Gov. Bob McDonnell today completed his review of the major transportation funding compromise passed by the General Assembly in late February, and in the process proposed amendments to the compromise reducing the titling tax increase and also reducing the controversial fee on alternative vehicles by 36 percent.
A press release from the governor’s office said the bill as amended by McDonnell “reflects the principles of the governor’s introduced bill, which, as amended, reduces the gas tax by 35 percent and replaces it with a sales tax that grows with the economy, uses $200 million in current general funds, uses another $200 million in future general funds from the federal Marketplace Fairness Act, and ensures that alternative fuel vehicles pay a share of the maintenance of the roads.”
McDonnell in a statement in the release thanked “Republicans and Democrats in the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate for working together across party, philosophical and regional lines to solve one of our most vexing and longstanding legislative challenges.”
“For 27 years Virginians have sat in traffic while partisan differences over how to address these challenges have stalled progress. The transportation funding and reform package that passed the General Assembly last month was an innovative solution that represents a realization that we must invest in our infrastructure to ensure our continued economic prosperity, safe roads for our citizens to travel, and an enhancement in their quality of life,” McDonnell said.
The move won the Republican praise from Democrats, including presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe, who urged the General Assembly to “approve these amendments and make the first meaningful progress on transportation in nearly 30 years.”
“By definition, compromise is never perfect for all sides, but Gov. McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bolling and Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly came together to make progress for Virginia,” McAuliffe said.
Democratic Party of Virginia chair Charniele Herring, a member of the House of Delegates, also had praise for McDonnell on the transportation issue.
“I commend Gov. McDonnell for overcoming Ken Cuccinelli’s multiple attempts to derail this transportation compromise and moving it forward so we can begin to solve the transportation crisis we face. This package is not perfect, but it represents considerable progress toward making our roads safer, getting Virginians out of gridlock and creating jobs along the way,” Herring said.
“It is encouraging that Democrats and Republicans in Richmond are still capable of working together for the good of the Commonwealth, even as extreme ideologues like Ken Cuccinelli attempt to stop compromise and progress on a critical issue for Virginia families and businesses,” Herring said.
Cuccinelli, the Republican attorney general and presumptive GOP nominee to run for governor in 2013, has stepped up his efforts to block the transportation bill from taking effect, issuing an advisory opinion late last week declaring portions of the bill setting local sales taxes in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to be unconstitutional.
Other right-wingers have raised issue more generally with McDonnell’s willingness to sign off on tax increases needed to finance the extra money that will go to transportation improvements, a criticism that McDonnell addressed head-on, pointing out that Republican President Ronald Reagan himself signed legislation in 1983 more than doubling the national gas tax for the same reasons that Virginia is addressing its transportation issue today.
“Virginia’s economy depends upon a safe, reliable, efficient transportation system spanning all areas of the Commonwealth. This is why I have substantially agreed to the provisions in the compromise bill that passed our legislature, but have proposed multiple amendments to limit what it asks Virginians to contribute, to address potential legal questions regarding the regional taxing authority, and to clarify many administrative and technical aspects of the bill,” McDonnell said.
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