Today’s actions in the General Assembly have clearly defined the differences between the Parties in funding transportation. With Del. Glenn Oder’s substitute of HB 6055 (I told y’all not to worry), the Republicans have sided with reprioritizing existing and future revenues to address the crisis in transportation.
Democrats demand tax increases, arguing that every existing tax dollar is spent on things more important that transportation and taxpayers need to pay more.
I’ll take that debate into 2009 any day of the week!
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled. 
Loading ...
Oh yeah, right, Brian. You told us all that HB6055 would have no tax increases whatsoever . . .
Seriously, kudos to the House GOP for seeing the light; I honestly didn’t think they had it in them.
HB 6055 does include increases in fees in our region. But it is much improved over HB 3202. HB 6055 earmarks only 30% of the port’s NEW revenues for our region’s transportation improvements. However, even with such a modest ear mark of NEW revenues, they still foolishly placed a cap of $250M a year on the maximum amount of port profits that will be allowed to be used of offset the billions and billions of dollars required to pay for the port’s new transportation infrastructure,
On the downside, there are NO requirements (zero, dada, zip, none) for the selection of road, rail, and bus projects to reduce traffic congestion.
Instead HB 6055 boldly admits that the bill had nothing to do with reducing traffic congestion and is strictly a bill all about speculative economic development.
Sadly, the bill includes NO (zero, dada, zip, none) improvements that govern the way in which MPOs will select how to spend the money collected for Tidewater. Yet, HB 6055 abolishes the hated HRTA and hands over all of the power to the seriously flawed MPO!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the bill directs that VDOT solicit PPTA proposals to build the same dumb list of 6 MPO “pork” projects – and it throws in a PPTA proposal to add more lane capacity to the HRBT, but in the end all that amounts to is a new process that makes recommendations to the General Assembly, VDOT, and the CTB. There is no requirement to build ANY specific transportation projects.
This is good and bad.
Bad because it is a blank check and the MPO has already proven it isn’t seeking any plan to reduce existing traffic bottlenecks, instead, the MPO is in bed with the Port Lobby – so to are VDOT and the CTB – and the General Assembly.
Good because the 6 MPO projects are the wrong projects for our region and under HB 6055 the old list of projects can be changed by the MPO – and a new list developed that might actually improve our traffic flow and shift much more of the port’s multimodal container traffic to rail instead of trucks and highways.
Given recent events in the dramatic rise in the cost of diesel fuel, rail is quickly beoming a more economical mode of transportation for port cargo.
A major disappointment in HB 6055 is a complete lack of controls placed on tolls. It appears that the plan is to allow the private for profit firms that will submit their proposals for the PPTA projects to have free reign to extort as much as they desire from our local residents for the use of our region’s highway system.
There are no caps on the cost of tolls and no process defined that requires toll increases to seek voter or General Assembly approval.
This is a mistake. And those of us living in Tidewater will most likely suffer from abusive toll increases because of the failure of the General Assembly to place reasonable controls on the cost of tolls into HB 6055.
Reid, 6055 was changed last night to have no tax increases. Put your rant button on pause once in a while.
Yeah, and the V-P obviously never read the Floor Substitute for HB 6028 before running their story this morning.
Yes, Reid, light rail is coming to Virginia Beach.
No Henry, it is not. Because the majority of taxpayers and voters in Virginia Beach don’t want to pay for a dumb Light Rail line to costs too much and does too little.
The battle to kill Light Rail in Va Beach hasn’t even begun.
But you and your leftist, sociailist “we want a free ride” friends just keep thinking that the General Assembly funding a study is your version of George Bush’s “mission accomplished”.
It is okay with us.