The disconnect between the general public and the special interests pressing for taxes for transportation (the Axis of Taxes) seems to widen with each passing day. As the General Assembly gears up for a special session to address transportation funding, according to the latest Commonwealth Poll, transportation ranks only fourth among the topics that the state should make “a top priority.”
Here’s how the issues compared:
Public schools (67 percent of respondents listed as “a top priority”)
Job situation (54 percent)
Environment (49 percent)
Transportation (46 percent)
Illegal immigration (45 percent)
Mental health services (37 percent)
The breakdown did vary by geography. Fifty-nine percent of Northern Virginians rated transportation a top priority, but the figure in Hampton Roads — where the Axis of Taxes is determined to raise billions in regional revenues for regional bridge and highway projects — rated only 43 percent.
