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That
Was Plan B
The
defeat of the regional sales tax referenda sends
the Commonwealth back to Plan A on transportation --
statewide taxes, bonds and public-private
partnerships.
Watkins
M. Abbitt, Jr. of Appomattox, a Democrat-
turned-Independent veteran of the House of Delegates
since 1986, summarized the threat succinctly as he
participated with his colleagues in discussions of
regional sales tax referenda for transportation
needs in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia on the
floor of the House in February 2002. Members already
had spoken long and hard about transportation needs
in the tens of billions of dollars over the next 20
years and the inability of current state revenue
sources to fund roads, bridges, airports, rail and
transit at anywhere near the amount needed.
Members
had warned about gridlock choking back economic
development and tearing down the quality-of-life in
Virginia. But the delegate from Appomattox suggested
there was an even more immediate threat. "If we
don't help these two regions deal directly with
their transportation needs using their own tax
dollars, they will be back to get our money," Abbitt warned.
Thus,
through a convoluted process that continued right
until the last minutes of the one-day "veto
session" on April 17, both the House and Senate
eventually backed into Plan B to supplement Plan A
reliance on existing statewide taxes, bonds and
public-private partnerships. Hampton Roads won
permission to place a one-cent sales tax increase
for transportation initiative on the ballot in
November, while Northern Virginia won permission for
a one-half cent initiative. It was a bipartisan
effort that included supporters from every region.
But
a funny thing happened on the way to new, dedicated
transportation revenues to take the pressure off the
Commonwealth. Despite high level, bipartisan
leadership endorsements and mobilized business
communities, voters in both Northern Virginia and
Hampton Roads convincingly rejected the November 5th
ballot questions to impose new regional sales taxes.
Plan B went down in an equally bipartisan effort
that temporarily cobbled together environmentalists,
anti-taxers, conspiracy theorists, established
neighborhoods, wealthy commuters and VDOT-haters.
Make
no mistake. Plan B is "not only merely
dead," it is, as the Munchkin coroner in the
Wizard of Oz declared of the Wicked Witch,
"really, most sincerely dead." The
Commonwealth reverts to Plan A, which in its
limitations, cannot keep up with growing
transportation needs.
Now
put an ear to the ground. That sound of footsteps
echoing toward Richmond is coming from Northern
Virginia and Hampton Roads, regions now hungrier
than ever for new sources of transportation funds.
Delegates and senators from those regions are
strapping on two message boards,
"Transportation is a state government
responsibility" and "My constituents are
sending me to Richmond in 2003 to get a larger share
of the transportation pie." Think of a T-shirt
with the arrow pointing to one side and the caption,
"I'm here to get stupid's transportation
dollars."
Those
messages certainly are not what representatives from
the rest of the Commonwealth want to hear.
"World War III if they try to change the
funding formula" already is a typical response.
And trying to grow the whole transportation
pie will be just as difficult. Hundreds of millions
of dollars in budget cuts are still in the offing.
Transportation needs keep growing.
But
even as voters in two regions flung aside one part
of the solution on November 5th, they honed in again
on what one could call Plan A+, get a higher share
of existing state revenues for their regions. The
two newest Senators from Northern Virginia, Ken
Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax and Jay O'Brien, R-Clifton,
have served notice to their colleagues, unfazed by
the fact that more than half of Virginia Senators
have no significant constituencies in either Hampton
Roads or Northern Virginia and no inclination to
give up their share of anything.
Considering
the force with which the temporary coalitions
opposing the referendums came together to say
"No," getting Virginia to a bigger
"Yes" on transportation may be impossible.
But constituent footsteps can be amplified by
powerful legislative leaders, such as the
Transportation Committee chairmen Del. Jack Rollison,
R-Prince William and Sen. Marty Williams, R-Newport
News. Del. Rollison and Sen. Williams led the 2002
effort to place the referendums on the ballot. And
they will lead in any new transportation initiative,
too, Del. Rollison from a newly sharpened Northern
Virginia edge and Sen. Williams from his base in
Hampton Roads.
There
have been other, positive steps taken in the last
ten months. Gov. Mark R. Warner's overhaul of VDOT's
management and administrative structure and
processes is well underway. An improving public
reputation for the embattled agency will follow in
time. Gov. Warner, Secretary of Transportation Whitt
Clement and VDOT Commissioner
Philip Shucet have presented a realistic
picture of road, rail and transit projects and
likely funding. Striking $3 billion worth of
projects from the plan for lack of funding wasn't
easy, but it was a necessary step toward restoring
trust in state government.
Technologies
continue to emerge to wring more capacity out of
existing highways
and rail rights-of-way. The technology community is
pushing for more telework, teleconferencing,
telemedicine and distance learning and training
initiatives. And Virginia is receiving more money
and an increased share of federal transportation
dollars.
But
some type of Plan A+ will rise and fall on the
politics and pain of deciding whether two regions
will squeeze others around the state for a higher
percentage of existing funds or whether the General
Assembly will consider dedicating more revenue to
transportation, perhaps through increasing statewide
gasoline and fuels taxes, the traditional user fees
that support transportation.
Unfortunately,
it's still too soon after November 5th to
have a clear picture of anything that might involve
state funds. But one can remember the success rate
suggested in that old phrase, "trying to
squeeze blood from a turnip" and that the
reason the General Assembly reached for Plan B in
the first place was to avoid tax increases. Plus the
General Assembly has the ultimate answer already in
place. The questions are already being studied, but
reports won't be available until later in 2003.
One
image to keep handy as the Commonwealth slips back
into the familiar transportation problem of not
enough money to go around. As the polls closed in
Northern Virginia on November 5th, an
endless line of vehicle taillights reflected on
rain-soaked asphalt the gridlocked frustration of
inching out of Tysons Corner on Route 7 west one
more time, each vehicle a stop sign for the next.
--
November 11, 2002
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