Promises to cut federal spending on state transportation projects by the new Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives will have implications on political debates regarding transportation in Virginia.
“House Republicans threatening to cut transportation exposes the dangerous flaws in Bob McDonnell’s deficit-spending transportation plan,” Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Brian Moran said Wednesday.
McDonnell indicated in the fall that he will ask state legislators to back a plan to jumpstart movement on Virginia’s transportation needs that will include $1.1 billion in bonds that would be paid back with future federal transportation funding. That plan – labeled by Moran as a “$1.1 billion bet” – will put the state’s finances at risk, Moran said.
“If Bob McDonnell has his way, he will heap another billion dollars in debt on top of Virginia families without a sufficient guarantee that we will be able to pay the money back,” Moran said. “All of this uncertainty could be avoided if Bob McDonnell would offer a plan that meets our critical transportation needs without mortgaging our state’s long-term economic health.”
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].
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