Regional Transportation Authorities: Unconstitutional
Breaking — the State Supreme Court just ruled that regional transportation authorities cannot levy taxes for transportation.
“The ruling means that we don’t have an authority,” said Art Collins, acting executive director of the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority. “We just went back 12 years in planning. We now have no valid transportation plan. It’s just nuclear. That’s the only way you can describe it”
The governor, attorney general and speaker of the House are preparing a joint statement; the governor will have a media availability this afternoon. Audio of that availability will be provided tonight on VPOD.
Politically: Bob Marshall’s stock just went up. But everyone who was involved in advocating HB 3202 is going to have to answer a lot of questions.
For the average citizen: we’re screwed again. Little to no funding is currently available to develop the transportation solutions we need.
Update: Here is the print statement from Gov. Kaine, Atty. Gen. McDonnell and Speaker Howell:
“I am disappointed by the Supreme Court’s finding that the limited authority to impose taxes granted by the General Assembly in 2007, by an overwhelming vote by both bodies, was unconstitutional,” said Governor Kaine. “I remain committed to working with the General Assembly to ensure that the Commonwealth provides adequate funding for our transportation needs. Over the next few days, my legal staff and I will work closely with the Attorney General’s Office and members of the General Assembly to determine what alternatives are available to provide adequate transportation funding.”
“We intervened in this case as is our obligation to defend challenges to the constitutionality of legislation passed by the General Assembly,” said Attorney General Bob McDonnell. “The Virginia Supreme Court has spoken, we respect their decision, and we will advise our clients appropriately based on today’s ruling. It remains critical for Virginia’s future prosperity that we improve our transportation system.”
“The complicated decision of the Court, and its effect on the regional components of the Comprehensive Transportation Funding and Reform Act of 2007, are disappointing to those of us who continue to support improving our roads, reducing congestion and increasing mobility for all Virginians,” said Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford). “We will be reviewing this decision carefully and remain committed to sorting out the long-term prospects for the regional plans in a timely manner. Fortunately, the statewide components of the Act – which by themselves incorporate the largest single investment in transportation in a generation – are working right now to improve our roads, railways, and public transit.”
Read the court opinion.
More from the Virginian-Pilot
Other’s blogging: Below the Beltway, BVBL and Raising Kaine
Category: Catch-All
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[...] Roads taxes, too. HRTA acting chief Art Collins practically had an aneurysm (Virginia-Pilot via Bearing Drift, emphasis added): “The ruling means that we don’t have an authority,” said Art Collins, [...]
To say Bob Marshall’s stock just went up is an understatement. This now give Marshall instant credibility with all those who ridiculed him over the past year.
To me, this was completely unexpected and outright shocking and I really think it hurts Bob McDonnell the worst with Speaker Howell a close second. I really have to wonder what the repercussions of this will be like in the GA.
OK, then how about having Richmond approve/legislate actions requested by the Transportation Authority? As long as the taxes imposed are legislated and then signed by the Governor even the Supreme Court can not object. This ruling does not have to stop everything, it only means that another step needs to be included in the process.
[...] blogging: Bearing Drift, Right Wing Liberal, Below the Beltway, BVBL and Raising [...]
Mytwocents, you say that this hurts McDonnell? I think that is fundamentally wrong and unfounded. You must remember that Bill Bolling was a vocal proponent of the transportation plan last year. If he is “hurt” by this, then Bolling is hurt. Last year Bolling traveled around championing his SUPPORT for the transportation authorities. In two op-eds, Bolling praised the plan and called others’ opposition to it “unfortunate” and “unfair” (The Washington Times, March 21, 2007, Funding Virginia transportation). One op-ed which praised the authorities plan was entitled “GOP moves the Old Dominion forward.”
What I find utterly embarrassing is Bollings attempt to now backtrack from his rhetoric last year which SUPPORTED. Now, when it is “convenient,” Bolling is out there criticizing it as if he had nothing to do with it. This political two-step is comical at best. Does Bolling expect us to forget that he supported the plan too? I guess so.
Why not? Last year Democrats got people to forget they supported it too.
Although I think Jim Gilmore still handily beats Bob Marshall at the State Convention this summer, there has to be something quite satisfying for Del. Marshall to have advocated for this reversal and have it come to fruition. Similarly, I bet Sen. Cuccinelli is still smiling over the passage of his Pro-Life/end wasteful spending for Saslaw’s pet project amendment.
On the other note raised above, does it hurt the Attorney General McDonnell, the elected officals who served as members of the NoVa and Hampton Roads transportation authorities and a majority of the General Assembly membership? Well, not any more than it hurts everyone living in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia to live another year without a solution to the utter traffic gridlock.
If the Senate Democrats and Governor could only cut spending, prioritize and curtail programs we do not need this very moment like funding Planned Parenthood(way to go Sen. Cuccinelli), museums on the history of transportation and pre-K for all plan, then we would have these transportation dollars.
My friends, tomorrow the sun will still rise in the East!
Married Man,
This was McDonnell’s baby plain and simple. He has been the leader among Republican leadership defening it constantly for the past year. While I have no dog in this fight, McDonnell comes out as a huge loser in this battle just because he is the AG. This may not be fair but it is the case. Bolling played both sides of the fence and is now reaping the rewards of being extremely savy politically. I do think it was a good calculation to back this on the part of McDonnell but with extreme risk comes extreme blowback when it fails.
The real loser here is the Republican Party for backing a fatally flawed bill in the first place.
Well if any of the cities in Tidewater are serious about backing out of the HRTA, they better be having a special session of their own before the GA meets.
Once the GA comes up with a plan and legislatively assesses the taxes, those cities will be on the hook for the money. The HRTA isn’t dead, only the ability to levy taxes based upon their own authority.
We have some good commenters here, catching the point missed on another site: the only thing found unconstitutional about the HRTA was the delegation of tax-levying powers to it.
As long as the General Assembly imposes the taxes itself, the HRTA passes legal muster.
Henry, the House and Senate can hardly agree on what day it is. That, and the fact that the cast of folks who pushed this bill the first go-around aren’t there anymore, make it highly unlikely that tax increases aplenty are a simply vote waiting to happen.
Not a single elected official got an ounce of credit for the plan the first time. In fact, Democrats hammered Republicans over it, and the GOP lost a good number of seats.
The ones who remain aren’t likely to do it all over again.
Gridlock is bad, but white elephant projects on top of gridlock are worse. I have only been following this story peripherally, but it sounds like the original approach was going to enable the larger cities to bulldoze the taxpayers of the smaller cities and counties. Hopefully the legislature will be able to temper the wealth redistribution scheme a bit.
Thank God for Checks and Balances. The General Assembly did not have the political fortitude to find a constitutional way to deal with the issue of our decaying state transportation infastructure.
This will force them to find (still searching after ten plus years now) the most appropriate (perhaps unpalatable from a political perspective) solution that all Virginians can live with.
Now if only we can get the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on some of the unconstitutional congressional budgeting and lawmaking that takes place at the federal level – we might actually make some gains at restoring our great Republic.
Maybe the great Commonwealth of Virginia can be a ground zero of sorts for restoring the Checks and Balances that are to have been the inherent safe guards that were built into our representative republic so that is can be sustained. More and more, rogue and statist legislators and government executives have enacted law after law and policy after policy that has trampled on Constitutional law – both at the state and federal level.
I applaud any judiciary that is willing to independently and objectively defend the Constitution (and the people) upon which its government is set to operate.
Mytwocents,
Huge loser? The huge loser here is those folks who will be setting in traffic. The huge loser is Virginia commerce which will be stalled unless we fix the congestion problem in this state.
The entire state doesn’t have a congestion problem, the 3 biggest metro areas have congestion. I fear Virginia is heading the way of NY, where the state exists to underwrite the failings of the city.
Its obvious Norfolk wants to acquire tax movies from the Peninsula to solve Norfolk’s traffic problem, but what is Norfolk going to do to solve the Peninsula’s traffic problems? I bet zilch.
Hamptonian,
How much experience do you have traveling the highways of our state?
Virginia has many needs to improve transportation problems beyond the 3 biggest metro areas. Chief amongst these needs are to add a third lane (or something) to the entire length of I81 in Western Virginia and to make US-58 a modern highway all the way from I64 to I81. But that would just be for starters.
As for the Peninsula’s traffic problems, the Peninsula already benefits from the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel and has benefitted from extensive improvements to I64 on the portions that run through large metro Peninsula communities. What makes you think the Peninsula would not continue to get its fair share?
Actually, one of the expensive proposals that might never get done without the transportation authority is a third bridge tunnel which would cross over from the Peninsula and would help lessen traffic backups on the Peninsula leading to the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel during rush hour.
I’ve driven cross-state dozens of times, been up in NoVA dozens of times, traveled from Hampton Roads on down south a half-dozen times, Richmond, Charlottesville, Danville, etc etc etc.
I take it the Southside is now claiming credit for the HRBT and the MMBT? Figures.
Hamptonian,
I’m not saying the Southside deserves all the credit for the HRBT or the MMBT. What I am saying is that Peninsula seems to have, thus far, gotten its share of road improvement money.
Providing additional improvements for the Penninsula is going to take big money. You can add lanes to I64 all the way up to the HRBT, but until either the HRBT is widened or a new tunnel is built, you’re always going to have backups on the Penisula at the HRBT. A lot of your citizens also commute and that’s what’s causing the backups.
From what I’ve seen in the decade and a half I’ve lived here, its doubtful that the Peninsula would get its fair share from the HRTA. Its hard enough getting a fair shake in Richmond. Sports arena, light rail, seems like Fraim is always groping my wallet looking for funding for his projects.
I’ve extremely in favor of a 4th crossing, specifically a BT linking Hampton (well, I-64) directly to VA Beach. But what’s really needed is an interchange at I-64 and Denbigh Blvd; however I think Fraim would have a bonfire with $100 bills rather than relinquish HRTA money that benefitted only the Peninsula.
The fundamental rule of ALL government schemes is taking money from one group and distributing it to another. The way the HRTA was structured, clearly it was lacking checks and balances. It has opposition here not just from Joe Sixpack, but from the elected city governments. That should be a wakeup call.