{"id":891,"date":"2005-01-24T13:18:26","date_gmt":"2005-01-24T18:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/000af36.netsolhost.com\/wordpress1\/2005\/01\/24\/the_road_to_now\/"},"modified":"2005-01-24T13:18:26","modified_gmt":"2005-01-24T18:18:26","slug":"the_road_to_now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/2005\/01\/24\/the_road_to_now\/","title":{"rendered":"The Road to Nowhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looks like the patchwork, band-aid approach to transportation is the best we can expect this year, as the Senate majority Leader John Chichester threw up his hands and declared that the long-awaited Senate plan will be much like the House\u2019s and the Governor\u2019s. But wait \u2018til next year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chichester yesterday proposed returning to the transportation trust fund revenues from an existing tax on automobile insurance premiums, beginning July 2006. He said that would annually generate at least $106 million, money lawmakers have used for other purposes.<\/p>\n

\u2026Several years ago<\/a>, legislators passed a law stating that an estimated one-third of total insurance-premium taxes would go to the transportation fund. <\/p>\n

Since then, lawmakers have actually transferred the money only once.<\/p>\n

\u2026However<\/a>, Chichester and other Senate Republican leaders are urging an off-season investigation of increasing transportation needs, largely focusing on how to pay for them. It would fall to the 2006 General Assembly to enact a remedy.<\/p>\n

Chichester, Senate Republican Majority Leader Walter A. Stosch of Henrico and Sen. Charles R. Hawkins, R-Pittsylvania, head of the finance subcommittee on transportation, did not specifically rule out higher taxes.<\/p>\n

“I’m not saying no new taxes or increase them,” said Hawkins, arguing against another “quick fix, rabbit out of the hat.”<\/p>\n

\u2026 Chichester’s tactics in this year’s transportation debate are changing as suddenly as the weather. Before the session he said the Senate would largely react to programs advanced by delegates and Warner; last week, he said the Senate would have a plan of its own.<\/p>\n

The latest about-face, Chichester said, reflects divisions among senators on how to proceed and that “I was in bed for four days” — a reference to his bout with flu.<\/p>\n

At the core of the Senate’s latest position: cleaning up the highway department’s books; preventing the use of road dollars for other purposes or commandeering for transportation general-fund revenues that support education, human services and law enforcement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While many have advocated protecting the Transportation Trust Fund from raids by lawmakers to fund other budget items, Chichester wants to prohibit using general funds for transportation.<\/p>\n

House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, repeated he has no problem using general funds for roads: “The general fund is general. To say you can’t use it for other purposes defies the purpose of the fund.”<\/p>\n

The Chichester approach may help the other party, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch report.<\/p>\n

The approach outlined by Senate Republicans generally reflects that of the likely Democratic nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. The presumed Republican nominee, Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, opposes new taxes for transportation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, here are<\/a> the three proposals:<\/p>\n

Senate: Sen. John H. Chichester (R-Stafford) proposes creating a permanent funding source for transportation by using taxes on auto insurance premiums, for about $106 million a year. A law passed in 2000 shifted those taxes to transportation, but tight budgets have since led lawmakers to spend the money on education, health care and other needs.<\/p>\n

Gov. Mark R. Warner: The Democratic governor proposes spending $824 million on roads, transit and matching funds to encourage public-private partnership. Most of this is one-time-only spending. <\/p>\n

House: Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) proposes spending $938 million. Like Warner’s plan, it’s mostly a one-time infusion of money, but it also includes about $100 million a year collected by increasing fines for drivers who speed and break other road rules. Howell’s plan also would divert the tax on auto insurance premiums this year to transportation projects, but he has made no guarantees that he would do so in the future.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let the games begin while the traffic stalls.<\/p>\n

Update: I neglected originally to add two op-eds on transportation matters. One<\/a> complains about the mess but offers no solutions; the other, by Del. Vivian Watts (D-Fairfax), lays out the issue with cogent facts<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looks like the patchwork, band-aid approach to transportation is the best we can expect this year, as the Senate majority Leader John Chichester threw up his hands and declared that the long-awaited Senate plan will be much like the House\u2019s and the Governor\u2019s. But wait \u2018til next year. Chichester yesterday proposed returning to the transportation… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}