Here’s the latest salvo from the General Assembly battlefield: Senate Democrats this afternoon killed a measure that would ensure that funds raised by regional levies would be spent exclusively in the regions that paid the taxes.
According to an email missive from the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus, Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, led Democrats on the Privileges and Elections Committee to defeat the measure proposed by Senator Ken Stolle, R-Virginia Beach. It failed by a single vote, despite unanimous Republican support.
Stolle’s measure would have initiated the process of adopting a constitutional amendment that would establish a “lock box” for regional transportation funds. Without a constitutional guarantee, future legislatures could divert the funds for any other purpose. Said Stolle: “Without this constitutional protection, taxpayers have no assurance that the measures we pass will do what we say they will do. This vote today does a great disservice to those who want to find solutions to our transportation challenges.”
I have to agree. I’m sure the Dems offered some fig leaf of a reason for blocking the measure, desperately needed to retain trust, and I’ll report it when I come across it. Until then, I find this action unfathomable.
Update: OK, here’s the story (as I understand it). Deeds blocked the Republican version of the lockbox measure in order to submit a substitute bill. That bill added some clarifying language regarding regional authorities but otherwise preserved the intent of the original. States Peter Jackson, with the Deeds campaign: “I think it’s worth noting that the same day Stolle expressed such outrage at Senator Deeds in that missive from the Senate GOP, he voted to advance the McEachin/Norment bill to the floor.”
If that’s the case, I have to ask, what was the purpose of the email salvo?
Speaking of Deeds, he’s offered a couple of interesting bills: one an income tax credit to employers whose employees enter into flextime scheduling agreements that allow them to avoid rush hour commutes, and a tax credit for employers to conduct a telecommuting assessment. Encouraging flextime and telecommuting are good things. But there must be another way to spread those practices. The state tax code is riddled with too many tax credits already.
