Opposition Grows to Virginia Transportation Compromise
Bill aiming to build consensus around Gov. Bob McDonnell's plan to bring $3 billion to transportation projects met with mixed reviews.
By Whitney Spicer, Capital News Service Critics of the transportation funding compromise reached by legislative negotiators say the plan would place a huge burden on Virginia taxpayers. The Virginia House of Delegates on Friday passed House Bill 2313, which would raise about $900 million a year for transportation and transit projects. The 98-page compromise must win approval the Senate before it can be signed into law by the governor. The legislative session ends Saturday. The new plan, which was hammered out by a 10-member conference committee over the past week, would potentially raise close to $900 million a year in transportation revenue. It could be the first transportation funding overhaul in Virginia since 1986 if it passes this …
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Rob Jackson
10:38 am on Sunday, February 24, 2013
Do you even know what is in the Bill? One provision gives the added revenue from the additional $0.007 sales tax imposed in NoVA, not to the affected cities and counties where the money is raised, but rather, to the unelected Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. Despite being the largest jurisdiction in NoVA, Fairfax County has only one of 14 votes on the NVTA. Therefore, the higher tax … more ›