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Governor releases transportation plan

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Gov. Bob McDonnell announced on Friday details of his 2012 General Assembly session transportation plan, wihch he said will provide additional funding for maintaining Virginia’s infrastructure and will continue the administration’s efforts to ensure greater accountability and transparency in Virginia’s transportation entities while delivering transportation projects more quickly and cost effectively.

“Last year, working across party lines, we took a significant step forward in addressing Virginia’s long-neglected transportation system by implementing reforms to transportation agencies and by accelerating projects and bond funding that had languished in bureaucracy. Collectively, we put the most new funding into transportation in a generation,” said McDonnell.

“This session, we must take the necessary steps to build off of last year’s historic efforts, provide additional new funding for maintenance and construction, and continue reforming our transportation agencies to deliver projects and services more efficiently. Virginia simply cannot remain a leader in economic development and job creation if we do not continue to address our transportation challenges. That is why this year’s transportation package will dedicate additional funding to transportation and will help spur our economic recovery through job creation, forward-thinking investments and promoting our transportation assets.”

At the 2011 Governor’s Transportation Conference in Norfolk in December, Governor McDonnell called for changes in laws governing the allocation of future surpluses to transportation, dedicating portions of revenue growth attributable to transportation infrastructure projects to transportation, phasing in an additional dedication of .25 percent of the sales tax to transportation over the next eight years, establishing an Interstate 85 Connector Economic Development and Promotion Zone to encourage businesses to invest in Virginia and ship through Virginia ports, and advancing Virginia’s commercial space flight programs.

The governor added to those 2012 proposals by putting forward new initiatives to:

·         Authorize the creation of the Virginia Toll Road Authority to construct, maintain and operate toll road facilities throughout the Commonwealth. Toll facilities currently operated by VDOT could be transferred to the authority, and the authority will provide another option for constructing major infrastructure projects without ceding complete control to a non-state partner.

·         Authorize the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) to sell naming rights for the Commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure. Private entities would be able to place their name on highways, interchanges, bridges and other infrastructure for an annual fee, which would go to the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund to support maintenance. The CTB will establish rules, fees, and revenue projections for this program at a later date.

·         Enhance the Barge and Rail Use, International Trade Facility, and Port Volume Increase Tax Credits adopted during the 2011 General Assembly to make Virginia’s port more competitive versus its competitors.

·         Reform the Virginia Port Authority board of commissioners to ensure that the most experienced and qualified Virginians can serve on the board.

·         Increase Virginia’s representation on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board of directors to bring conformity with recently enacted federal legislation and ensure that Virginia taxpayers are fairly represented on the board.

·         Codify Virginia’s seat on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s board of directors and implement qualifications-based requirements on appointees to the board to ensure effective governance and safety of the WMATA transit system. The qualifications-based requirements are the recommendation of the Governance Work Group comprised of governors McDonnell and O’Malley and Mayor Gray.

“Without an adequate transportation system, almost every aspect of our daily lives and government are negatively impacted,” said McDonnell. “Therefore, we must get serious and start treating transportation like a core function of government. That is why I am proposing to increase transportation’s share of the sales and use tax revenues from 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent over the next eight years. My budget begins the process by dedicating an additional $110 million — only one-eighth of one percent of the total budget — to transportation over the course of the biennium.

“I am also proposing to increase transportation’s share of general fund surpluses to 75 percent and dedicate 1 percent of revenue growth above 5 percent to transportation. We will also expand the revenue sharing program to include maintenance, furthering our efforts to better leverage available revenues to meet Virginia’s growing transportation maintenance needs. We cannot provide additional funding without ensuring that our transportation organizations are accountable to our citizens and deliver projects in a safe, transparent and cost-effective manner. That is why my package will also include changes to continue our efforts to reform MWAA and WMATA.”

Speaking about the announcement, Del. Scott Lingamfelter said, “For years we have struggled with solutions to our transportation challenges. I applaud Gov. McDonnell for recognizing these challenges and putting forward a common-sense package that will address our maintenance deficits and provide further tools to our transportation agencies to advance critical projects.

“MWAA and WMATA serve thousands of Virginians each year,” said Del. Jim LeMunyon. “We must ensure that they are properly managed, transparent and accountable to our citizens. Two additional Virginia appointees on the MWAA board of directors will ensure that Virginia’s interests are represented, and requiring appointees to the WMATA board of directors to have transportation, transit, or other relevant experience will help WMATA better address governance and safety concerns and avoid cost increases.”

“Whether it’s funding to maintain our roads, incentives for transportation-related businesses, or reforming our transportation agencies, we must continue to improve our transportation infrastructure and assets,” said State Sen. Frank Wagner. “Virginia is ripe with opportunities, but to realize them and continue our record on economic development and job creation, we must address our transportation challenges.”

Gov. McDonnell’s 2012 Transportation Initiatives (Including Proposals Announced in December)

Transportation Funding and Reform (Delegates Lingamfelter and Rust/Senator Wagner)

·         Dedicates 1 percent of general fund revenue growth above 5 percent to transportation

·         Increases transportation’s share of year-end surpluses to 75 percent

·         Increases transportation’s share of state sales and use tax revenues from 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent

·         Authorize the CTB to sell naming rights for the Commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure. Private entities would be able to place their name on highways, interchanges, bridges and other infrastructure for an annual fee, which would go to the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund to support maintenance. The CTB will establish rules, fees, and revenue projections for this program at a later date.

·         Creates transportation improvement districts wherein 25 percent of the growth in state tax revenues attributable to a transportation project will be transferred to the Transportation Trust Fund to fund other transportation improvements

·         Authorizes creation of the Virginia Toll Road Authority to construct, maintain and operate toll road facilities throughout the Commonwealth

·         Amends statutes regarding local transportation plans to ensure that state and federal dollars are spent in a timely and cost-effective manner

Port of Virginia Comprehensive Promotion and Reform (Delegates Cosgrove and Purkey /Senator Wagner)

·         Exempts the Virginia Port Authority from bureaucratic requirements regarding environmental impact statements, outside legal counsel, surplus property and real property management to better enable the port to operate within a business environment

·         Enhances incentives passed during the 2011 General Assembly to bring parity between Virginia’s incentives and our competitors

·         Increases the number of commissioners eligible to serve from Hampton Roads and places qualifications based requirements on commissioners to ensure that the Virginia Port Authority is governed by business leaders with the requisite experience to run a port

·         Creates the Route 460 Corridor Interstate 85 Connector Economic Development Zone to help make Virginia a leader in maritime commerce and provide incentives to business involved in manufacturing of goods shipped through the port to locate in Virginia

Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority Comprehensive Promotion and Reform (Delegate May/ Senator Herring)

·         Restructures the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority and the board of directors to turn it into a truly independent entity capable of growing and promoting Virginia’s role in the field of commercial aerospace

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Delegate May/ Senator Colgan)

·         Increases the total membership of the MWAA board of directors from 13 to 17, granting two additional seats to Virginia, one to Maryland and one to D.C.

·         Increases the number of directors required to approve the annual budget and bond issuances from 8 to 10

·         Prohibits directors from serving past the expiration of their terms

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Reform (LeMunyon)

·         Codifies Virginia’s seat on the WMATA board of directors

·         Imposes certain qualifications based requirements on those members eligible for appointment to the board of directors

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