Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Editorial: No more excuses for Republicans on transportation
GOP lawmakers have a long list of transportation funding options they oppose. What do they propose?
From the RoundTable blog
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Who's in charge here?
At the state Capitol, the answer is clear. Republicans are in charge.
The GOP controls the executive mansion and both chambers of the legislature. Despite Republicans' fight to seize control of the state Senate, they have retreated into a minority mentality when confronted with Virginia's most persistent problem: paying for the construction and maintenance of highways and bridges.
In the first half of the General Assembly session, Republican lawmakers compiled a long list of potential solutions they cannot abide.
They cringe at the thought of raising the gas tax or the sales tax or collecting tolls. They do not wish to filch money from public schools for roads, nor do they want to auction off naming rights for fear they will end up with the Hotchix.com Highway or the Smutmouth Bypass.
Some of the bills that have been sent to the trash heap belong there. Others offer only the feeblest relief from transportation budget shortfalls.
The only measure still gasping for breath that offers even a modicum of money for roads is one that would tie the 17.5-cent-per-gallon fuel tax to inflation, generating about $124 million by 2018, but delegates oppose it. When a state senator inquired whether Gov. Bob McDonnell supported the proposal, his representatives were apparently hiding beneath their seats.
Give McDonnell credit for one thing, though. He has provided a comprehensive list of every possible alternative to raising taxes, short of forcing VDOT workers to stand along roadsides holding out boots for donations.
Only one viable solution remains on the table, and that is a tax increase. The gas tax rate has been frozen since 1987, and arguments in favor of an adjustment after a quarter-century are compelling. Del. Lacey Putney, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, threw GOP lawmakers a lifeline this year when he sponsored legislation to increase the sales tax for roads and other needs. Republicans threw it back at him.
There is still time to revive Putney's bill or to advance the gas tax instead. At the very least, an inflationary adjustment should be adopted as a signal that Republicans are not entirely oblivious to their responsibilities.
Republicans, so fond of the word "no," can add a few more to their list. No more excuses. No more dumb ideas. No more finger-pointing.
They are in charge, and it's time for them to act like it.
