House Dems want to Pull Gas Tax Increase

Here we go again folks...raise taxes, or let NOVA and Hampton Roads do it themselves...what should we do?! TJM

HOUSE DEMOCRATS WANT TO PULL GAS-TAX INCREASE

By Jim Nolan and Olympia Meola
Times-Dispatch Staff Writers

Democrats hope siphoning a gas-tax increase out of a Senate transportation bill will accelerate a compromise on a roads fix for Virginia this year.

But as state lawmakers reconvene the special session on transportation today after a two-week hiatus, neither Republicans nor Democrats seem confident that a plan will emerge to fill the state's maintenance deficit or fund projects in its most congested regions.

Instead, both parties have spent the days leading up to today's session cranking out news releases in preparation for the next battle: who's to blame for nothing getting done.

House Democrats want to eliminate the gas-tax increases in a bill put forth by state Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax. It would increase the tax by a penny each of the next six years.

The Saslaw measure, which also includes an additional 1 percent increase in the fuel tax in Hampton Roads, comes before the Republican-controlled House this afternoon.

The plan also calls for a 0.25 percent increase in the state sales tax and 0.5 percent increases in the auto titling tax and vehicle rental tax, offset by a 0.5 percent reduction in the sales tax on food, currently 2.5 percent. Additional tax and fee boosts are included in the regional portion of the plan covering Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

The Democrats who back the proposed amendment to Saslaw's bill previously supported Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's bill, which died in the House Rules Committee.

They say the amended version of Saslaw's bill would generate about $5.5 billion over the next seven years, or nearly 80 percent of the plan's original revenue.

Saslaw yesterday called the proposed amendment "a step forward," saying that if House Republicans are serious about transportation, they'll allow the amended bill to be debated and voted on.

"Now that Democrats have come together, it's time for our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to give this compromise a full and fair hearing," said House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry.

"Everyone is tired of the political games in Richmond," said Del. Brian J. Moran, D-Alexandria, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "We are here with a serious proposal; it is time to show leadership."

A skeptical House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said he doesn't know how the amendment will fare today in the House.

"Clearly we'll take a look at it," Griffith said. "This looks like more games to me that the Democrats are doing. If games is what they want to play, I know how to play."

Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, could effectively prevent Democrats from attempting to rewrite the Saslaw bill by immediately putting the original, gas-tax measure to a vote on the floor, where the Republican majority and a number of Democrats are likely to vote no.

House Republicans want to fix the parts of last year's transportation plan -- addressing regional solutions for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads -- that the state Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional.

A bill introduced by Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, takes a regional approach only.

For Hampton Roads, it calls for a state-imposed increases of $20 each in vehicle registration and inspection fees; a 2 percent car-rental tax and a method to capture up to $250 million per year in future tax revenues at the port of Hampton Roads.

Northern Virginia would see an initial driver's license fee of $100, imposed by the state, which would exempt teenage drivers; a 2 percent increase in the vehicle rental tax imposed by the state; a grantor's tax of 40 cents per $100 of assessed value on homes sold, to be imposed by localities; and a 2 percent increase in the transient occupancy tax, also to be imposed by localities.

House Republicans face opposition from Northern Virginia officials, who released a letter rejecting the GOP's proposed plan for regional fixes.

"The bill, not coordinated with any local jurisdictions, contains no statewide component to address the growing highway maintenance deficit and highway and transit capital needs across the state," the letter reads.

"As a result, [Hamilton's bill] is not an acceptable solution for Northern Virginia."

Griffith said the letter "would appear to put a stake through the heart of the regional plans." He blames political motivations for opposition to the regional proposal.

"If we get something done, even regional, [Kaine] loses the ability to go out and say we [House Republicans] are the evil people. He's got to up the ante because we're keeping our word," Griffith said.

Kaine communications director Delacey Skinner said the governor has concerns similar to those voiced in the Northern Virginia letter, and had discussed concerns about the GOP proposal in a conference call with Northern Virginia officials in late June.

As for the efforts of House Democrats seeking to amend the Saslaw bill, "We're for anything that's going to move this process forward" to a transportation solution, Skinner said.

Failing to give the measure a chance in the House, she said, will mean that the today's session will be little more than a "perfunctory political exercise."
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.