It
appears as if Senate Finance Chairman John
Chichester’s favorite movie is Groundhog Day. In
it, Bill Murray plays a TV reporter who wakes up
each day to find it’s the same day he just
lived. In Chichester’s case each day represents
a new legislative session, yet his “answer” is
always the same. More taxes.
This
time the Senator and his groupies demand that the
sales tax be applied to gas — an increase of
five cents on every dollar, not gallon, spent on
gas. If he doesn’t get his way, he will take his
marbles (his vote and that of others) and go home.
While most agree that the Commonwealth needs to
dedicate more resources to transportation,
Chichester’s latest move killed
a compromise plan that was generated in the House
with bi-partisan support. While not perfect, the
House compromise plan would
have gotten much needed dollars flowing
into new projects and would
have taken the Commonwealth one step closer
to solving its transportation challenges.
While
Chichester argues that the Commonwealth is in dire
need of more money for roads, he balks at any plan
that isn’t his and has openly criticized members
of the General Assembly for standing in the way of
progress. It’s either his way, or no new
highways for the Commonwealth. Who is standing in
the way of progress now?
Sadly,
Chichester's plans always fall back to more taxes
despite state surpluses worth several billion
dollars over the past few years. Chichester argues
that General Fund surplus dollars should not be
spent on transportation. He has argued that these
funds need to be protected for education, public
safety and other social services.
This
line of argument is disingenuous. It suggests that
these programs have not been fully funded or have
even faced cuts. The reality is the General Fund
budget has been growing at staggering rates —
they’ve been fully funded each and every year.
Indeed, Senator Chichester made sure of that just
a few years ago when he crammed the state’s
largest tax increase down our throats. Ever since,
the Commonwealth has enjoyed significant
surpluses.
As
these vital programs have been fully funded, the
General Assembly has been left with two choices
— either refund the taxpayers the difference or
transfer the revenues into other priority program
areas. Given the Senators’ penchant for
spending, we can throw out the refund option, so
you’d think it would be OK to shift surplus
dollars into transportation efforts. Sadly, this
option isn’t acceptable to Sen. Chichester, and
we’re left with either new taxes or no new funds
for transportation.
Essentially,
the Senator is saying is that every dollar
currently spent by the Commonwealth is already
appropriated to its best use. His actions also
suggest that protecting, and securing additional
funding, for those programs is a higher priority
than new transportation funding. Unless of course,
the plan is “to look in other people’s
pockets,” and increase taxes to confront the
transportation crisis.
New
roads won’t be built overnight. Despite all the
political positioning there likely won’t be too
many ribbon-cutting ceremonies this year or even
next. This is especially true if vital VDOT
reforms to streamline and expedite the planning,
engineering and environmental analysis are not
completed. VDOT reform is a central piece of the
House plan – the compromise plan signed off on
by many of Senator Chichester’s own Republican
“moderates.”
Furthermore,
while the vast majority of transportation projects
around the country continue to be funded from
traditional sources, a new funding and operational
paradigm has emerged. Increasingly, state and
local transportation agencies are looking to
supplement their own resources with private
investment and operations.
Indeed,
the private sector has demonstrated its ability to
get new infrastructure built faster and cheaper
when its own capital is at risk — or when there
are sufficient incentives for speedy delivery.
Again, private sector investment and operation is
a critical component of the House plan.
Perhaps
Chichester should study how Texas has been able to
embark on an ambitious and aggressive
transportation building frenzy without raising
taxes. Indeed, that state has made it an explicit
policy to embrace the changing funding paradigm
and invite the private sector to build and operate
new roads.
This
has enabled Texas to ensure that roads are built
quickly and efficiently, and stretch its own
limited resources without reaching back into the
public’s pockets.
Chichester’s
reliance on new taxes flies in the face of how
transportation is increasingly financed in the
U.S. After three years of debate and discussion a
reasonable compromise was hammered out. Now
“King John” has killed
it because he didn't get his way. His willingness
to halt progress threatens the long-term fiscal
health and economic competitiveness of the
Commonwealth.
--
February 5, 2007
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