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From The Roanoke Times

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RICHMOND -- For Gov. Tim Kaine and the General Assembly, the road to a long-term transportation funding plan has been laden with potholes.

This week, the governor and quarrelsome lawmakers will find out whether the bumpy road takes them to their desired destination or to a frustrating dead end.

The General Assembly will reconvene Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to forge an agreement on a long-range blueprint for planning, operating and funding of Virginia's road, rail and mass transit systems. Lawmakers have allotted just four days to achieve a compromise that eluded them during a 60-day session earlier this year. Though Kaine and key legislative leaders publicly express optimism, fundamental disagreements between the Senate and House of Delegates still pose potential roadblocks to a deal.

"My crystal ball is cloudy right now," said Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, when asked about the prospects for a compromise.

Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke, said he expects lawmakers to make some progress this week and to continue working on transportation issues next year.

"We didn't get into the situation overnight and we're not going to get out of it in four days," said Fralin, a member of the House Transportation Committee. "But I do think we can make some progress."

Kaine, a Democrat, identified transportation as the top priority for his first year in office. Shortly after his election in November, he began a campaign-style effort to build support for greater funding, citing mounting maintenance costs, chronic congestion in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and pressing needs in other parts of the state.

"The events of every day demonstrate what the need is," Kaine said. "Between I-81 and the potential for the multimodal facility out in the Roanoke or New River valleys, these are issues that have merits, have costs. You have to be willing to invest."

The governor in January proposed a funding package worth $3.7 billion over four years, recommending increased taxes on vehicle sales and auto insurance premiums, new weight-based registration fees, steep fines for certain driving violations and new fees for habitually bad drivers.

Kaine found allies in the Republican-controlled Senate, which passed its own package of tax and fee increases for transportation. But the governor met a wall of opposition in the House, where Republican leaders steadfastly have opposed new taxes for roads and transit.

The House and Senate came nowhere near an agreement on transportation funding during a 60-day session that ended March 11. When the impasse threatened to block passage of a new state budget, the Senate yielded to the demands of House leaders to postpone the transportation debate until this fall. House committees will begin meeting Monday to screen dozens of bills that members have submitted for consideration.

Kaine said the House faces pressure to deliver a substantial package after shutting off the transportation debate earlier this year. The pressure is perhaps greatest for lawmakers who represent congested areas of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, where traffic-weary voters could turn on incumbents in next year's legislative elections.

"They've raised the expectation that they will present something meaningful, and I think it's inconsistent with having done that that they would then just kill off everything and be done with it," Kaine said of the House.

"I believe the stakes are as high as can be," said Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County. "As a Democrat, I believe we will pick up seats in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads if we don't come out of this with a transportation deal."

House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, predicted the House will pass legislation to increase transportation funding and initiate "creative" reforms in how the state manages and funds road projects.

But, Griffith warned, "we never said the Senate would like what we come up with."

The Senate has made a bipartisan push for new, sustainable sources of transportation revenue. Hawkins is the chief sponsor of legislation (Senate Bill 5013) that would increase certain taxes and fees statewide to produce $750 million in new transportation revenue. The bill includes a 6-cents-a-gallon tax on operators of Virginia fuel terminals, which could be passed along to consumers at the pump.

"Most of us realize that if we don't do something substantial now and put ourselves in a position to compete in a 21st century economy, it will be years before we revisit this," Hawkins said.

House GOP leaders insist the state can add to the $4.6 billion it now spends on transportation without raising taxes. House committees next week will consider bills to borrow money, impose "abuser fees" on bad drivers, and redirect some tax revenue that now goes to the state's general operating fund. Several House Republicans have expressed interest in using revenue from recordation taxes on real estate transactions for transportation purposes.

"I think there are a lot of creative ideas being advanced," Griffith said. "I think there a number of things in there that we should do."

Kaine and Senate leaders have resisted using recurring general fund revenue for transportation, insisting it will affect funding for schools, health care and other essential public services. House GOP leaders argue that the state has enjoyed consistently strong revenue growth since the passage of tax increases in 2004 and that some of that growth should be spent on transportation needs.

House members also are pushing legislation to reform operations at the Virginia Department of Transportation, encourage greater private investment in transportation infrastructure, and better integrate transportation and land-use planning. House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford County, has expressed interest in giving local governments incentives to maintain their own roads, but the proposal could begin with pilot projects in select jurisdictions.

The House appears divided over proposals that would allow regional authorities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to generate additional transportation revenue through taxes or tolls. And even if those proposals pass, Kaine and many senators argue that regional measures are insufficient to address a funding problem that affects the whole state.

"If it's regional only, it doesn't solve the problem," Kaine said. "It doesn't solve the maintenance problem, which is a huge, statewide problem."

Kaine said he feels no political pressure to come up with a substantial transportation package this week.

But, he said, "I feel pressure because it's something that has to happen for the commonwealth."

"And it's going to happen," Kaine said. "The only question is, is it going to happen now, or a year or two from now, or three years from now, when construction costs have gone up by another 25 [percent] or 30 percent, when corridors that were available possibly for some rail or transit or road solution have been purchased and put to other uses.

"We're going to deal with this. We're going to do something to solve this."