Bacon's Rebellion

The Pork Ploy

—

by

James A. Bacon
in

Sen. Marty Williams, R-Newport News, has pulled out the big guns in the Senate’s negotiations with the House of Delegates over transportation funding — he’s detailing how much more pork the Senate plan will bring to the folks back home.

“So much of the debate so far has focused on what the two plans would cost and where the money would come from,” Williams wrote in a news release issued yesterday. “This report by the professional staff of the Senate Finance Committee reveals side-by-side what the two plans would achieve in each region.”

Here’s how much each VDOT district gets over the next two years:

  • Bristol: Senate plan, $143 million; House plan, $16 million.
  • Culpeper: Senate plan, $107 million; House plan, $14 million.
  • Fredericksburg: Senate plan, $119 million; House plan, $16 million.
  • Hampton Roads: Senate plan, $325 million; House plan, $222 million.
  • Lynchburg: Senate plan, $104 million; House plan, $16 million.
  • Northern Virginia: Senate plan, $470 million, House, $268 million.
  • Richmond: Senate plan: $219 million; House, $26 million.
  • Salem: Senate plan, $182 million; House plan, $19 million.
  • Staunton: Senate plan, $116 million; House plan, $15 million.

Here’s what I’d really like know: How much the taxpayers of each district would pay in higher taxes, stacked side by side with the amount of money returned to each district.

Share this article

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

Comments

Comments

8 responses to “The Pork Ploy”

  1. James Atticus Bowden Avatar
    James Atticus Bowden

    I’ll be posting later today on the numbers behind the numbers. They are cooking the books. Remember Marty’s career field is waste management.

  2. Jim Wamsley Avatar
    Jim Wamsley

    How does the investment per district relate to the population per district.

    A better chart would be one by House and Senate District. Then we could pinpoint the pork.

  3. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    While you are at it, plug in the propoerion of gross state product and total state revenue per district.

  4. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    $470 millon dollars is a joke. My farm could suck up a half million to a million in farm infrastructure – fences, water supply, storage, environmental management, roads, O&M equipment etc. before the farm’s problems were solved.

    Of course I have the same problem as the state: the money has to come from somewhere, and I have to consider the ROI.

    Still, I look around at what is needed in this small location, and I think $470 million isn’t enough.

    For me, a million dollars is out of the question, but a half million is only $25,000 a year for 20 years, if I dedicate the revenue. Same issue for the state.

    Then all I have to do is figure out wich of the farms projects or districts have priority, same as the state.

    Then of course there is the question of whether I’d rather do something else with the money.

  5. Rtwng Extrmst Avatar
    Rtwng Extrmst

    It’s pretty clear that “pork” is a good word for the Senate plan. The percentages by district tells you that. At least the HoD plan applies their funds to those areas that are significantly more in need. Would that the Senate plan did the same even if the money total amount of money did not change that would be a step in the right direction.

    However, the bottom line to me in all of this is what specific projects do they intend to spend it on and how can we be certain the moneys will ever reach transportation projects at all?

  6. Tom James (aka Brave Hart) Avatar
    Tom James (aka Brave Hart)

    http://carolinejustice.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-is-he-talking-about.html

    http://carolinejustice.blogspot.com/2006/03/more-bs-from-local-vdot.html

  7. NotGroverNorquist Avatar
    NotGroverNorquist

    Just what is “pork?” I remember some wag saying it depends on who is doing the slicing. How is the Senate plan “pork” but not the House’s?

    As for Rtwng Extrmst’s post, the Senate plan, with the exception of the grantors tax, spends the new money according to the current highway distribution formula. The grantors tax stays in the locality in which it is generated.

    The House takes General Fund dollars colected from everyone around the state to service bonds for NoVa and Hampton Roads.

    Please ask your donwstate delegate how that’s fair.

  8. Informed Patriot Avatar
    Informed Patriot

    NotGrover- It equals the $40 million currently taken out of the “general” fund recordation tax revenues for Route 58 for the past decade. Considering that nova and HR generate most of those revenues, they should get it back for their most pressing need.

Leave a Reply

ADVERTISEMENT