could well be evaded until infinity,“ Kaine said. “But, let’s fit our actions to the standards that prevail outside Capital Square - the standards of our citizens who send us here to solve problems and get things done.“

—Jeff E. Schapiro