Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will introduce legislation $250 million in bonds to upgrade 89 municipal sewage treatment plants with the goal of slashing nutrients released into the Chesapeake Bay. Said Kaine in a prepared statement today: “Through this partnership with our local governments, we will be able to accomplish with this $250 million bond package what few have thought possible: we will have the resources to meet the sewage treatment plant discharge requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement.”
House Republicans aren’t real happy about it. In a counter press release, House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, reiterated the Republicans’ support for a half billion dollars in Clean-the-Bay initiatives. What frosts him is the fact that Gov. Kaine is willing to tap the state’s ample debt capacity to upgrade sewage treatment plants — but not roads.
Said Howell: “We are left scratching our heads and wondering why he has selectively chosen to use 21st Century financing tools for this priority but has actively opposed our efforts to take advantage of this proven solution to address transportation.”
Added House Majority Whip M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights: “Not less than three months ago, the Governor’s office cynically compared House Republicans’ use of bonding to address a long-term problem to using one credit card to pay off another. Now, he’s applying that same financing tool as part of the solution on Bay cleanup.”
Howell and Cox make a legitimate point. Gov. Kaine and his fellow Democrats don’t have an aversion to using debt, as the Governor has just demonstrated. Their problem is with using debt for transportation as an alternative to raising taxes. Their show of waving their credit cards on the General Assembly floor was nothing more than a cynical photo op for the benefit of a compliant news media.
Personally, I have no philosophical objection to the state issuing long-term debt as long as it can be done while maintaining a AAA bond rating. The reason I oppose issuing debt for roads at this time is that I am not convinced the money will be well spent. The House Republicans have some good ideas for restructuring the state transportation system — but I’d like to see them enacted before the state starts cranking up the spending machine, whether through debt or taxes.
