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By Chelyen Davis
RICHMOND--
The Gener-Disputes over everything from the basic need for more money to how to get
Those parts were two regional authorities, in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and many Republicans say lawmakers should just revise those to conform with the law and go back home.
Democrats, however, have taken the opportunity to call for increasing revenues to pay for statewide maintenance needs. They themselves, however, disagree on what revenues--i.e., taxes--to increase.
Some Senate Democrats want to bump up the gas tax, which has been 17.5 cents a gallon since 1986. Some House Democrats favor increasing the sales tax.
And Gov. Tim Kaine has put forth a plan that raises other taxes and fees: the sales tax on vehicles, the registration fee on cars, the grantor's tax on home sales and the sales tax only in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
Kaine is moderately hopeful a plan that he can support will pass.
He added that he's met with House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, who
While Republicans may reject Democrats' proposals, Howell said they fully intend to introduce their own and want something productive to come from the session.
"I really think we need to get working on addressing the situation," Howell said.
Republicans' proposals are quite different. Howell said they plan to introduce bills to reinstitute the two regional authorities in a legal way. They will also put in bills relating to tolls and HOV lanes and have already put in one bill to conduct an independent audit of VDOT.
House Minority Leader Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry, is hopeful.
"If you think you're not going to get anything done, that's a self-fulfilling prophecy," Armstrong said. "I think there's a reasonable chance."
Armstrong is sponsoring Kaine's bill, which is expected to be sent to the House Finance Committee, which isn't typically favorable to tax-hike bills.
Armstrong said he hasn't counted heads among the Democratic caucus, but he is confident Kaine's bill will get support from Democrats on the committee.
On the Senate side, where Democrats hold the majority, chances are much better that some sort of tax increase will be passed, although not necessarily Kaine's exact proposal, as he hasn't introduced it in the Senate.
Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, said Democrats in the Senate are planning several different approaches, trying to find a bill that House Republicans can support.
Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, has talked of a gas tax increase, and Houck said he'd support that and just about anything else that would fix the problem with statewide maintenance funding. But he's not terribly optimistic about finding compromise with the House.
Kaine formally introduced his bill last week, and it joins 10 other bills already put in by lawmakers.
Those bills would do a variety of things; two call for offshore oil drilling, the royalties to be put toward transportation, one calls for an audit of the Virginia Department of Transportation, and one eliminates the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority.
One bill put in by Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, would eliminate the 17.5-cent per-gallon gas tax and replace it with a 5 percent sales tax on gasoline.
According to Secretary of Transportation Pierce Ho-mer, in 2010 the flat 17.5 cent rate would bring in $870 million, while a 5 percent sales tax would bring in $903 million.
Kaine said last week that it's worth considering, although he said Homer would prefer a mix of a flat rate and a sales tax, for more stability in the fund.
Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, however, said he hasn't heard much support for such a proposal in the House Republican caucus.
Cole himself has introduced three bills, one of which takes an extra 1/2 percent (to total 1 percent) of the existing sales tax and devotes it to transportation funding. Cole's other two bills revise the formulas by which transportation money is allocated by the state to the transportation districts.
Cole favors basing those allocations on population or registered vehicles, rather than the more complicated formula in use now that weighs other factors.
At Kaine's last transportation town hall meeting, held in Fredericksburg Thursday night, Cole said he was disappointed that Kaine's plan doesn't address the formulas.
Earlier that day, Kaine said he doesn't favor changing the formulas at all, and he hopes lawmakers will produce a plan this week that will stave off pressure to do so.
"I don't think that's helpful to Virginia. I don't think it's helpful to get in a deep allocation debate that pits one region against another," Kaine said.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
