Leave it to a liberal to push a house tax in the middle of a housing crisis and push regional sales taxes that lost two referendums by a 2 to 1 margin. But that’s Gov. Tim Kaine’s plan. And guess what? The “house tax” won’t even go for roads.
According to the Daily Press, the “house tax” should go to the Transportation no-Trust fund and go mostly to mass transit. Buy a house=pay for buses.
A state tax increase for buses!
Kaine also raises car titling taxes and registration fees, and sends all that to the Transportation no-trust fund, and somehow that doesn’t go to mass transit, but to road maintenance.
At least until they raid it, since they still don’t Constitutionally protect the Transportation no-Trust fund, and they still treat it like they used to treat the lottery fund.
The regional sales taxes idea I don’t have as much of a problem with, if it funded something substantially different than was proposed in 2002. But the public has spoken pretty loudly that a 4.5 billion funding-sucker of a Port crossing should be a state-funded economic development project, and not completely on Hampton Roads’ back. Kaine, in his interview with me, said he isn’t going to pick projects. He’ll just pick taxes.
You can’t just take the same funding for the same projects from the failed referendums and ram them through anyway. Can you?
So, Tim Kaine who ran on “no tax increases until we protect the no-Trust fund” and who ran against “regional tax plans” proposes both, with the absolutely laughable thought that we should raise the “house tax” during a housing crisis to pay for buses.
Right Wing Liberal successfully predicts I’d hate Kaine’s plan. Score!
The first motion made on June 23 should be a motion to adjourn.
