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Full House to consider Kaine’s proposal
Full House to consider Kaine’s proposalTara Slate Donaldson
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
In a surprise move, the House of Delegates has decided to vote on Gov. Tim Kaine’s transportation plan. Two weeks ago, the House Rules Committee, led by House Speaker William Howell (R-28th), unceremoniously killed the governor’s funding plan.
On Wednesday, after a two-week break, the committee reconsidered, voting to allow the entire House to vote on the measure.
The bill is not expected to pass but House leaders had come under fire for burying the bill without allowing a full vote by all delegates.
Kaine calls the first part of his proposal the “safety first” program. If approved, it would create a stable maintenance fund to keep bridges and roads in good repair.
A maintenance fund would be used to repair or replace aging bridges and roads and would also free up existing funds for new roads and transit projects. To pay for the maintenance fund, Kaine would increase the annual vehicle registration fee by $10. He’d also up the statewide automobile sales tax from 3 to 4 percent.
Those two tax hikes would raise $400 million in the first year, and all of that would be dedicated to the maintenance fund, according to Kaine.
The second piece of the Kaine plan is called “regional relief,” and is a targeted approach for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
The governor’s plan would increase the sales tax by 1 percent in both regions on everything except food and medicine. The funds would be used only for regional projects.
The final part of the transportation puzzle is Kaine’s “transportation change fund.” The governor has called for the creation of a special fund to pay for alternative solutions, such as transit, rail, telework and ridesharing.
Under his plan, 75 percent of the fund would be used for transit and rail projects while the rest could be used for new solutions to gridlock, as well as for airports and harbor projects that support economic development.
To fund the transportation change fund, Kaine has proposed increasing the grantor’s tax by 25 cents statewide.
In addition to Kaine’s proposal, which is also opposed by many in the Democratically-controlled Senate, the House is also planning to vote today on two other transportation funding plans.
“It looks like it’s going to be a long day,” said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith (R-8th).
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