Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has unveiled his package of proposed transportation/land use reforms, reprising some familiar themes but adding some new ones. (See his press release here.) Among the new initiatives:
- Subdivision streets. One proposal, bearing similarities to a bill introduced by the House of Delegates, would tighten criteria for accepting subdivision streets into the state highway system. Provisions would ensure that roads are well built and, where appropriate, properly integrated with adjacent development before the state accepts the responsibility to maintain them.
- Corridor management. A second proposal would protect existing roads from unnecessary curb cuts and turning movements that disrupt traffic flows. (For details on Kaine administration thinking, see our past post, “Corroding Corridors.”)
Transportation accountability. The Governor also plugged the theme of “transportation accountability,” renewing his call to “lock up” the Transportation Trust Fund. Previous legislatures have raided the trust fund to balance the budget, and in 2005 his gubernatorial campaign, Kaine vowed not to raise transportation taxes until there were constitutional guarantees protecting any new monies raised for transportation. However, the General Assembly failed to enact a measure. Said Kaine:
Every transportation revenue bill I introduced has contained an enactment clause stating that the measure will expire if the money is every used for any purpose other than transportation. However, it is time for the House of Delegates and State Senate to reconcile their differing versions of this bill so we can pass a constitutional amendment locking up the Transportation Trust Fund.
Kaine also alluded to his newly appointed Transportation Accountability Commission, which is charged with developing performance standards to evaluate the on-going performance of Virginia’s transportation agencies and professionals.
The Kaine transportation/land use package also contains familiar ideas that didn’t survive last year’s General Assembly sessions.
- Growth controls. One proposal would give local governments the power to deny rezoning requests where the transportation capacity is lacking to support the projected increase in traffic. This is the spinster sister of legislation that did pass last year, providing for VDOT to conduct comprehensive traffic impact studies of major rezoning projects.
- Tax increases. The Kaine $850 million transportation revenue package is “closely related” to last year’s package, including: (a) dedicating existing auto insurance premium taxes to transportation, (b) raising the sales tax on vehicles from 3 percent to 5 percent, (c) imposing an abuser fee on reckless drivers, (d) increasing the vehicle registration fee by $30 a year, and (e) increaes the registration fee for heavy trucks.
For details on the tax package, click here.